Daphne gemmata Royal Crown (spurge laurel)

A friend has given me this plant, which she recently bought in error, thinking it was another variety. She did not realise how moist the soil and roots had become until I looked at it. I have taken it out of its 1.5 litre pot and am thinking of placing it in a terracotta pot to help the excess moisture to dissipate. Is there anything else I could do, or would it be better to just plant it out?

It has some buds and flowers at present. I have not grown it before and the RHS suggests it is borderline hardy and flowers in May or June. Perhaps it flowers more than once a year?

Any thoughts appreciated.

 

If it's only in that size of pot, I'd tuck it somewhere out of the forthcoming weather for winter, if it's only borderline hardy. Might be ok where you are just up against a house wall, where the eaves will help keep wet out, and the wall would give it some protection, but it could also probably go in a cold frame or greenhouse over winter.
I wouldn't bother repotting it unless the drainage holes are all blocked up, and it would be fine in a plastic pot. The soil/compost it's in should dry out a little if it has decent shelter from the rain.

If it's big enough, and you think it would be fine in your garden you could plant it out. Not easy to say without seeing the size, and knowing your plot.
The timing of flowering largely depends on location and climate. Where you are, it would flower earlier than it would do here, but it would need to be overwintered under cover here to start with. If it flowers over a period of a couple of months, that's good value for a shrub. Unlikely to have a 2nd flush later unless it's very, very mild and it starts flowering earlier in the first instance.

 

Thankyou, @fairygirl, that is very helpful. I will have a think about whether to leave it in its pot by a sheltered wall, or whether to plant it out before colder temperatures arrive. Maybe flowering was delayed due to dull summer/lack of sun. It has more tiny yellow buds about to flower. (The flowers are very small themselves). It has a trunk with 3 good stems and is about 50cm/19.5" tall.

I think the roots became a bit less damp overnight. The roots look very pot-bound. Would that alone sway you to plant it out rather than keep it in the pot please? My garden does have sheltered areas so I am prepared to do that. Photo/s to follow, I hope!

 

It's very difficult to determine the moistness of something from a photo, unless water's dripping off it.
I'd tease those roots out a little and re pot with some reasonable compost - probably not much bigger a pot though, as it won't be doing much growing now. However, if you have a good site, and you prep that well, you could probably just plant it out.
It should probably have been potted on before now, hence the tight root system.
It'll be a while before it's sizeable though, and well filled out.

 

It was like a bath sponge that hadn't been wrung out (before I wrapped it in paper towels to drain the excess and squeezed out what I could). It has been raining a lot, but the soul now seems more usual. I understand daphnes should not dry out, nor accumulate water, so I will plant it out as soon as possible and keep an eye on it.

Thanks for your thoughts on the roots, @fairygirl, I will give it a bit of a tease before planting. Think the plant was older stock that was in a sale. I will be pleased if it lives. The flowers are attractive to bees I understand, so I will look out for them too, when they are on the wing.

 

Daphnes, in general, aren't grown much here as the climate isn't great for them. Coupled with our clay soil, which is acidic rather than alkaline, it's more difficult to keep them happy. There are better shrubs for this area so they aren't popular.
It's odd that it was as wet as that though, especially in a small pot and with the foliage cover. Perhaps the person had been overdoing the watering, or had it sitting in a wet spot in unsuitable compost/soil all the time?

 

Yes, @fairygirl , I think someone may have been over watering it. It is not something I would ever have thought of trying to grow, so it will be a bonus if it does ok. I don't mind the odd surprise plant - it will be a learning experience. Sadly not scented (yet) as far as I can tell.