Luculia pinceana

A tender but prized Hydrangea-like shrub collected inNorth Vietnam by Port Townsend's native son Josh McCullough. Not a prayer of growing this outside here but oh what a container plant! Evergreen with pink to white 8" clustered flower heads with a heady jasmine scent.

The fragrance from this beautiful Himalayan is sweet but not overpowering & when it blooms I find it impossible to stay away from the far, far back corner of the nursery where it lives. Its cultivation is somewhat tricky, but believe me, if you have an opportunity to take one of these babies home, it’s well worth the trouble! First off, this plant abhors strong chemical fertilizer & needs LIGHT, ORGANIC fertilizer only occasionally or it won’t survive & second, frost will kill the plant, so you have to have it planted somewhere protected. Amend your soil with an abundance of organic material such as fir bark before you plant. Flowers are light pink & held in clusters & the buds look like perfectly round tiny lollipops before they open up to reveal their long pink stamens & rounded petals. Leaves are attractive & smooth & will only drop due to stress. Can get over 9’ tall but looks better if pruned back hard after bloom.