Serissa foetida "Kowloon"

Serissa foetida 'Kowloon', now more correctly placed as Serissa japonica, is a small, dense evergreen shrub known by a string of affectionate names: snow rose, tree of a thousand stars, and Japanese boxthorn. The genus stands alone in the coffee family, Rubiaceae, a surprising cousin to coffee, gardenia, and pentas. The unlovely species name foetida records the one fault, since bruised leaves and roots give off a faintly unpleasant smell, a small price for so much charm.

Native to open subtropical woodlands, wet meadows, and riverbanks from India through China to Japan, Serissa has been loved in gardens and on the bonsai bench for centuries, prized for a neat, twiggy habit, a handsome pale-grey trunk that lightens with age, and an unusually long flowering season. 'Kowloon' adds a bright cream-to-yellow leaf margin to the picture, so that the small, glossy foliage carries color even between the flushes of bloom.

The flowers are the source of the prettiest common name. From spring into summer, and often again through the warm months, the shrub scatters itself with small, white, star-shaped blooms, a thousand tiny stars against dark, variegated leaves. In the plant's native range, Serissa has a modest place in folk medicine as well, the roots and leaves used in traditional preparations, though the shrub is grown in Western gardens strictly for ornament.

In the garden, use 'Kowloon' as a low evergreen edger, a foundation or pathway plant, or a container and bonsai subject where the fine foliage and long bloom can be enjoyed at close range. The compact, well-branched frame holds shape with little effort and takes readily to clipping. Give full sun to part shade and moist, well-drained soil, shelter from hard freezes at the cold edge of the range, and site the shrub where the thousand small stars can be met up close.