Wax-leaf Privet | My Vintage Garden

This flowering shrub is deadly (proverbially) for allergies. It’s called Wax Leaf Privet. We don’t just have a few plants or even a hedge. We have a wall of trees of this stuff.

I took this photo last week -  the plant is no longer flowering. It felt mildly inappropriate to post about this plant when it was wreaking so much havoc for my husband’s allergies.

Now that’s it’s done flowering, I need to mention that it smelled so good. Yes, horrible for allergies but holy moly, it has an intoxicating smell. 

For the few weeks it flowers, bees hum in them - literally humming. All day and night for about two weeks.

This plant makes a superb hedge or fencing screen and smells incredible in the spring. But your allergies will suffer for it.

Regardless, I love this plant. It does extremely well in the California climate.