Pacific Northwest Gardening: Why isn't Daphne mezereum more commonly grown here?, 2 by momlady

momlady wrote:
We bought our house 13 years ago, and it had some Daphne mezereum bushes as foundation plantings. We moved them to another location - so I understand why they do not transplant well. They have a taproot that goes amazingly far down. Many feet. Out of the 14 or so we moved, only 1 made it.

But now it has seeded a couple of places in our yard. I am sure I could move them while small, but they are in nice places.

The bush is a little stiff, but it has beautiful blossoms in late winter and the blossoms have a wonderful perfume. Then, this time of year, there are red berries. I know the berries are toxic, but a lot of other common plants have toxic parts (Digitalis, Aconite, etc.) I ignore my shrub and it never needs supplemental water. It is completely healthy and happy and it grows slowly.

So I have a question: why are they not more common? I have never seen one for sale in a nursery. Are other Daphnes so much better that this one just doesn't compare (I have never grown another Daphne)? Are they difficult to propagate? I am very curious.

Here are a couple of pics from this week. I looked but can't find any pics with the flowers.