Specialty Gardening: 'Sweet Shrub' (Calycanthus floridus) - so talk to me..., 1 by valrita

valrita wrote:
The species plant is grown at my local arboretum. It's okay but sparse. Fragrance is light and apple-ish.

I have three cultivars that are about three years old. 'Michael Lindsey' is nice and leafy and has maroon flowers that have a light scent of apple jack. 'Athens' is greenish-yellow flowers with an very light scent. One 'Athens' is doing great and the other is struggling. The other cultivar that I have is 'Venus'. It has very large white flowers that are magnolia-like. The scent is sweet and fruity. So far, I like the 'Venus' best but the Michael Lindey's are getting better each year.

Both 'Michael Lindsey' and 'Athens' are Calycanthus floridus. The other is Synocalycanthus 'Venus' (I think) but if you search plant files with calycanthus it should come up with the others anyway.

Of course, the scent will vary so please take this with a grain of salt. In my yard, all of my Calycanthus seem to prefer more acidic soil than what I have. I have to add sulfur or ironite or their leaves turn yellow. The ones with more sun are happier and grow more upright. Again, this is only how things are in my little corner of the world. Your mileage may vary.

Flower on 'Venus'