Skimma japonica

Japanese skimmia is an outstanding evergreen shrub, that is perfect for planting in a border or woodland garden. It carries clusters of fragrance star-shaped flowers in spring, that are followed by masses of round lovely red fleshy berries. they are also fragrant, winter-flowering plants which are  slow-growing they reach a mature height of 1.5m and a spread of about 2m.

They grow best in partial shade  where the berries will develop the best although they will tolerate full shade. Apart from in cooler areas of the country or where the soil remains moist all summer, avoid growing skimmias in full sun which can make the leaves pale.The plant prefers a lightly acidic soil. If the leaves turn yellow the soil is not acidic enough.