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
- Choosing Mock Oranges
- Mock Orange Shrub Care and Pruning
- Do Mock Orange bushes like sun or shade?
- What soil does Mock Orange prefer?
- How much water do Mock Orange bushes need?
- Mock Orange Pruning
- Mock Oranges in the Landscape
- Amazing Clouds of White!
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 than 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 Oranges 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
- No serious pests or diseases affect this shrub
- Thrives in city and urban environments
- Very easy to plant and easy to care for
Do Mock Orange Bushes Like Sun Or Shade?
- Tolerates partial shade
- Flowers more profusely in full sun
- Best flower display in a full sun position with at least 6 hours of direct sunlight
What Soil Does Mock Orange Prefer?
- Adapts to a wide range of soils if well-drained
- Handles slightly acidic, slightly alkaline, sandy, and even heavy clay soils
- Performs best in fast-draining soil rich in organic matter
- Roots cannot tolerate standing water - mound soil 18 inches high if puddles linger after rain
- Once established, tolerates short drought but not extended dry periods
- Add a 2–3 inch layer of mulch out to 3 feet from the base
- Mulch helps retain soil moisture and keep roots cool
- Pull mulch back at least 3 inches from stems for air circulation
How Much Water Do Mock Orange Bushes Need?
- Needs moderate, consistent watering
- Avoid overwatering
- Use the Finger Test:
- If soil is dry at the second knuckle - water
- If soil is still moist - wait and check again tomorrow
Mock Orange Pruning
- Requires little pruning and low maintenance
- Prune right after flowering ends
- Blooms on last year’s wood - remove no more than 30% of the largest stems annually
- May rebloom in mid to late summer
- If woody and thick, use Renewal Pruning - cut oldest stems to the ground, leave younger stems for best blooms
Mock Oranges in the Landscape
Mock Orange shrubs are versatile, fragrant, and beautiful, making them an excellent choice for many landscape settings. Their snow-white flowers bring elegance and fragrance to any garden design.
- All Mock Oranges have glorious snow-white flowers
- Works well as a specimen or accent plant in the landscape
Design Accents and Garden Features
These shrubs are wonderful for softening hard edges and adding charm to garden rooms, hedges, and moonlit spaces.
- Soften harsh angles at the corner of your house with their sweet, rounded outline
- Use one on either side of a special Garden Room
- 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 shine
Borders and Pollinator-Friendly Plantings
Plant Mock Orange in prominent spots where both you and your guests can enjoy their fragrance, while pollinators take advantage of its nectar-rich blooms.
- Add Mock Orange to a mixed shrub border in a high-profile location
- Enjoy the fragrance during spring and early summer bloom
- Cut back after blooming to keep container plants short and sweet
- Pollinators flock to the ample nectar of summer blooms
Hardy Options for Challenging Sites
Mock Orange shrubs are tough and adaptable, making them a great choice for windy areas, salty soils, and even city streetscapes.
- They love wind - plant them on open prairie or windswept hillsides
- Tolerate salty breezes
- Pollution-tolerant - perfect for urban plantings
- Use as a friendly privacy fence along busy sidewalks
Container and Patio Plantings
Dwarf Mock Orange varieties are especially versatile in containers, bringing fragrance to patios, balconies, and decks.
- Dwarf varieties adapt beautifully to large planters and tubs
- Perfume porch seating, balconies, and deck entertainment areas with their fragrance
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 ease 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!
