As promised, and following on from my last post, here are a couple more winter scented shrubs of utter gorgeosity, but ones which you might need a little more space for...either that, or you have to NOT mind that they look a bit meh for the rest of the year. The best treatment for both of these would be to plant them in profusion (i.e. get yourself a WOODLAND) but failing that, one specimen, tucked away somewhere near to where you're going to walk is definitely the way forward. Needless to say, what these two lack in general looks, they make up for with their winter scent. Here goes:
Lonicera x purpusii 'Winter Beauty'
Lonicera x purpusii 'Winter Beauty' (Winter honeysuckle)
Gorgeous isn't it? So delicate, and the scent is out of this world - delicate, violet mixed with sweet syrupy yumminess.
Here's the wider view though:
Pretty, arching, but needs space, and a plain, dark background.
Chimonanthus praecox
Chimonanthus praecox (Wintersweet)
I do have pictures of this when it's not looking quite so awful, but putting them up would be a misrepresentation of what you're actually getting here. THIS is what the flowers become pretty quickly, and this is what you're looking at most of the time. Eeeek but OH THE SCENT! Indescribable, delicious, sweetly floral and JUST WHAT YOU NEED on a winter day.
...and the wider view:
Um, sort of spindly and bare... again, needs a plain dark background to help it shine, but only if your nose is blocked.
Both of these of course are totally worth it. But I would say that, wouldn't I! The truth is that I used to have both of them in my garden, but they had to go when I revamped it, as they just didn't do enough for me during the rest of the year. BUT if I had the space, wild horses wouldn't keep me from planting lots of them.
xx Laetitia