The Shanghai Garden in Winter: Winter Sweet

China Journal, February 1929:

“On the subject of shrubs and trees for the garden in winter, it might be well to say more about the winter sweet (Chimonanthus fragrans), a plant which has been in full bloom during the past month or so, and is noted for the fragrance of its odour. Everyone in China must be familiar with this shrub, since branches of it, covered with yellow bloom though bare of leaves, are extensively used by Chinese and Westernerns alike for decorative purposes.

Apart from its delightful smell, it is a very beautiful plant, and when in full bloom shows a mass of colour in the dead of winter at times almost equaling that displayed by a laburnum in spring. There are several species. C. lutens is all yellow, being the commonest form in the Shanghai district, while there is a species, not found here, with large flowers an inch and three-quarters in diameter, of a clear yellow colour, and with leaves twice as large as those of the other species. This is known as C. grandiflora.”

–From “The Garden” column by Arthur de Carle Sowerby, China Journal founder and author of Nature Notes: A Guide to the Flora and Fauna of a Shanghai Garden.