Ultra fragrant, gleaming white blooms, Mock Orange Bushes are gorgeous flowering ornamentals! Count on these reliable, rounded plants to add spectacular features you'll appreciate for many years.
Known as the Gardenias of the North, learn more about these incredible deciduous shrubs and how to keep them blooming year after year to perfume your garden each spring! Mock Orange shrubs bloom just after the massive spring bloom of many other shrubs, so they fill a flowering void in the landscape bloom procession when many spring bloomers are done.
About Mock Oranges
Also known as Mockoranges, these glorious white-flowering shrubs have a heavenly scent like their namesake - a sweet citrusy scent mixed with an orange blossom-like perfume. Even if you live in Minnesota, you'll feel like you’ve just been dropped into an orange grove in Florida!
Mock Orange (Philadelphus coronarius) shrubs are known for being very cold-hardy and widely adaptable! They shine in spring with the blossoms and hold their rich green leaves densely through the summer. You'll enjoy an abundance of flowers on the tips of every branch!
Pollinators adore these blooms and arrive to check them out and the flowers look fantastic in bouquets! What bride wouldn’t want a few of these snow-white blossoms perfuming their march down the aisle?
Choosing Mock Oranges
What is the best variety of Mock Orange? Nature Hills is sure you won’t be able to pick just one of our many varieties and forms of these gorgeous ornamentals. The species can be large shrubs, but the many new selections are much more refined from the old-fashioned plants you have seen in the past.
- Miniature Snowflake Mock Orange - Darling dwarf shrub
- Buckleys Quill Mock Orange - Wonderful oval and upright double-petalled form
- Bouquet Blanc Mock Orange - Ultra fragrant pompom blossoms and tall form
- First Editions® Snow White™ Mock Orange - Darling scented double blooms!
- Snowbelle Mock Orange - Dwarf size and double blossoms
- Natchez Mock Orange - The largest of our Mock Orange and fast-growing
- Goose Creek Mock Orange - Arching habit and large size with double blooms
- Illuminati Tower® Mock Orange - Unique dwarf with vertical spires of fragrant blooms
Mock Orange Shrub Care and Pruning
There are no serious pests or diseases that affect this shrub. It will even thrive in city environments. Mock Orange shrubs are very easy to get in the ground and very easy to care for!
Do Mock Orange bushes like sun or shade?
Mock Orange can tolerate a little shade but will flower more profusely in full sun. They can handle a bit of shade, but you'll get the best flower display in a full sun position that receives at least 6 hours of direct sunlight a day.
What soil does Mock Orange prefer?
Mock Oranges adapt to a wide range of soils if they are located in a well-drained site. Mock Orange shrubs thrive just about anywhere, including slightly acidic, slightly alkaline, sandy soil, and even heavy clay! Clay soil is often the bane of many gardeners, but as long as the clay soil drains before the water gets stagnant, Mock Oranges can handle it!
Although widely adapted to many different soil types, grows best when planted in fast-draining soil, rich in organic matter. The roots won't tolerate constantly wet locations, so mound up if you see puddles that remain long after a rain. It's easy, just bring in additional topsoil and heap it into a mound 18 inches high. Plant directly in that mound.
Once the plant is well established in your soil, it can tolerate short periods of drought, but not for long. Add a nice, thick layer of mulch all around to three feet outside the shrub. Wood mulch helps your plant to maintain surface moisture and keep roots cool. However, mulch should never pile up against the main stems of your plant. Once you've spread the mulch out, be sure to pull mulch back by 3 inches all the way around the main stems to give them proper air circulation.
How much water do Mock Orange bushes need?
While Mock Orange does need a moderate amount of water on a regular basis, it's important not to overwater your plants. The best trick is to use the Finger Test. Poke your finger into the soil up to your second knuckle. Is it getting dry? Time to water. Is it still moist? Hold off for now and check tomorrow.
Mock Orange Pruning
How do you shape a Mock Orange bush? This is an easy shrub that requires little care and even less maintenance!
Once the flowering is done, it's best to prune just as the flowers finish blooming only. Mock Orange shrubs bloom on last year’s wood. Pruning this plant is best accomplished by cutting out the largest stems, at no more than 30% a year. Don't be surprised to see reblooming in mid to late summer. This will encourage flowering and keep the shrub neat and full. If your plant gets thick and woody, it is best to Renewal Prune out the thickest stems down to the ground leaving the thinner younger stems in place for best blooms each year.
Mock Oranges in the Landscape
All Mock Oranges have glorious snow-white flowers and they work well as a specimen or accent plant in the landscape.
Soften harsh angles at the corner of your house with the sweet rounded outline of these flowering ornamental accents! Use one on either side of a special Garden Room or grow several together as a fragrant hedge. Mix and match dwarf, mid-sized, and large Mock Oranges for a heavenly display in a Moon Garden where the white blossoms really shine!
Mock Orange to a mixed shrub border. in a high-profile location. You and your guest will enjoy the fragrance during the spring and early summer bloom. Cut back after blooming to keep container plants short and sweet. Every pollinator in the area will arrive on the scene to sip the ample nectar of these summer-time blooms
They love wind, so try them on the open prairie or on windswept hillsides. This durable shrub even tolerates salty breezes. They are even pollution tolerant! Use these fragrant shrubs in urban plantings, as well. Try a long row of them across the front of a busy sidewalk for a friendly privacy fence.
Dwarf varieties are adaptable to large planters and tubs, enabling you to perfume your porch seating, balcony, and deck entertainment areas too!
Amazing Clouds of White!
For fragrance, brilliance, and easy-of-care, you can’t go wrong with the glorious scented blooms of the Mock Orange! Head over to NatureHills.com and get yours today!
You’ll fill your landscape with perfume, butterflies, and three seasons of beauty without all the work!
Happy Planting!
