Lonicera fragrantissima. Kurt Stüber. Wikimedia commons.
In this city its often a race between Daffodils and winter honeysuckle, with the later usually the winner most years. This year its the loser surprisingly to Daffodils, but I’m happy enough to see both come. Winter Honeysuckle is another early bloomer encountered frequently in this part of the world, and serves its best purpose as a fragrant early blooming hedge in this state. Its not particularly attractive- but it is reliably hardy and fragrant. Its got the most sweet lemon scent, dead on of lemon with a bit of sugar. It is lemonade honey and it is being served to your nostrils! It is yet another Asian import, but unlike the others detailed earlier this month, this one is hardy to zone 5. Its certainly a harbinger of spring to my nose- one cannot escape the scent anywhere whence its bloom starts.
This is a shrub that likes to hide its flowers amidst its branches and leaves, thus it can be hard to pin-point where that sweet lemony scent is coming from on early spring days, but its a wonderful pleasure nonetheless. The bloom window is often 3 weeks in Lexington, KY, during late march and early April, but it will occasionally have a smattering of flowers through April. Its dependent largely on temperatures staying above freezing but below seventy to prolong bloom. After bloom it is proceeded by light green leaves with little ornamental value, but grows very dense, which is why it makes perfect hedges. This is a good wake up scent for early spring, telling the nostrils prepare ye the way of the smell!
This is a shorter post than what I normally do, but I’ve been tired lately between work and other things going on. This weekend I hope to write longer pieces about fragrant early wildflowers (not weeds) and unexpectedly fragrant plants like Maple.
Fragrant Earth 