Carolina Allspice
For fragrance in bloom and easy care, the Carolina allspice is hard to beat. Plant it wherever you can enjoy the fragrance—near outdoor living areas, under windows, beside screen doors, in the shrub border. The 2-inch, dull, reddish brown flowers gloriously permeate the garden with a sweet strawberry scent in mid-May, and often sporadically into July. The shrub grows slowly to a neat, rounded outline, 6 to 9 feet high and 6 to 12 feet wide. It will grow in any soil, but performs best in deep, moist loam. It prefers light shade, and will not grow as tall in full sun. The shrub transplants readily and is highly resistant to pests. Prune after flowering.
Calycanthus fertilis (Pale Sweetshrub; Hardy to Zone 6), and Calycanthus occidentalis (California Sweetshrub; Hardy to Zone 7), are similar species that are occasionally mistaken for Carolina allspice, but they do not have the latter’s pleasing floral fragrance. Since fragrance is the chief motive for acquiring Calycanthus floridus, purchase it while it is in flower to ensure positive identification.
