Be sure to plant Sweet Shrub where you can enjoy the fruity aroma of the flowers. The scent is strongest when the maroon blooms first appear, usually around April or May.
An easy-to-grow shrub, Sweet Shrub likes a break from afternoon sun but will grow anywhere from full sun to full shade. It grows in medium soil, tolerating some flooding, but it does not like sand.
It makes a great hedge or foundation planting and also works well as a single specimen.
Calycanthus floridus (Sweet Shrub)
- Latin: Calycanthus floridus
- Pollinator value: Medium
- Current height: 3-4 feet
- Mature height: 6-10 feet high and wide
- Light: Sun or part shade; likes moist shade
- Soil: Adaptable
- Bloom: Maroon, April-July, fragrant!
- Foliage: Deciduous, yellow fall
- Landscape: Somewhere where its fragrance can be enjoyed
- Native just south of the Northeast. See range here
















