Calycanthus floridus - sweetshrub
This easy to grow shrub has many names and all of them say something about the beautiful scent of the flowers: sweetshrub, strawberry shrub, or even pineapple shrub. That’s because of the deliciously scented flowers which smell like a blend of strawberry jam and apple juice.
Flowers are 3-5 cm across, with numerous strap-shaped petals. Their colour varies with soil conditions and amount of everyday sunlight: it is rich burgundy to deep purple or even crimson red. They come out in June (rarely in end May) and continue blooming in a few phases until early August.
Oval to oblong leaves are bright green, partly glossy, changing to yellow in the autumn. Flowers can be followed by unique seed capsules of green and purple colour in August/September. Leaves, bark, and also roots are aromatic, too.
It comes from northern America from moist woodlands so, logically, it will require a moist (not wet) place in your garden. We suggest trimming it in the first few years to achieve a compact shape with regular habit which the plant can then keep without further care. Fully hardy to -29°C (USDA zone 5).
