Daphne mezereum

Description

February Daphne is a deciduous, aromatic small shrub, highly desirable for any garden for its perfumed pink flowers which are truly harbingers of the spring. Later are followed by red, ornamental fruits. A great accent shrub for various garden locations, sun to part-shade.
Toxic if ingested, but I never heard of accidents happening in this regard; one year a rabbit eat a small plant in early spring (I don’t know if it survived :)

A bit slower growing in the first 2 years, but worth waiting. Almost impossible to purchase it, unless from small, family nurseries (as long as they still exist!). Finicky to transplant when older; I find it easy to do it with 1-2 years old plants.

Germination: the seeds should be sown fresh (ie. late summer-early fall) to allow a few weeks of warm/moist stratification before cold/moist stratification (winter). This way, they will germinate very well in the spring. Otherwise, the germination from dry kept seeds may be very low (I am talking from personal experience).
One year I kept freshly collected seeds in moist vermiculite and they started to emerge roots in the fall.