I beg to differ! Have you compared them with my fave, winter honeysuckle (lonicera fragrantissima)? That being said, you should look at Fairweather Gardens, Roslyn Nursery, and Nurseries Caroliniana for named cultivars -- seed grown trees can take a longer time to flower. This is a neat tree for winter fragrance, hope you find one!

Jim

I hope to find one somewhere. We all say that the witch hazel is under-utilized, but the wintersweet is nowhere to be found. It is not even discussed here much...

My winter honeysuckle is not very fragrant.
My winter sweets have not bloomed yet. They say it can take up to 7 years for a bloom, maybe that's why it isn't popular in the nursery business.
Forest farm has it, but I got mine at a sale they have twice a year at Stephen F. Austin's Mast Arboretum. I bought an evergreen wintersweet from forest farm this fall ... I hope it is fragrant.
The most fragrant winter blooms that I have are sweet olives. They are blooming now and will bloom until the weather heats up again next April.

We discussed this flower last year on this web. I have a few rather large plants. The cultivars I know are:

1. It was shipped to England over 100 years ago. Then it found way to US. The flower has wine red cenetr and nice fragrance.
2. It grows in Zhejiang province. The flower is translucent yellow like real wax. The center is pale in color. Of course it has nice and strong fragrance in January.
3. I observed the same flower in northern Zhejiang early this year. The flower has more flate petal at the end. Wintersweet, like Osmanthus, can be found all the provinces along Yungtze river.
4. Summer Wintersweet: It has darker green and smaller leaves. Blooming time is in September. Pale cream flower has no fragrance.

I found sometimes there is slightly culture difference in appreciation of flower.

Woodlander's carries Wintersweet. They start shipping at the end of March.

There are a few cultivars of Chimonnanthus praecox in
China, such as luteus and conclor. I think they are
stronger than the one went to England 100 years ago.

I really want to bring some of them into the State, however
I do not how can I do so, I do not not the paper work
for this.

I believe Piroche Plants, Pitt Meadows, B.C. has been importing and selling a yellowflower form of Chimonanthus praecox to retailers in USA for some years now. 2004 edition of PLANT LOCATOR - WESTERN REGION sourcebook lists

Gossler Farms, Springfield, OR
Forestfarm, Williams, OR
Sonoma Horticultural, CA
Fragrant Flora, B.C.
River Rock, OR
Cistus, Portland, OR
Greer Gardens, Eugene, OR

as sources out this way. If you haven't phoned around yet you may at least find a regular one, if not the yellow somewhere in your vicinity. Neither is much to look at in leaf, the smell of the flower is the main thing.

I plant Fragrant Wintersweet for over 9 years in Queens, New York, there are three big shrubs over 3 meters and they bloom every winter from Jan through March after planted 3years.
I have over 200 seedlings which planted 2005 spring and growing very well now, and I have wintersweet seeds too.

Any source in the east shore?
We have one wintersweet (purple center type) planted 4 years ago and it is 5 feet now. It is a rigous plant and blooms every winter, however, the fragrance is not even close to my memory. I'm interested in getting a pure yellow type if possible.
Happy Gardening
Changsong

Either Woodlander's or Nurseries Caroliniana should have it.

I had a chance to sniff a few in full bloom at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens earlier this year, and they were outstanding.

Jim

This was a mystery plant until just a moment ago! I first looked under witchhazels and winterhazels, then since the fruit it puts out resemble an underdeveloped quince fruit, I looked at those. It's growing on the front of our property where an old farm house stood years ago. Perky little yellow flowers in January with the most marvelous scent!!! Great in a vase and dries quite well! I just picked some dried pods and took out the seeds to plant and will take cuttings next summer now I know what it is (thought woody parts smelled similar to summersweet, which I now find it is related to). I want some closer to our house (we're on 40 acres and it's a ways away). It hasn't been watered in years, lived through browsing deer, horses and 9b heat. I'm quite impressed.

I wanted to make an ammendment to my previous posting as I intended to say I thought the woody parts smelled similar to our native sweetshrub, Calycanthus occidentalis, not summersweet. I got the "sweet" part right but my brain must have been on autopilot! Sheesh.

This shrub seems to grow very easily from seed, as I'm a novice. My first try, from the pod of a neighborhood shrub, is 14" tall after a year but single-stemmed. Couldn't even get it to branch by pinching off the lead bud. It's still potted and indoors. Does anyone know if it will branch or multi-stem on its own when I set it out in spring? Or do I need to tweek it somehow?

dcvtlynne 7, as mentions by kaihui it will be 3 to 5 years before flowering. No deed to pinch. Let it grow first. Actually this plant will be a tall bush plant. It will produce so many branches and you have to prune the small branches almost yearly.
I have five 20 to 30 gal pot size plants. The purple heart type has been blooming for two weeks. The pure yellow in wax appearance type Wintersweet shall be starting to flower any time in my yard. For years I germinate the seeds for fun. In 2008 I shall collect the seeds earlier to improve the germination rate.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Longriver,
The cuttings all have roots! I am looking forward to the blooms in a few years.

My pure yellow wintersweet is blooming now and has the best fragrance of anything blooming in the garden right now. Better than the sweet olives, winter honeysuckles, and witch hazels.
I recommend this plant for anyone who suffers from the "winter blues". It isn't a pretty plant, but the fragrance will lift your spirits after a 20 degree night like we had last night.

cweathersby: I am happy to hear you have a real green thumb. Nice personal comments on the plant. I feel it is one of the best flowers for vase display or flower arrangement. We all are running with that same blood type, 'Type Fragrance'.

Cultivar 'Luteus' is just getting in gear in Cape May NJ.

This plant is offered in the just out Fairweather Gardens catalog.

Here is a link that might be useful: 'Luteus' flower photo

This lovely plants blooming in winter I think it came from Iran long time ago I traveled to Iran I saw this plant in many houses I brought the seeds and plant it my little garden now is a huge plant the fragrance is like Nina ricci L'air de temp perfume easy to grow low maintenece love alkaline soils it is better to plant near the wall on eastern side best time to collect the seeds is mid july also can use the shoots from the root also called Ice flower

Chimonanthus praecox is native to China. It might get carried to Iran by the Silk Road around 2000 yrs ago while Pomengranate was going the other direction. It might also happened during the Tang Dynasty (618 to 907 AD)
In China, Chimonanthus praecox is widely cultivated. Two cultivars,concolor and grandiflorus,are especially appreciated for their strong fragrance. It prefers neutral to slightly acidic soil, is quite drought tolerant but suffers in windy locations.

My favorite most fragrant plants:
Chimonanthus praecox(winter sweet)
Osmanthus Fragrance(Sweet Olive)
Night blooming Jasmine
Gardenia

I realized that they are all native to China.

Also, Camelia, Forthysia, and Azalea are all native to China. Many of them originally from the same place, one side of Himalaya mountains.

how do you start a winter sweet plant from seeds. i have some seeds from italy and would like to grow them in colorado. i have a green house . soraya

Hey soraya,
This is a good guide i found
\http://fragrantgardening.wordpress.com/seed-germination/wintersweet-germination-instruction/
My parents didn't remove the coating and were less successful (only 1 of 10 grew).

What are the soil requirements for wintersweet? I have a spot on the south side of the house that gets lots of sun in winter, but gets shaded in summer because of a gigantic oak. I've always thought that a winter bloomer would be ideal for that spot.
I recently got a winter honeysuckle, and love the smell. These winter bloomers are starting to grow on me!