Daphne x burkwoodii 'Carol Mackie'

wow! is it neat, or does it need repressing from being too invasive?

They are fairly neat but often times the branches can break under the weight of snow or ice and then they look sort of messy. This is the largest one I have seen and it has really held together well. They don't spread by suckers or seeds though so they are not invasive.

It does look neat at the moment, or at least at the moment when the pic was taken! I imagine they'd need a tidy-up now and then.

are they easy to propogate? can cuttings or root cuttings be grown from them?

I just took this picture within the last 2 weeks and I was impressed that there weren't any broken branches considering the size. I used to work at that nursery so I know that the shrub in the picture has been allowed to grow naturally and hasn't been trimmed back at all. Usually they do need to be trimmed back a little bit to keep them neat, I usually cut mine back after it flowers in Spring. If it gets anywhere near that large I am going to remove it so it doesn't swallow up all the little Daphnes around it!
They are easy to propagate from cuttings, I've never tried Carol Mackie because it's my least favorite variegated form but Daphne x burkwoodii varieties can be rooted almost any time of the year from softwood, firm or hardwood cuttings. Some Daphnes can be rooted from root cuttings but I've never tried it since it's safer just to root them from stem cuttings.

thanks for that, very informative and interesting.

I do'nt have any Daphne, at least, as far as I know, but some of the other shruhs' branches are so tangled and twisted, they should have been trimmed.

That variety does sound a little grand for a snammer garden, unless you only want one plant in it! think I'll check out "cmpact" varieties.