Choisya ternata, superb blooming

Choisya ternata is a marvelous flower shrub at the beginning of spring with its magnificent small, white and fragrant flowers.

Main Choisya ternata facts

Name – Choisya ternata
Family – Rutaceae (Rue family)
Type – shrub
Height – 6 to 10 feet (2 to 3 meters)

Exposure – full sun
Foliage – evergreen
Flowering – April to June

Here are our tips to spur nice growth and spectacular blooming.

Planting Choisya ternata

It is preferable to plant Choisya ternata in spring or in fall rather than in winter when freezing might risk damaging your shrub.

If purchased in a pot or in a container, planting is also possible anytime during the year while avoiding frost spells and high temperatures.

Right from the start, especially if you’ve planted in spring or summer, water abundantly and regularly, albeit without flooding the roots of the shrub.

• Follow our shrub planting guidelines

Pruning Choisya ternata

Choisya ternata, whether standalone, part of a hedge or in a flower bed doesn’t require any particular pruning.

But it is often nice to succeed in giving it a nice shape, especially when it is part of a hedge.

• If you’re hoping to reduce or balance the branches, avoid pruning at the end of winter, or you’ll be altering the blooming.
• Always wait for the end of the blooming season to prune, preferably in June.

Propagating and multiplying Choisya ternata

Cuttings are the best way to propagate your Choisya ternata. This will ensure its traits are preserved (blooming, leaf size, growth habit).

• In August, select cuttings that are 4 to 6 inches long (10 to 15 cm)
• Remove all leaves except for the top third of the stem
• Place the cuttings in potting soil mix, and put them in a shaded spot that gets plenty of indirect light
• Ensure constant moisture (wrap a transparent bag around the nursery pot if needed)
• Transplant to a larger pot or to the ground in the following spring

Choisya ternata varieties

Choisya ternata varieties such as ‘Aztec Pearl’ or ‘Sundance’ and others make for very easy growing and it has the advantage of never growing taller than 6 to 10 feet (2 to 3 meters) tall, which means regular pruning isn’t necessary.

Here are commonly available Choisya ternata varieties (click on the image to be brought to the page):

Learn more about Choisya ternata

A very beautiful shrub with a fragrance that is close to that of orange trees, a dense shape and magnificent blooming, Choisya ternata, also called Mexican orange tree or Mexican orange blossom is native to that North American country.

Even if you let the shrub grow without ever pruning it, it will never grow higher than 10 feet (3 meters) high.

The flowers, similar to those of the orange tree, are very fragrant. This shrub adapts very well to growing directly in the soil, and also to growing in pots on a terrace or balcony.