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Daphne eternal fragrance

pamelabreenspamelabreens Posts: 2
in The potting shed
Can you tell me why my 5 yr old daphne has suddenly gone yellow from the centre with dead branches breaking off. It hasn’t flowered this year yet. Thank you

Posts

  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    Unfortunately, daphnes are one of those shrubs which can suddenly 'just die' like this.  I had the same variety but think I may have damaged the roots when planting bulbs nearby, and root disturbance is something they definitely don't appreciate.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • pamelabreenspamelabreens Posts: 2
    oh that’s a shame I haven’t planted anything next to it so don’t think it’s damaged roots. Perhaps it’s just died then
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    It might come back if you are lucky, so I would cut off any completely dead parts and give it a few weeks to see if any new leaves start developing. 🤞
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • not-so-green-thumbnot-so-green-thumb Posts: 6
    My 4 year old Daphne Eternal Fragrance has gone quite brown and appears to be dying. it was fine in the Autumn but now there are a very few green leaves and the others look dusty and withered. I have had 2 other Daphnes die on me in the last few years so something systemic is wrong. my soil is neutral to acid  and goes most things well, including Camellias. I have fed it sequestrene. Judging by other things in the bed its not too dry. perceived wisdom is that nothing much goes wrong with these, and there is very little advice around. any help would be much appreciated

    Heather Baker
  • Allotment BoyAllotment Boy Posts: 6,774
    I am glad I read this we were thinking of moving a Daphne.  Won't do it now. 
    AB Still learning

  • bertrand-mabelbertrand-mabel Posts: 2,697
    Our daphne ordora was not happy last year and whislt we did water it in the very dry weather it didn't respond.
    It has though been with us for some 30 years!
    We have given it a chance by digging it up and pruning it and moving it.
    Will see what happens......probably nothing.
    They are still fabulous plants and worth the time to give it another chance.
  • SporophyteBoySporophyteBoy Posts: 118
    They catch Phytophthora quite readily - it's a die-back fungus and it has "learned" to infect more species since I were a lad. 
    Any plant that has its leaves turning yellow and dropping off is obviously not happy - with some it a bit of a warning cry for help and they will recover - for others its curtains. When under stress, plants gradually withdraw the chlorophyll from older leaves the support their newer ones - this will sometimes leave the thing completely denuded apart from the shoot tips. They rarely recover from the worst case scenario.  
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