I still have gerbera daisies, pentas, salvia leucantha, salvia coccinea, salvia farinacea; random echinacea, gaillardia and roses -- awaiting that killing frost that will take out everything. Charisma floribunda 11/13/08 Just coming into bloom is Camellia sasanqua, which blooms until near Christmas. Camellia japonica blooms after Christmas. Open blooms will be browned by a hard freeze, but the hardy buds will open in the next warm spell. Kerria blooms midwinter, very pretty tumbling down a hill. Don't forget winter annuals like violas/pansies (violas are hardier) and snapdragons and Iceland poppies. Pentas and Pansies Nell

It's the Double Bridal Wreath Spiraea! It is different than simply Bridal Wreath Spiraea in that the flowers have more petals. And interestingly, one site even mentioned, "Is not native, but has been used since pre-civil war times around houses in the south. A poor spirea that has a good name. Needs to be kept pruned to look good." This gives me an idea both how old the remains of the house might be that it is next to, and also how to try and get it blooming and healthy again! Thanks for the help, esh_ga! After about five years I finally know what the shrub is! :) Now I just need to figure out a way to transplant it without killing it... Here is a link that might be useful: More Info

peren.all - Thanks - I think your garden is terrific too! The crowing glory is actually the Chinese wisteria. It's just having a bad year this year - because the brutal winter of 2013/2014 killed all the flowerbuds on both it and the Japanese one, and then I waited too late in the summer last year to do the hard prune to reduce its size. I waited until late in order to give it as much time as possible to recover from the previous winter. I know we cut off flowering wood when we cut it back, but I suspect a lot of flowering wood had been killed by the previous winter too. I had expected/hoped that it would do its not-uncommon secondary summer bloom last year to make up for the absence of a spring bloom - but it never did, so I think there was a fair bit of winter damage in 2013/2014 winter, and this past winter was not exactly a mild one either! But I'm hoping for better things next year.... I've posted the picturse below on GW before, so you may have already seen them, but they are my favorites of our 'crowning glories' :-) This one is from 2009 when a young friend visited the garden when the Chinese wisteria was in full bloom. She was almost perfectly color-coordinated with it! (she calls this her' Vanna White pose') And this one is from 2013. It shows both wisterias in the 'moat bed' in the front garden at the top of the ditch along the road. The Japanese wisteria was planted in 2007 and bloomed for the first time in 2012 so this was its second time in bloom. It blooms just as the Chinese one start to fade - you can see all the foliage emerging on the Chinese one at the other end of the bed. All the neighbours really enjoy the wisterias too and look forward to their bloom time. When the Chinese one is in bloom it's not uncommon for strangers passing by to stop in to ask 'what is the beautiful purple tree?' ! SIL was using our garage and driveway yesterday for a garage sale - the Japanese wisteria (and the pots of peas and other veggies on the driveway!) generated lots of interest and questions from the garage sale shoppers! That Niobe does indeed look like mine - I wish it would stop and stay at that gorgeous velvety red it starst at! I'm not keen on the color it fades to but love where it starts.

A statue sounds nice. Do you have Michelia/Magnolia figos in Sydney? They have a delicious banana and vanilla scent. They are shrubs not trees and have nice evergreen leaves. Michelia/Magnolia alba can be kept smaller with pruning and it is my favorite scented plant of all time! Think lemon and gardenia. Strong and lovely but not cloying at all. I wish I could bottle it and sell it. I would be rich :) I keep mine in a pot. All the Michelia names have been changed to Magnolia somethings now but I still like to call them Michelias lol. Tea Olive is also a good scented plant that can be used formally. There is a yellow-er more fragrant tea olive variety called, Fudingzhu which is also supposed to flower much heavier. There is also an orange/reddish variety but I don't have that one. Nycanthes arbor-tristis aka Tree of Sorrow/Lover's Tree is a small jasmine-honey scented night blooming tree from India with a lovely legend to it. It drops its beautiful little flowers when the sun touches them in the morning. It is very drought tolerant once established. Also very easy to root. I think it would be lovely for a courtyard. Scented at night and cloudy days and lovely flowers cast about in the mornings. They are used around Buddist Temples.