Loropetalum Chinense or Chinese Fringe Bush

Loropetalum Chinense
The Chinese Fringe Bush is an evergreen flowering shrub with sweetly scented flowers in pink or white in winter and early spring. It’s a great ornamental shrub for early season colour and scent. Chinese Fringe Bush originates from South East Asia and is related to witch hazels. It arrived in the UK with Victorian plant hunters in the 1880s.

This is an evergreen shrub with overlapping green foliage. Its dense foliage is pretty with dark green tops and pink undersides. The frilly winter flowers are sweetly scented and attract early pollinators. Flowers appear on short branch tips in star-shaped blooms of white, red or pink depending on the cultivar.

This Chinese Fringe Flower is a shrub, but being versatile and happy to be clipped, it lends itself very well to topiary work such as this topiary globe version which we also sell online.

Height And Spread of Loropetalum Chinense
Chinese Fringe Bush has naturally compact and tidy growth. It can eventually reach 3 metres in height and spread, but you can keep it smaller with regular trimming.

How Hardy Is Loropetalum Chinense
This is a hardy plant down to sub-zero temperatures if the roots are well-drained. It prefers a sheltered sunny spot to flower well and does best in the warmer southern areas of the UK. 

How To Use Loropetalum Chinense
Chinese Fringe Bush is a pretty ornamental that flowers when not much else is in season. It makes an attractive evergreen hedge in the milder south and looks good in a mixed border with other evergreens and early flowering bulbs.

You can grow this scented winter flowering shrub in a container to brighten up a dull deck or beneath a window to take advantage of the fragrance. It’s a great choice for wildlife gardens as it provides shelter for insects and nectar for pollinators in the colder months.

How To Care For Loropetalum Chinense
Chinese Fringe Bush needs little in the way of care if it’s planted in an advantageous spot. It prefers well-drained rich soil but will tolerate the majority of conditions if they are not waterlogged.
Choose a sheltered spot so frosts and freezing winds don’t damage the early blooms. There’s no need to prune this evergreen shrub, but you can cut back dead or damaged branches to maintain the shape in mid-spring or after flowering has finished.
A thick layer of mulch around the roots provides nutrients for the growing year and helps seal in moisture.

You may also be interested in other trained forms of this tree, such as Loropetalum Pleached and Loropetalum Full Standard.