They are both great in my garden! The winter honeysuckle is a prettier plant. Large (over head high) wide (just as wide as tall) and bushy. I saw it pruned to a tree on a garden show filmed in Dallas, and it was much prettier than these things growing in my garden with no pruning! They start blooming in December or January, just as we get the first hard frost that shuts the roses down. They are still blooming now, and the fragrance will catch you mid step and make you thankful for anything like THAT that blooms in the winter. A lemon scent that is very nice. Then there are the wintersweets. More gawky and upright growing. Not attractive. But DANG IT when they bloom (January) it is just when you need it and it is a more perfumy smell. It overwinters just fine here, so it should do just as well for you. Jeff, I think you might not have waited long enough on the wintersweet. Everything I've read has suggested that it could take up to seven years to bloom really well. One of mine, on a south wall and in full sun, has bloomed from year 2. Others are just now putting on a couple of blooms and they are in maybe year 4 or 5?

Yep, I have both lonciera fragrantissima and purpusii and love them both. Don't know which cultivar I have of purpusii but to me the two species do have a slightly different fragrance. How to verbalize the difference is difficult to me, but I can't imagine having at least one of them in my yard. Never have seen any red berries on either one of my plants though. I have fond memories of fragrantissima growing at my grandmother's house. She knew it only as "breath of spring" due to its fragrance and early blooming habit.

Lonicera fragrantissima (Ck spelling!!) is an easy grower, tolerant of many soil types.....This is one of those scrubs that's specifically grown for what it's latin name would indicate, FRAGRANCE!! Beyond this, it has little to offer (though I must admit I've a passion for it, n it's close relative L. japonica because of their becoming fragrance!) needing frequent pruning to keep it from looking unsightly n unruly, but in the long run, as already indicated, this will make it more pleasing to look at, n increase flower production n offer bees some food at a time when most things are still FULLY dormant. Easily propagated from cutting, n given fairly rich soil, will grow quite rapidly.....even from small starters. Along with many other fragrant scrubs, this is one to have around next to winter Daphne for late winter/early spring enjoyment!!

I'm not familiar with wintersweet, but I grew winter honeysuckle, Lonicera fragrantissima, when we lived in Indiana (Zone 5). It blooms very, very early in spring or even late winter. The fragrance is lovely, clean and sweet. The flowers are white with yellow stamens. It tolerates quite a bit of shade. Mine was squeezed between a tall hedge and a Colorado blue spruce, and got sun only in early morning and late afternoon. It got to be about seven feet tall. Glenn Varner of the now-closed (sigh) Flower Scent Gardens used to sell it, and I'm pretty sure he said it could be pruned to keep it the size you want. It's not all that attractive when it's out of bloom, so I think you would want to include other plants with it along the fence. One place that carries it now is Annie's Annuals and Perennials, a place I've received excellent plants from. (Don't be put off by the fact that they send it in a 4" pot. Their 4" pot plants are like other nurseries' gallon size, very well grown.) They are having a 20% off sale starting October 1, both in the nursery and online, so you might want to check then and see if they have it in stock. You can find them at http://www.anniesannuals.com/. You asked about roses. Two that have very few thorns are Zephirine Drouhin, a rose pink Bourbon type from 1868, and Reine des Violettes, a very bluish lavender hybrid perpetual type from 1860. I've grown both of these and like them very much. Both are fragrant. Both are climbers. As I recall, Reine des Violettes had very flexible canes, the type you could kind of toss over the top of a fence. I have Zephirine Drouhin planted against my picket fence now, and it's been pretty cooperative about being tucked in around the slats. Thornless roses like these are ideal for planting along a sidewalk. Roses of Yesterday and Today has a page listing roses for special conditions, such as shade-tolerant, thornless, etc. It's been years since I ordered from them, so I don't know they are to deal with, but that page should be very helpful to you. Good luck with your project! Let us know what you eventually choose. Jennifer Here is a link that might be useful: Roses of Yesterday and Today