Pieris ryukyuensis 'Temple Bells' Sinclair Adam and neglect

and neglect

layered shrub that grows in time into a small tree

for the fragrant white flowers

at a time when European gardeners knew only the round mopheads

trifoliate leaves

Pieris ryukyuensis 'Temple Bells' Sinclair Adam and neglectPieris ryukyuensis is the lily of the valley shrub of the Ryukyu Islands, the warm archipelago that trails south from Japan toward Taiwan, and 'Temple Bells' is a choice selection of this heat tolerant species. The glossy, slightly toothed evergreen leaves emerge a warm bronze and mature to deep green, giving a polished, year round presence on a dense, rounded frame of three to six feet. In spring the shrub hangs dense clusters of small white, bell