Heptacodium miconioides - Seven-son Tree

Heptacodium miconioides, sometimes called Heptacodium jasminoides, or more poetically "flowers of the seven sons of Zhejiang," is a large deciduous shrub from China that is unfairly overlooked, arriving in France just over 20 years ago, yet interesting for more than one reason. Without being a spectacular plant, this species, related to honeysuckles and Abelias, is robust and undemanding, easy to acclimate in most of our gardens. Its diverging and open habit is elegant and full of character, and its flowering, which changes from white to red, remains decorative until the frosts. Its foliage, deciduous, turns red in autumn and falls very late in the season. Finally, its last asset, and not the least, is its beautiful beige-pink bark, which exfoliates and takes on a marbled appearance in winter. It is not demanding in terms of soil type, extremely hardy, and grows very quickly. So many reasons to discover this uncommon species that fights monotony in the garden!

Heptacodium miconioides is a small deciduous tree from the Caprifoliaceae family, reaching 4 to 5m (16in 5ft) in all directions in our climates, but sometimes reaching 7 to 8m in its country of origin. It is native to a very restricted area located east of China, where it has apparently become rare. It most often grows with multiple "trunks" and has a bushy, spreading, and diverging habit. Its branches are adorned with leaves arranged in pairs, 7 to 12cm long, round with acute tips, slightly undulate, and dark green with a glossy finish. They take on a subtle yellow to purple hue before falling, usually at the end of November. The flowers appear in late August, clustered in panicles at the ends of the branches. They are star-shaped, with 5 sepals at the tip of a tubular corolla, and emit a very pleasant fragrance reminiscent of jasmine. The flowering, which is both honey-producing and nectar-producing, reaches its peak in September, with the white flowers gradually revealing calyxes tinted with cherry pink, which are as decorative as the flowers and persist until the frosts. The bark, smooth, is a beautiful light brown to beige-pink colour and exfoliates in salmon-brown flakes. To better admire it on a single trunk, it is preferable to gradually eliminate certain branches that emerge towards the bottom of a main stem.

One of our favourites, as you may have guessed. For a little history, it was imported from China in the early 20th century; forgotten, it was rediscovered in the 1980s in a Belgian garden; dedicated to Courson in the 1990s, it remains quite rare. It can be planted in a grove, a hedge, or even as a standalone plant in a small garden or in the middle of a dedicated bed, accompanied by easy-to-grow Asian plants (Corydalis, Aconogonon, Osmanthus...). It will pair well with Abelias, shrub honeysuckles, lilacs, and various viburnums... Asters and perennial chrysanthemums will also accompany it at the end of the season. A carpet of hellebores, evergreen ferns (Nephrolepis exaltata), cyclamens, and Epimediums will serve as a backdrop to its unique bark. A bushy clematis (Clematis heracleifolia, tangutica, or viticella) will climb and flower between its branches in summer.