Decumaria sinensis

The Decumaria sinensis is an original climbing or creeping plant, still rare in cultivation and very close to hydrangeas. Less spectacular than its cousins, it is however interesting for its very shiny foliage, evergreen in mild climates, but also for its flowering with a sweet honey scent. This running shrub shows modest growth but produces beautiful umbels of white-cream flowers in late spring, capable of perfuming a whole area of the garden. Like ivy, it clings to walls or stone walls and tree trunks through its roots, and can also form a good ground cover. Its cultivation is reserved for relatively mild and humid areas, in a fresh, well-drained soil, in a semi-shaded and sheltered from cold winds.

The Decumaria sinensis, like hydrangeas, belongs to the family of hydrangeas. Discovered in China by the French botanist Louis Henry and introduced by the British Ernest Wilson in 1908, this woody plant is native to western China, more precisely Sichuan, where it grows in thickets, on mountain slopes and in rock crevices, from 600 to 1300 metres (1968 feet 6 inches to 4265 feet 1 inch) altitude. This runner-like shrub develops stems of 3.50 to 4 metres (11 feet 6 inches to 13 feet 1 inch) in length, downy when young, then glossy and grey-brown, with slightly swollen nodes, equipped with aerial roots that cling to any support. The leaves, entire, elliptical, leathery, shiny, are 3 to 10 cm (1.2 to 3.9 in) long and light green in colour. They are evergreen to semi-evergreen depending on the region. Flowering takes place in June, in the form of corymbs measuring 3 to 10 cm (1.2 to 3.9 in) wide, composed only of small fertile flowers, which exude a musky and honey-like fragrance. This flowering plant is a popular pollinator stop and produces a dry capsule with tiny seeds with white wings.

Hardy down to -10°C (14 °F) / - 12°C, the Decumaria sinensis thrives in semi-shade in any humus-rich, non-drying and well-drained soil. Plant it against a north or west-facing wall or on the bare trunk of a tree or large shrub. It can also be grown as a dense shrub, and planted on its own, by regularly pruning it in late winter. It can be planted for example with Fuchsia magellanica, silver candles or ferns that appreciate the same environments.