If you want a fabulously fragrant shrub for an entryway consider Wintersweet. Its cheerful yellow blooms appear on leafless stems in late winter to early spring filling the air with a spicy fragrance. As spring progresses the lustrous, dark green, almond shaped leaves emerge creating a good background for other spring or summer flowering shrubs or a perfect place for summer flowering vines to ramble. In autumn the leaves turn yellow-green before they fall. Branches of wintersweet can be forced into bloom in winter and will fill the whole room with their wonderful scent.
Type: Deciduous flowering shrub.
Outstanding Feature: Fragrant flowers in late winter-early spring.
Form: Large mound.
Growth Rate: Slow.
Bloom: Fragrant, waxy sulfur-yellow flowers with purple-brown centers in late winter to early spring; produced on previous season’s growth.
Size: 10-15’ H x 8-12’ W.
Light: Sun to light shade.
Soil: Moist well drained; preferably acidic; tolerates a wide variety soils if not too dry or wet.
Hardiness: Zones 6b-9.
Care: Since the flowers appear on the previous years’ growth, dead, diseased and a few old stems should be removed at ground level each year. Removing seed heads will increase flower production the following year.
Pests and Diseases: Susceptible to aphids, mites, leaf beetles but none cause serious problems.
Propagation: Seed; softwood cuttings.
Outstanding Selection: ‘Grandiflorus’ has deeper yellow flowers with red centers.
Comments: Needs a sheltered site against a wall or in a border. Shrub may take several years before it starts to bloom.
{ 4 comments }
yes ,I love this flowering tree very much! And I just made photos in my blog .It is blooming in the gardenes in the China!
Zhu limin,
We loved the gardens in China when we visited. You certainly have a a rich tradition of fabulous gardens. i hope that you will enjoy the website and get an idea of how we garden here in the US.
Karen
These are blooming now in North Carolina in January. Very fragrant but slow growing.
Arthur, Lucky you! especially since there has been considerable snow and cold so far.
Karen
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