Winter Honeysuckle

Winter honeysuckle is a big, old-fashioned shrub grown for one thing: small creamy flowers in January and February with a lemony fragrance that carries across the yard when almost nothing else is blooming. The rest of the year it is a sturdy green backdrop, six to ten feet tall and wide.

Plant it near a walkway or door where winter passersby catch the scent, in sun to part shade and nearly any soil. It tolerates drought and clay. Prune right after bloom if you need to control size, since next winter's flowers set on this year's wood.