Not only do Skimmias display fantastic colour in the autumn, but these low-maintenance, neatly rounded shrubs will also provide year-round interest. Evergreen glossy leaves provide a lovely backdrop with fragrant white or cream flowers in Spring and long-lasting bright red berries bring festive cheer during the Winter.
Skimmias prefer a position in full or partial shade and are excellent for planting in containers using John Innes No.3 or Ericaceous Compost.
Did you know?
Only female varieties provide berries and they will need a male variety growing nearby for pollination to produce them, the male varieties produce showy flower buds.
Here are a few of our favourite varieties, available in-store and online this season:
Skimmia ‘Rubella’
(Male) Evergreen with leathery, red-margined deep green leaves and dark red winter buds opening to fragrant, white-pink flowers in Spring. Height and spread 1.5m x 1.5.
Skimmia ‘Reevesiana’
(Self-Fertile) One of the very few varieties that produce berries on their own. A dwarf evergreen variety with white flowers in May, followed by clusters of crimson-red fruits through the winter months. Height and spread 90cm x 90cm.
Skimmia ‘Pabella’ (Female) Evergreen with leathery, deep green leaves and panicles of small fragrant white flowers in spring, followed by green berries ripening to red kept through winter. Height and spread 1m x 1m.
Skimmia ‘Kew Green’
(Male) A small, spreading evergreen shrub with aromatic, broadly oblanceolate leaves and large clusters of small, fragrant greenish-yellow flowers in spring. Height and spread 0.5-1m x 1-1.5m.
Skimmia ‘Perosa’ (Male) Compact and rounded which produced grey-green leaves with yellow margins. Dense clusters of red to pink buds open up into small, star-shaped creamy white flowers from mid to late spring.
