Chimonanthus praecox is a shrub that you hardly notice during the summer. Except perhaps as a leafy green backdrop to some vivid herbaceous perennials such as Galliarda ‘Arizona Sunrise’.
But from November through almost to March it is probably the flowering shrub you will most want in your garden. Or you would if you knew about it. Surprisingly few people realise its beauty, its perfume and its bee friendly qualifications.
Also known as Wintersweet and Japanese allspice, this is probably the strongest scented of all the winter flowering shrubs. Yet it’s not commonly found in domestic gardens. So lets look at what sort of shrub it is, the cultivars available and whether it might suit your winter garden.
Chimonanthus praecox – the botanical and historical bits
Botanical
Wintersweet is a deciduous winter flowering shrub in the genus Chimonanthus. It is a member of the Calycanthaceae family, which also includes Calycanthus florida, or Californian Allspice. The genus includes 6 species of deciduous or evergreen shrubs found in the hills of china at altitudes up to 10,000 feet.
Its binomial name: – Chimonanthus comes from Greek cheimonas, which means “winter”, and anthos, “flower”; whilst the Latin praecox translates as “very early”. It can also be found as Calycanthus praecox. So, basically, its Latin name describes when this shrub flowers and the common names reflect the fact that it has scented flowers.
It is a slow growing shrub, eventually reaching about 10 foot tall, depending on cultivar and growing conditions. As it is a deciduous plant, wintersweet flowers on bare branches on the growth put on in the previous season. The flowers are relatively small, bowl shaped with waxy petals (or tepals to be more precise). These are followed by cylindrical seed pods. Foliage is green and emits a pleasant odour when crushed.
Whilst the flowers can be made into a tea, the seeds are toxic, and contain the alkaloid Calycanthine.
Just one species of the genus is commonly grown in gardens, ie Chimonanthus praecox, cultivars have been bred. Chimonanthus praecox grandiflorus has large, deeper yellow flowers stained red. Whilst Chimonanthus praecox ‘Luteus’ has gold yellow flowers.
Historical
A native of China, poems were inspired by Chimonanthus praecox from the eleventh century. At Chinese New Year, aka Lunar New Year, flowering sprigs of wintersweet, La Mei Hua, are traditionally worn as hair decoration.
The flowers, bark and roots have been used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat a range of aliments such as colds and rheumatism.
One of its other common names, Japanese allspice, probably dates from the mid seventeenth century when it was introduced into Japan. There is no resemblance culinary-wise or botanically to the spice Pimento dioica, allspice. That plant is in the Myrtaceae family and is native to Central America.
Wintersweet was introduced from China into England in 1766, as per William Aiton, in Hortus Kewensis.
The plant received was grown in the conservatory at Croome Court, in Worcestershire, where the 6th Earl of Coventry and his wife amassed a vast and diverse plant collection. (The couple also employed Lancelot Capability Brown to refashion the parkland and estate, and extended the walled kitchen garden to cover nearly 7 acres!)
We have further confirmation of the introduction in a letter dated 1799, written by William Dean, Gardener to Lord Coventry, to William Curtis, publisher of The Botanical Magazine. By that time the Chimonanthus was sixteen feet high and ten feet wide. There were also propagated plants growing
“in a warm situation in the open border, which have stood out several years by being covered with a single mat in severe weather”
Curtis received “a beautiful specimen of the plant in bloom, a seedling plant one year old” from the Earl.
Growing Chimonanthus praecox
Wintersweet flowers best if its grown in sheltered location with plenty of sunlight and well-drained soil. It is tolerant of most soils.
Although the flowers are tough against wet and wind, and will recover after frost, planting Chimonanthus in a sheltered spot helps retain the scent – which is why you planted this shrub after all! However, it can take a few years, 3 – 7 to reach flowering maturity. Wisteria is another example of “waiting for the perfume”. If you’re expecting to move house within five years, the advice is often not to bother. Although I do have another suggestion: grow Japanese Allspice in a pot. You can then take the plant with you when you move, and plant it out in your new garden.
Chimonanthus praecox is pruned after flowering, in early – mid spring. This gives the plant time to grow the stems which will produces flowers the following winter. It doesn’t generally require annual pruning, but remove the oldest stems which have ceased to be productive.
Planting Combinations and Ideas for Growing Wintersweet in Your Garden
Now, whilst the flowers are attractive, once blooming has finished and late spring comes round, you may wonder why you’ve given a relatively prominent place to a somewhat untidy shrub. It is an issue we gardeners and garden designers face with many a scented flowering shrub!
Whilst positively in favour of Chimonanthus for a winter border, the late great Christopher Lloyd referred to it as –
“ a shrub of sordid appearance in its summer dress”
So what are your options?
Well, you could grow your Japanese allspice on a large pot. Then, once it has flowered, you could move to a less frequented spot come March. You know, round the back of the greenhouse or potting shed where the spent bulbs in pots can join in in later spring. That, of course, is a solution. But just remember that, unlike those bulbs that need light but not warm sunlight, your wintersweet needs sun to ripen next winter’s flowers.
Or you could make good use of Wintersweet’s branches for summer flowering climbers. For example, why not encourage a Clematis to grow through it? It makes sense to choose one which will be pruned before the Wintersweet is due to flower, so an early flowering Clematis alpine is often suggested. But you could be bold and try Clematis jackmanii, pruning in November rather than February, as per Christopher Lloyd. But you may find growing annuals such as sweet peas is the easier solution.
Chimonanthus also does well trained against a wall. At Hestercombe in Somerset, Gertrude Jekyll’s garden, it was planted on the walls surrounding the Rotunda pond. The opposite wall has white climbing roses, ‘Perle d’or’ growing on it. Jekyll’s eyesight was failing and she planted many scented plants to increase her pleasure in the garden. The inspiration this combination provides for us is a long period of scent throughout the year with the visual beauty of the flowers taking second place to their perfume.
Chimonanthus praecox and Bee friendly Gardening
There are pollinators searching your garden for food even in the depths of winter. If there weren’t, there would be no reason for shrubs to be flowering. More importantly, Chimonanthus and other scented winter shrubs wouldn’t be filling the cold air with their perfume to attract bees.
Honeybee colonies are retained overwinter and bees will come out to forage in milder weather. Solitary bees may also be actively looking for food. There would seem to be a change in the behaviour pattern of Bumblebees too, with some queens starting a colony in autumn; which means their worker bees are around in our gardens during the winter.
Even in a small garden it is possible to have scented flowering plants for you and the bees to enjoy throughout the year. And if you don’t have room for a Chimonanthus praecox, visit open gardens and parks nearby. Your nose will find the wintersweet before you see it – bliss.
and finally…
If you’d like help with creating a winter garden, winter border or bee friendly garden for humans, do get in touch! Choose from garden design, planting designs, Garden Consultancy & Advice Visits
Or perhaps you have a birthday coming up? Plews bespoke Gardening Lessons, where your classroom is actually your own garden make a wonderful and practical gift. You could learn how to create and care for a winter border or get to grips with gardening basics. Have a read through this pdf download for info.
For further gardening advice and inspiration, check out Plews Potting Shed blogs, including the selection below. You could come and find us on Instagram Pinterest and Facebook too.
Feeling nosey? You can have a peek at the progress of my garden renovation, Spitfires and Slow Worms, on Instagram and Facebook
You’ll get to see it in person if you come to the Plews Gardening Workshops Current ones on Eventbrite for you to book into. Follow for updates on topics and dates on Plews website, Instagram, Eventbrite, Facebook
Plus get your local garden club, allotment, WI, U3A or other group to ask me along to give a talk (and bring plants 😉)
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