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Ornamentalshrub ornamentalStraightforward

Mexican orange blossom

Choisya ternata

A rounded evergreen with aromatic three-fingered leaves and scented white flowers in May, often with a second flush in autumn. Both the leaves and the flowers smell strongly when crushed or warmed, which makes it a good doorway shrub and a poor choice next to a narrow path if you dislike the scent.

Position
Full sun or Partial shade
Water
low demand
Drainage
Free-draining
Grows to
150–250 cm × 150–250 cm
Hardiness
H4
Flowers
May to September
Difficulty
Straightforward

August

Nothing to do

No sowing, planting, harvesting or pruning window falls in August.

Coming next month: plant, in flower.

Mexican orange blossom’s year

Resolved for United Kingdom (general). Every window is stored against a climate event rather than a date, so a late frost pocket runs later than the band shows. What else August calls for.

ActivityJFMAMJJASOND
PlantApril. May. September.
In flowerMay. June. September.
PruneJune.

Names that cause confusion

mock orange — Sometimes applied to choisya, but properly belongs to Philadelphus — a much larger deciduous shrub with a far stronger scent and a single June flowering. Choisya is evergreen and often flowers twice.

Timing that travels

The band above resolves this plant's windows into months for one region. These are the windows themselves, stored against a climate event rather than a date — which is the form that survives being carried to a colder garden, a frost pocket, or next year.

Conditions it needs

Light
Full sun, Partial shade
Frost
Hardy
Hardiness rating
H4 (RHS)
Grows best at
10–26 °C
Soil
Loam, Sandy, Chalky
Soil pH
6–7.8
Drainage
Free-draining
Water needs
low
Drought
good tolerance
Waterlogging
poor tolerance
Heat
good tolerance
Wind and exposure
poor tolerance
Where these figures come from
LightSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Choisya — position

Checked 2026-08-13

FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Choisya — hardiness

Checked 2026-08-13

Hardiness ratingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: RHS hardiness ratings

Checked 2026-08-13

Grows best atSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Choisya — temperature

Checked 2026-08-13

SoilSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Choisya — soil

Checked 2026-08-13

Soil pHSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Choisya ternata — culture

Checked 2026-08-13

DrainageSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Choisya — soil

Checked 2026-08-13

Water needsHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

DroughtHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

WaterloggingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

HeatHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Wind and exposureHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

On your soil

Computed by comparing this plant's recorded requirements against each soil's recorded characteristics. A recorded horticultural fact overrides the comparison where GrowingHQ holds one.

SoilVerdictWhy
Heavy clayWorks, with one conditionMexican orange blossom will crop on heavy clay, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
SandyPrefers this soilSandy suits Mexican orange blossom as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7.8, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Sandy soil is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. It stands dry conditions better than most, which this soil will test.
Chalky and alkalinePrefers this soilChalky and alkaline suits Mexican orange blossom as it stands: The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Chalky soil is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. It stands dry conditions better than most, which this soil will test.
LoamPrefers this soilLoam suits Mexican orange blossom as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7.8, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Loam is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering.
SiltyPrefers this soilSilty suits Mexican orange blossom as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7.8, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering.
Peaty and acidWorks, with one conditionMexican orange blossom will crop on peaty and acid, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
Shallow over rockPrefers this soilShallow over rock suits Mexican orange blossom as it stands: The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Loam is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. It stands dry conditions better than most, which this soil will test.
Made ground and urban soilWorks, with one conditionMexican orange blossom will crop on made ground and urban soil, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.

Not sure which you have? Four hand tests will settle it.

Space and spacing

Mature height
150–250 cm
Mature spread
150–250 cm
Rooting depth
50 cm
Spacing
120–180 cm apart
Where these figures come from
Mature heightHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Mature spreadHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Rooting depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

SpacingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Choisya — spacing

Checked 2026-08-13

How far apart to plant mexican orange blossomThree mexican orange blossom plants drawn in a row at their recorded spacing of 120–180 cm between plants. The spacing is drawn to scale against a one metre rule; the plants themselves are symbols rather than scale drawings, so the distance between them is the part to read.120–180 cmone metre
Measured centre to centre. Plants set closer than this compete for light and water long before they look crowded, and the crowding cannot be undone once they are in.

Habit and ultimate size

What the plant becomes, rather than what it is when you buy it. The gap between the two is where most planting mistakes live.

Foliage
Evergreen
In a container
Good in a container long-term
Where these figures come from
FoliageSourced guidancehigh confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Choisya ternata — foliage

Checked 2026-08-13

In a containerHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Growth rate
Moderate — roughly 30–60 cm a year
Ultimate height
150–250 cm
Ultimate spread
150–250 cm
Time to reach it
8–12 yearsSourced guidance
Where these figures come from
Growth rateSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Choisya ternata — growth rate

Checked 2026-08-13

Ultimate heightSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Choisya ternata — ultimate height

Checked 2026-08-13

Ultimate spreadSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Choisya ternata — ultimate spread

Checked 2026-08-13

Time to reach itSourced guidancelow confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Choisya ternata — time to ultimate size

Checked 2026-08-13

Cutting it back. Breaks from old wood, so a plant disfigured by a hard winter can be cut back into bare stems in mid-spring and will recover within a season or two. Unusual among aromatic evergreens, most of which will not.
source

Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Where and how you can grow it

Each way of growing is assessed separately, and “not assessed” is a real answer rather than a gap we have filled in with a guess.

MethodSuitabilityWhat it needs
Open groundWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Traditional dug bedWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Raised bedWell suited
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

ContainerWorkable
source

Sourced guidancemoderate confidence

  • Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability

Checked 2026-08-13

Growing it

  • PruningShorten the shoots that have flowered as soon as the first flush fades. This tidies the shape and brings on the autumn repeat, which is otherwise unreliable. It breaks from old wood, so a plant damaged by a hard winter can be cut back into bare stems and will recover.
  • PlantingWants sun and shelter. In shade it grows perfectly well and flowers sparsely; in an exposed cold garden the evergreen leaves brown over winter and the plant looks wretched until it grows away in May.
Where this guidance comes from
PruningSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Choisya ternata — pruning

Checked 2026-08-13

PlantingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
  • Royal Horticultural Society: Choisya — position

Checked 2026-08-13

Where to make a pruning cutFour stems compared. The first is cut cleanly on a slope about five millimetres above an outward-facing bud, sloping away from it, and is labelled correct. The second is cut too far above the bud, leaving a long stub that dies back. The third is cut too close, into the bud itself, which loses the shoot. The fourth is cut sloping towards the bud so rain runs onto it rather than away, which rots it. In every case the bud points outwards, away from the centre of the plant.Correct5 mm, sloping awayToo highstub dies backToo closebud lostSloping inrain sits on the bud
The bud you cut to becomes the new shoot, and it grows in the direction it points — which is why an outward-facing bud opens the plant up and an inward-facing one crosses the middle.

Sources for this page

GrowingHQ editorial synthesis · Plant Finder · Royal Horticultural Society

Each figure on this page carries its own citation, under the “where these figures come from” note in its section. Record last reviewed 2026-08-14.