Is Sweet Box deer resistant?
Sarcococca hookeriana
Plant typeShrubHardinessZones 5–8LightFull shade to part shadeMature height48–60 inBloomSpring
MaintenanceLow, mostly leave it alone
About Sweet Box
Insignificant winter flowers with a scent that carries across a garden, on a glossy evergreen that tolerates deep dry shade. Plant it beside a door you use in February.
Soil and care
- Soil pH
- 5.5 to 7
- Drainage
- Consistently moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Spacing
- 35 to 47 in apart
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Maintenance
- Low
Tolerances and uses
- Evergreen
Similar to Sweet Box
Other shrubs with the same deer rating.
- Arrowwood ViburnumViburnum dentatumZones 2–8Rarely damaged
- BarberryBerberis sp.Zones 4–8, genus rangeRarely damaged
- BayberryMyrica pensylvanicaZones 3–7Rarely damaged
- Blue Mist ShrubCaryopteris clandonensisZones 6–9Rarely damaged
- BoxwoodBuxus sempervirensZones 5–8Rarely damaged
- BroomCytisus sp.Zones 5–8, genus rangeRarely damaged
Where Sweet Box grows
Hardy across most of these 49 states on zone range alone. Mountain and coastal areas sit outside the ranges used here, so check your own zone before ordering.
- Pennsylvania
- New Jersey
- New York
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- Virginia
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Wisconsin
- Ohio
- Indiana
- Illinois
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- North Carolina
- Tennessee
- Georgia
- Texas
- Colorado
- California
- Oregon
- Washington
- New Hampshire
- Vermont
- Maine
- Rhode Island
- Delaware
- West Virginia
- Kentucky
- South Carolina
- Florida
- Alabama
- Mississippi
- Louisiana
- Arkansas
- Oklahoma
- Kansas
- Nebraska
- Iowa
- South Dakota
- Montana
- Wyoming
- Idaho
- Utah
- Nevada
- Arizona
- New Mexico
- Alaska
- District of Columbia
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Every list Sweet Box belongs to.
Hardy in these zones
Common questions about Sweet Box
- Is Sweet Box deer resistant?
- Sweet Box (Sarcococca hookeriana) is rated Rarely Damaged on the Rutgers NJAES four-tier scale. Deer almost always leave this alone.
- What hardiness zones does Sweet Box grow in?
- Sweet Box is hardy in USDA zones 5 to 8. Outside that range it will either not survive winter or will struggle with summer heat.
- Does Sweet Box grow in shade?
- Yes. Sweet Box tolerates full shade to part shade, which makes it one of the options for a shaded bed where deer also browse.
- How big does Sweet Box get?
- Mature height is roughly 48–60 in. Growth rate is slow.