Some things in gardening are inevitable. You just can’t fight them. Snails, ground elder, aphids – if you garden long enough, you are going to get them.

So it is with Choisya Sundance (‘Lich’). The species itself (Choisya ternata) is pretty good as a garden plant and is interesting because, as it’s common name suggest (Mexican Orange Blossom) it is native to Mexico. It is also in the orange family (Rutaceae) and has oil glands in the leaves and the flowers are sweetly scented. It is surprisingly hardy and was introduced to the UK (at Kew) before 1895. I am sure its hardiness was doubted at first but it is usually a reliable and easy plant. Although there are other species, only this has made an impact, until fairly recently when C. arizonica, with finely fingered leaves, was used to produce hybrids such as ‘Aztec Pearl’.

Choisya ternata has glossy, rich green, three-parted leaves (ternate) which are a good foil for the pure white, fragrant flowers that open in early summer. It is best in full sun, which will encourage blooms and a sturdy framework of branches. It can be pruned lightly in summer, after flowering or harder in spring, though this will result in few flowers.

Then, in 1986, Sundance was introduced in the UK, by ‘Blooms of Bressingham’, transforming the look of suburbia almost as brutally as photonia ‘Red Robin’ did a few decades later. It was introduced by Peter Catt (VMH) of Liss Forest Nursery (names that are referenced in many ‘new’ plants) who passed away this year.

It is incredibly popular and is sold, year round, as a large shrub or as tiny young plants for autumn pots.

Despite its popularity, it is a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde. If it is planted in half shade it will be lime rather than lemon. And lower parts of the plant are usually rather green. In full sun it is potentially very, VERY bright lemon but if the soil is a bit too dry then the leaves, especially the shoot tips, are prone to scorch and go brown. Winter cold is also a problem and early or late cold spells can damage the shoot tips. These need to be pruned off to tidy it up but this will reduce flowering. But when it is at its best it is dramatic.

I would like to see the flower that can compete with this.

I am a rather cantankerous soul and there are some plants, that are loved by most people, that I won’t have in the garden. With so much choice, why not try something different? So, until now, Sundance has not been planted in this garden (I have planted it in previous gardens) but I had to do photos for my weekly Garden News column and it was ‘planting a shrub in summer’. I had to resist my urge to buy something rarified, which I wanted to spend my money on, and thought I had better plant something people would know. And Caroline at Coolacht suggested Sundance so I bought one and it was added to the lemon and white garden.

I feel like I am now a member of a popular branch of the garden club.

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