Daphne - died in cold winter. But suckers?

[EmmaCB1]

I planted a daphne about 5 years ago and sadly it died this winter in the cold. I haven’t dug it up yet as I was hoping for a miracle.

My question is, how come the suckers are still growing if the plant is dead? In fact, they’re not just growing from the base, but they’re also popping up a few meters away.

If I leave some of them, will they turn into regular daphne plants? Thanks!

Yes they will - my Jacqueline Postill was a sucker I nabbed from work when clearing a bed.

It may be that the top of the original plant was killed off, but the roots and suckers were insulated by the soil, hence you seeing growth now.

Thank you. I guess I’ll just cut the dead plant down to the ground and see what happens!

Is it common for them to sucker? I have a JP too, but not noticed it suckering (yet). If it does, how do you lift one up without damaging the parent plant?

It was common in the gardens I worked in, but they don't send out long suckers, just shortish ones with roots. I snipped them off at the stem between the parent plant and where the sucker had developed roots, and then potted them up. Easy peasy free plants and no need to disturb the parent plant much.

I should say, these were all big established plants that had been in position for at least 15 years.

Thanks, @dubyalass. Mine's been in about 6 years from a 2yo plant (moved once) and it's now about 6' tall and about 4' wide (although, squashed between lots of perennials and a prunus next to it) - flowers really well and considerably for a long time which is such a bonus in late winter into early spring. I can't wait for it to sucker so I can give these away as presents.

They're such lovely things aren't they! I have inherited one, a different species/cultivar but it has delicious scent.

I’m so sad that mine died in the cold, the flowers were stunning and it had a lovely shape. I’ll definitely try another one, but will protect it if we have another cold winter.