Mid-Atlantic Gardening: What plants look good in your winter garden?, 1 by Gitagal

Gitagal wrote:
I have a Wintersweet shrub (Chimonanthuss praecox). It is blooming right now. Not much of a bloom, just these little, yellowish "flowers" up and down the stems. They are somewhat fragrant if you stick your nose close to them. They also make seed pods later on that hold about 3-4 large seeds--almost the size of a sunflower seed. I have a few. Anyone want to try growing some?

It is a rather non-descript shrub. The leaves are coarse and it sends out a lot of side shoots, but generally has a vase-shape. It is in a small, round bed and i can tell that it's roots are going all over the soil. It is getting hard to dig in there.

I keep it because the person who gave it to me has long ago died. He grew it from seed (the only way it wil propagate) and gave it to me. He was a customer at out HD and quite a horticulturist. We became "friends". We traded plant talk and plants often.

One day he found out he had cancer all through his body. He had NO idea! He was gone in 6 months! My Wintersweet will always be known as "Bernie's Bush".

Gita

Here's a look at the flowers.