mock orange
Pittosporum tobira
RHS AGM 1993
USDA zones9 to 10
SunHandles full sun to partial sun
WaterHandles dry to moist soil
Size10 to 15 feet tall10 to 15 feet wide
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Habit
- Dense
- Bloom season
- Spring, summer, autumn, winter
- Bloom color
- White
- Foliage color
- Green, variegated
- Soil types
- Sand, loam, clay, chalk
- Soil pH
- Acid, alkaline, neutral
Garden uses
Attracts
Notes
Mock orange (Pittosporum tobira) is a shrub for borders, hedges, privacy screens, and foundation plantings. It grows outdoors year-round in USDA zone 9 and warmer, down to about 20°F (-7°C). In colder areas, grow it as a houseplant or bring it indoors for winter. This plant likes full or part sun and dry to moist soil of most types. Its white flowers are fragrant and attract butterflies, bees, and birds. It sits low on the menu for deer. This evergreen also tolerates drought and salt.
Pairs well with Loquat, Strawberry tree, Karl Foerster feather reed grass, and Christmas fern.
Native range
Asia and Nansei-shoto.