Calycanthus 'APHRODITE'

This easy to grow shrub has many names and all of them say something about the beautiful perfume of the flowers: sweetshrub, strawberry shrub, or even pineapple shrub. They really smell like a few types of fruit: strawberry, apple, and even melon. Sweetshrub is native to much of the eastern USA and even though one species is called sinocalycanthus chinensis (= of China), recent molecular data indicates that it is more accurately suited for the genus calycanthus i.e. American group of calycanthus.

Aphrodite is a beautiful, large-flowered sweetshrub hybrid between c.chinensis and c.occidentalis. The flowers are often compared to magnolias - both in shape and size. They are 7-9 cm across, rich crimson to burgundy red, and appear with the first hot days of May, and continue blooming until late June. In summer they sporadically pop up again in small quantity. Handsome, deciduous leaves are oval to ovate, bright green, and glossy, turning yellow in autumn. The plant gets considerably larger than c.floridus (3-4m) which makes it ideal as a screening shrub, or a small flowering specimen. Also it looks great in a woodland border.

Aphrodite sweetshrub is a follow-up success of Venus variety, both of which were bred by Dr. Thomas Ranney of the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research Station in Fletcher, in collaboration with North Carolina State University and Spring Meadow Nursery. It was patented in 2013 as PP24014.

Sweetshrub comes from North American moist woodlands so it will require a moist (not wet) place in your garden, too. It is not fussy about soil type and tolerates acid as well as alkaline ground. We suggest trimming it in the first few years to achieve a compact shape with regular habit which the plant can then keep without further care. Hardiness was tested down to -24°C so far (USDA zone 6) but is believed to go yet a little lower.

Last update 21-03-2018.