{"id":8473,"date":"2016-03-22T12:00:15","date_gmt":"2016-03-22T16:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/?p=8473"},"modified":"2016-03-28T09:40:49","modified_gmt":"2016-03-28T13:40:49","slug":"carolina-allspice-sweetshrub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/2016\/03\/22\/carolina-allspice-sweetshrub\/","title":{"rendered":"Carolina Allspice Sweetshrub"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Carolina<\/a>

Carolina Allspice Sweetshrub<\/p><\/div>\n

\"'Hartledge<\/a>

‘Hartledge Wine’ hybrid form<\/p><\/div>\n

Carolina allspice sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus<\/em>), aka strawberry bush, bubby bush, sweet Betsy, et al., is a trouble-free medium size spring flowering shrub. This dense rounded deciduous shrub is native to Eastern North America (USDA hardiness zones 4-8). As its common name hints, flowers emit a sweet fruity fragrance. Intensity of floral fragrance is highly variable among seedling sweetshrubs.<\/p>\n

Reddish brown flowers measure 2-3 inches across and bloom on short terminal twigs in May. Flowers give way to brownish, urn-shaped fruits (seed pods) may ripen in fall and persist through winter into spring. Glossy, 6-inch long, dark green leaves which, in some years, hang from twigs through winter. Fall leaf color is highly variable, turn a blah yellow to golden color. Some cultivars exhibit better autumn foliage color.<\/p>\n

Sweetshrub requires little care in any well-drained soil in full sun to moderate shade. Adequately water the first year to get the shrub established. Species typically grows 8-10 feet tall and 6-12 feet wide, often taller in shade than in sun. It tolerates a wide range of soils as long they possess good drainage.<\/p>\n

Sweetshrub has no serious insect or disease problems and deer seem to leave it alone. To maintain vigor, feed in early spring with a slow-release fertilizer such as Osmocote\u00ae or Nutrikote\u00ae according to package directions. Prune the shrub within 1-2 months after flowering in late spring, mostly to rein in size and shape. Warning: sweetshrubs tend to sucker, some varieties more than others.<\/p>\n

Locate sweetshrub near a patio or deck where its sweet fragrance may be enjoyed. Plant several as a shrub border or deciduous screen.<\/p>\n

Significant Cultivars:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018Michael Lindsey\u2019 was selected and introduced by plantsman Allen Bush. Its vibrant\u00a0reddish brown flowers are highly fragrant; leaves turn\u00a0golden yellow in fall.<\/p>\n

\u2018Athens\u2019 opens with soft buttery yellow flowers and delightful fragrance; grows 6 – 8 feet tall and wide.<\/p>\n

‘Hartlage Wine’ is a hybrid between Chinese allspice (Sinocalycanthus<\/em> chinensis<\/em>) and C. floridus<\/em>. Flowers are 3 inches wide, maroon to wine colored, with wide petals and very little fragrance; grows vigorously 8 – 12 feet tall by 10 – 15 feet wide; sporadic blooming through the summer.<\/p>\n

\u2018Venus\u2019 is a three-way hybrid cross with 3 – 4 \u00bd inch wide white fragrant flowers with yellow and purple centers; grows 6 – 8 feet tall and wide. (zone 5 hardy).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carolina allspice sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus), aka strawberry bush, bubby bush, sweet Betsy, et al., is a trouble-free medium size spring flowering shrub. This dense rounded deciduous shrub is native to Eastern North America (USDA hardiness zones 4-8). As its common name hints, flowers emit a sweet fruity fragrance. Intensity of floral fragrance is highly variable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[444,747,144,674,806,665,1012,649,551,627,843,1060,1059,601,630,705,646,1296,7,113,455],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8473"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8473"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8668,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8473\/revisions\/8668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}