Family Rutaceae.
Originating from USA and Mexico.
Received the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.
- Glossy golden leaves form a dense, soft mound-shaped, aromatic evergreen shrub.
- Scented white flowers bloom profusely in spring and summer.
- An easy-to-grow, versatile and reliable shrub thriving in any soil in sun.
Choisya Sundance in Your Garden
Radiant and glowing, as though the sun is shining even on an overcast day. The Mexican Orange Blossom’s dense mass of golden leaves burst forth, lighting up gardens with warm cheer. Choisya ternata ‘Sundance’ forms a lush, evergreen mound, its glossy foliage smothered in scented white flowers from spring to autumn.
Fully hardy in southern and coastal UK gardens it reaches 1.5m high and wide in 5–10 years. In central and northern gardens plant in a sheltered south-facing location. A golden, evergreen, scented shrub with aromatic dense and abundant foliage, it deserves a place in all gardens. It thrives in Norfolk and Suffolk’s sheltered coastal gardens and tolerates drought once established.
Its pollinator-attracting blooms appear sporadically throughout summer and autumn after its main flush. It makes an important food source for bees and butterflies in wildlife gardens, and an essential addition for waterwise gardeners. It can be grown as a specimen plant, taking centre stage, clipped as a hedge or grown in pots.
Growing Tips for Your Golden Mexican Orange Flower
- Soil and Sun: Plant in any well-drained soil; full sun yields the densest, brightest foliage.
- Planting: Set in spring or autumn; summer planting requires extra attention to watering. Plunge for 20 minutes to drench the root ball before planting. Do not add compost or improvers to soil.
- Watering: Moderate; tolerates dry spells once established. Water regularly in its first summer whilst rooting out.
- Pruning: Trim after flowering to shape.
Planted as a hedge, middle-of-border backdrop or star-of-the-show specimen, few golden evergreen scented shrubs excel like this variety. It fulfills utilitarian roles, yet its brilliant colour can add outstanding identity and structure to contemporary and formal planting schemes. Additionally its soft form, pungently aromatic foliage and scented flowers make it ideal for planting around seating areas and paths.
Planting Ideas for Choisya ternata Sundance
Rejoice in the radiant, resplendent warmth and rotund shape of this exceptional variety. Add its brilliant colour to your arsenal of explosive colour and have some fun with its flamboyant hues. The purples and blue pompoms of Agapanthus ‘Twister’, ‘Poppin Purple’, africanus, ‘Black Pantha’, and ‘Midnight Star’ pop against its backdrop.
Alternatively let its brightness shine in the foreground of Albizia ‘Summer Chocolate’, Ceanothus ‘Dark Star’, Cercis ‘Merlot’, and Cotinus ‘Grace’. Its brilliance makes a fantastic contrast for smaller dark-leaved varieties too. Cordyline ‘Festival Burgundy’, Libertia ‘Taupo Sunset’, Euphorbia ‘Miners Merlot’, and Fuchsia ‘Blacky’ stand out dramatically with it setting their stage.
