CHIMONANTHUS praecox. Wintersweet. China. It is always surprising to find a plant which flowers regularly in the depths of winter. To find one this beautiful is a real joy. Though ignored in California for many years, it now seems to be finding an appreciative audience once again. This is a well-branched shrub, growing as much as 15’ high and wide but usually about half that size. It has attractive pale bark, hidden during the growing season by glossy lance-shaped leaves, 4-8" long. Small, clustered buds appear along the stems as the leaves yellow and drop in late fall, then develop into cupped, waxy, wonderfully fragrant blossoms on bare stems. The first selection we tried was received as ‘Grandiflorus’ but seems more likely to be ‘Luteo-grandiflorus’. It has intensely fragrant, light yellow flowers with tiny purple dots, nearly an inch across (‘Grandiflorus’ generally answers this description but should be less fragrant and show some clear purple striping, which this does not). ‘Concolor’, recently received from Piroche Nurseries in British Columbia, has uniformly yellow flowers of similar size. I am tempted to say that every garden deserves one of these lovely shrubs, except that I would hate to see them as common as photinias. Sun or light shade, most soils, moderate to regular watering. Hardy to 0-10^oF.