Sweetshrub 'Aphrodite'
Calycanthus 'Aphrodite' · Calycanthaceae
Large, waxy, wine-red flowers like small magnolias, scented of ripe fruit, open from early summer and keep coming for months.
- Size
- 6½ ft tall, 6½ ft wide
- Zones
- 5 to 9
- Light
- Full sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Late May to late August
- Pets
- Toxic (moderate)
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around sweetshrub 'Aphrodite'
The planner designed this bed around sweetshrub 'Aphrodite' when this page was made: a 22 × 10 ft (6.7 × 3.0 m) English border in zone 6, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 708 that suit those conditions, and says below why sweetshrub 'Aphrodite' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Sweetshrub 'Aphrodite' × 1, red
- 2 Stemless gentian × 37, blue
- 3 Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' × 30, yellow
- 4 Canadian burnet × 3, white
- 5 Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe' × 3, pink
- 6 White mugwort × 3, cream
- 7 Golden ragwort × 22, yellow
- 8 Columbine meadow rue × 3, lavender
- 9 Gray's sedge × 3, green
- 10 Carpathian bellflower × 11, blue
- 11 Polyanthus primrose × 24, purple
- 12 Spring snowflake × 12, white
- 13 Surprise lily × 12, pink
Why this plant
- The only open bowls. The others are trumpets, daisies, spires and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only red.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So does Gray's sedge.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 6½ ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to white mugwort (5 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for 13 weeks. From late May to late August.
- Part of the bed's peak. With canadian burnet, Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe', white mugwort and others in mid August: 7 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 23 of the 26 groups (88%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Cool colours (blue, pink, lavender and purple) with red and yellow as the warm notes, and white, cream and green to calm things between them. Stemless gentian repeats along the bed to tie it together.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where sweetshrub 'Aphrodite' goes in a border
At 6½ ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is very tall (5 to 6½ ft).
Its job: anchor. A shrub that gives the bed permanent structure. Planted singly, as soon as the front edge is laid; everything else is arranged around it.
A hybrid of the American and Chinese sweetshrubs, with much bigger flowers and a far longer season than either. Glossy leaves, yellow in autumn. Plant it by a path for the scent.
- Scented flowers through summer
- A large shrub for part shade
- Woodland edges
What to plant with sweetshrub 'Aphrodite'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Oakleaf hydrangea: in flower together for nine weeks, from mid June; happy in the same moist soil.
- Hosta 'Sum and Substance': its chartreuse leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; spires rising out of its mound; low enough (3 ft) to stand in front of it.
- Christmas fern: its dark green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; medium leaves against its bold ones; low enough (20 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about sweetshrub 'Aphrodite'
Does sweetshrub 'Aphrodite' need sun or shade?
Sweetshrub 'Aphrodite' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day), part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun) and part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does sweetshrub 'Aphrodite' grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 9. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does sweetshrub 'Aphrodite' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late May to late August. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 5 | Late May to late August |
|---|---|
| Zone 6 | Late May to late August |
| Zone 7 | Mid May to mid August |
| Zone 8 | Early May to mid August |
| Zone 9 | Early May to early August |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should sweetshrub 'Aphrodite' be planted?
6 ft (180 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 6½ ft (200 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 6½ ft (200 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many sweetshrub 'Aphrodite' plants do I need?
Usually one. At 6 ft (180 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 6 ft apart: two plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is sweetshrub 'Aphrodite' poisonous to dogs and cats?
Yes: moderate toxicity to people, dogs, cats and horses. The seeds are poisonous if eaten, and have poisoned grazing animals.
Rated from NC State Extension. Where references disagree, the more cautious rating is used.
What flowers after sweetshrub 'Aphrodite'?
Sweetshrub 'Aphrodite' is over by late August. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Japanese anemone: from mid August to early October, 3 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Sedum 'Autumn Joy': from mid August to mid October, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does sweetshrub 'Aphrodite' look like in winter?
Sweetshrub 'Aphrodite' drops its leaves and stands as bare branches. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
More Calycanthus
- Carolina allspice Calycanthus floridus
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 6½ ft (200 cm) tall, 6½ ft (200 cm) wide
- Plant
- 6 ft (180 cm) apart
- Height class
- Very tall (5 to 6½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Late May to late August; open bowls; red
- Leaves
- Bold texture, deciduous; green
- Shape
- Rounded, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 9
- Light
- Full sun, part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Average, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Calycanthaceae
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.