Philadelphus 'Belle Etoile' Shrubs

Philadelphus Belle Etoile Hedging

Philadelphus Belle Etoile is a variety of Mock Orange bush with large, fragrant, open white flowers that have purple eye and bright yellow pollen in the centre. It is a vigorous, arching shrub that makes a great plant for the back of a border and it's also ideal for an informal, low maintenance hedge up to about 2 metres high.
You can also buy Philadelphus Virginal, which is delivered bareroot in the winter season.

See our selection of hedge shrub plants or view our full range of hedging.

All our hedge plants are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots & pots aren't measured).

Spacing a Philadelphus Belle Etoile hedge:

Plant at 2 plants per metre, 50cm apart.

General description of Philadelphus Belle Etoile plants:

With its beautiful single, white, heavily scented flowers, this is a shrub is on many a gardener's "favourite" list. Upright and shapely, strong growing with beautiful foliage, Belle Etoile is superb as a host for a small climbing clematis, as a stand a lone specimen or as a rough around the edges hedge: don't trim it much, or you'll lose the flowers.

History & uses:

This cultivar was bred around 1930 and has won both the RHS Award of Garden Merit and an Award of Merit for its cut flowers.

Growing Philadelphus Belle Etoile plants:
These hardy bushes will grow well in any soil with decent drainage and about half a day of sun. They grow quite close to the sea and tolerate both chalk and poor soils.
They will not grow well if the site is prone to waterlogging or too shady: dappled shade from tall trees is usually fine.

Prepare your site before planting:
It is good to dig over the area where you plant a hedge several months in advance, especially if the soil is poor. Destroy the weeds first: nettles, brambles and ground elder are tough and weed-killer is the best way to remove them. Then dig the soil over; remove rocks, roots and other rubbish. Mix in well rotted compost or manure down to the depth of about 2 spades. If your soil is rich, you don't have to dig it over, but killing all the weeds is still necessary.

Watch our video on how to plant a garden hedge for full details.
Remember to water establishing plants during dry weather for at least a year after planting.

Hedge Planting Accessories:
Prepare your site for planting by killing the weeds and grass
You can buy a hedge planting pack with sheets of mulch fabric and pegs to hold it down.
If your soil quality is poor, we recommend using mycorrhizal "friendly fungi" on the roots of new trees and shrubs.
You can also improve your soil with bonemeal organic fertiliser.

After you have planted your Philadelphus Belle Etoile hedge, the most important thing to do is water it in dry weather. You will also need to weed around the plants. Watering should be thorough, so the ground is soaked. Let the soil almost dry out before watering again. Watering & weeding will be necessary for at least a year after planting.

Trimming Formal hedge plants:
Philadelphus Belle Etoile is naturally bushy, so it doesn't need any clipping at all in its first year. In the winter of the year after planting, your young hedge should be trimmed lightly and every winter after that until it is mature.
When it is fully grown, you can clip it at anytime. A good time to clip Philadelphus Belle Etoile hedges is immediately after flowering in summer.

Special notes on caring for Philadelphus Belle Etoile hedges:
Philadelphus Belle Etoile is a tough hedge plant that shouldn't need special attention once it has established. If you didn't use a mulch fabric, it is beneficial to mulch around the base of the hedge each year with well rotted manure or compost.

Hygiene & Diseases:
Dead, damaged or diseased wood can be pruned off as soon as it appears.
Disinfect your pruning tools between every cut if there is any sign of disease.
Burn or dispose of any diseased material, do not compost it.
Mock oranges are a target for aphids.
They can suffer from mildew: keep the base of the plants clear of dead leaves to help reduce this and prune out affected stems as the appear.