USA is a big place, whereabouts is this shrub located? Myrtus communis perhaps? Here is a link that might be useful: Myrtus communis This post was edited by saltcedar on Mon, Apr 8, 13 at 22:42

Chris, Osmanthus fragrans blooms heavily in the late fall. Mine just finished with a strong flowering period, almost as heavy as the spring bloom. In another form, Eleagnus was suggested as a possibility. You can easily look it up and compare with what you've seen/smelled. I'll bet that it's the Tea Olive (Osmanthus), though.

Can't quite focus on it clearly - strikes me as a crab apple perhaps

Flowering quince and forsythia are my go-tos for first blooms with the added bonus of bringing in some early twigs to bloom indoors. Some of the smaller willows may be fun for that too. There are some very pretty double quinces out there (pink, red, coral), they bloom on old wood. Have you considered the red and yellow twig dogwoods? New growth branches are brightly colored, pretty in winter, the leaves turn in fall (nothing too spectacular but still some color). And ditto on the camelias, they will get big eventually but respond to hard pruning; but check your local experts in case freezes end up destroying the flowers (always heartbreaking). I'm a bit in the same place as you are, filling in holes. This year my lenten roses (not a bush but hey, they fill up the space) really kicked into gear and it was really fun to have those out along with some jonquils (little daffies that bloom earlier than the bigger ones), showing some color while things were still dreary. I also planted some crocuses this year for the first time, the yellow ones were the first ones to come up and they really early (along with the quince)... all those were about month and a half before the roses/peonies kicked in. Another thing may be some blueberry bushes. They bloom early, cute pink bell-shaped flowers. The birds steal all the fruit but it's a pretty shrub and shows some color in fall. One more: this probably works better for you as you are in a cooler zone, but look up ribes. These are goosberries--google "pink flowering currant." Super-early bloomer, nice pink dangling flower racemes. Here (7b) it gets too hot and these kinda die in the heat/humidity; you may have better luck. They are easy to propagate so if you get some (Annie's Annuals carries pink and also some yellow ones sometimes) you should be set. I'm growing one in shade, seems to be doing OK, bloomed this year and is growing, so I'm hoping that even if it struggles in the heat, it puts on a show in late winter/early spring.