Chimonanthus, gold winter flowers

Chimonanthus, also called wintersweet, is a shrub with stunning winter blooming.

Core Chimonanthus facts

Name – Chimonanthus praecox
Family – Calycanthaceae
Type – shrub

Height – 10 to 16 feet (3 to 5 meters)
Exposure – full sun
Soil – ordinary

Foliage – deciduous or evergreen     –     Flowering – January to March

Planting, pruning and care are all good practices to increase the growth of your Chimonanthus.

Planting Chimonanthus

It’s all the same whether this shrub is planted in spring or fall.

• It is indifferent to the type of soil.
• Most important is to identify a spot that is in light sun without any scorching heat to produce the most abundant blooming.
• Avoid spots with too much wind.
• Follow our advice on planting shrubs.

Mulch will keep your Chimonanthus from stressing out in summer. The growing of Chimonanthus is easy and it will relish being planted in light shade.

Pruning and caring for Chimonanthus

No pruning is formally required, all the more so because chimonanthus flowers on stems grown during the previous year.

• Remove dead wood and broken branches as you notice them.

If you wish to reshape or reduce live branches somewhat, then wait for blooming to be over.

Good to know: Save Chimonathus twigs and prunings and dry them out. Tie them into small bundles and slide them in your linens.

• Like cedar wood and lavender wands, they’ll keep bugs out and give cloth a pleasant scent.

Known varieties of chimonanthus

The most common variety found in gardens is usually Chimonanthus praecox, which looses its leaves in winter.

The following boast evergreen leafage:

• Chimonanthus campanulatus,
• Chimonanthus grammatus,
• and Chimonanthus nitens.

Chimonanthus is native to China, and appeared in gardens in Europe and the Americas in the 1800s.

Learn more about chimonanthus

This shrub, pronounced “KEE-moh-NAN-tus” will offer you a magnificent blooming as early as January. It will last until fair days arrive.

Both fragrant and luminous, its flowers will appeal to you and bring you joy, a far cry from the winter cold.

Chimonanthus is a very ornamental shrub, very much appreciated for its winter blooming and delicate fragrance.

It only requires little care, at most just a bit of water in case of high temperatures.

Read also:

• The most beautiful winter-blooming shrubs