A few weeks ago when we went to the National Arboretum we were walking through the Asian section and when we rounded a corner, we all wondered what the beautiful smell was. I assumed, because it was winter, that someone with heavy cologne had recently passed, but either Alex or Andrew noticed a flowering bush. The plant’s sign labeled it as a wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox). Andrew spied some seed pods, and the plant propagator that he is, took one. So did I.

While he was staying with us he researched the plant and how to grow a wintersweet bush. He placed them on damp paper towels on a tray and put the tray in a plastic bag. He instructed me to check the seeds often while he and Alex were in Atlanta, adding water if necessary, and taking note if they sprouted.

I checked often, and was finally rewarded a few days ago with a sprouted seed. Today I saw another.

I planted the first sprouted seed this morning. Fingers crossed that in a few years time, we’ll have a delightfully lovely scented winter flowering bush in our yard.