PlantSowGrow
How to plant and care for Skimmia (Rubella)
Skimmia japonica 'Rubella'
🌸 Flower
🔁 Perennial
A compact evergreen with clusters of red winter buds that open to scented white flowers in spring. Perfect for shady pots by the door.
When to plant and care for it
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Flowers
Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April). The app uses your own town's frost dates.
Growing Skimmia (Rubella): what it needs
- Light
- Part shade · 6+ hours a day
- Watering
- Water well for the first summer, then in dry spells
- Soil
- Acid to neutral, moist soil
- Spacing
- 90 cm
- Height
- 90 cm
- In pots
- Grows well in containers
- Feeding
- Ericaceous feed in spring
- Hardiness
- USDA zones 6–9
Step by step
- On planting day
Plant
Plant at the same depth as it was in its pot, 90 cm apart, and firm in.
- 0–1 days after “Plant”
Water In Well
Give a full can of water, then keep moist for the first few weeks while roots establish.
- 7–14 days after “Water In Well”
Mulch Around the Base
Spread 5 cm of compost or bark around the plant, keeping it off the stems.
Every year
- AprilIn Flower
Scented spring flowers.
- AprilSpring Feed
Feed with an ericaceous fertiliser.
- DecemberRed Winter Buds
The red flower buds look festive all winter — take a photo.
More flowers to grow
Photo: Dominicus Johannes Bergsma / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
