Latest forestfarm print catalog lists 1'-2' yellow wintersweet for $19. However, shipping costs are considerable these days - if you check their rates you may find you are back up to your $30, I don't know. And you will not have been able to inspect the stock and choose a specific one you like.

Check their web site for current availability and shipping costs.

Sweet violets are a standard item and often available in small sizes, maybe try calling around.

The Plant Locator - Western Region sourcebook lists Australian Native Plants Nursery, Ventura, CA (australianplants.com) for the Boronia.

If the problem with the violets is that you are sticking your nose into locally offered stock and not getting a level of fragrance you remember there are two notions I'm aware of that may pertain, if there is anything to them:

1. You may have to have a quantity of them flowering together, the strong fragrance being the result of multiple flowers being open at once, with individual flowers not having enough fragrance to reward close sniffing. This could explain recollections of a strong fragrance not being met when small individual plants are picked up and smelled; even if an outlet is displaying multiple flats in bloom some garden plantings will be considerably larger

2. Conditions here may not lend themselves to the same production of fragrance as elsewhere. An example of this concept being held is the former elderly near-neighbors with a larger- and more involved than usual garden who had mats of sweet violets and told me they smelled much better when they lived in Spokane - and suggested I think that it could be due to a difference in pH or other characteristic of the soil here

Coombs, Violets - The History and Cultivation of Scented Violets (Batsford) lists Canyon Creek Nursery and Logee's Greenhouses (as well as various foreign "stockists") as sources.

I'm not sure if the violets that are blooming now everywhere in my grass (very fragrant) are the ones you are looking for. I am sure that they have been here for at least 50 years. I would happily send you seed when the seeds form. Seedlings are sprouting now. I like them best in patches with bulbs and near pathways.

The MsK Rare Plant Nursery at Kruckeberg Botanic Garden in Shoreline shows wintersweet on their inventory list (but no price). I highly recommend a visit if you haven't already been.

Have you looked at area nurseries recently? Both Swanson's and Emery's were selling wintersweet over the last couple of weeks. In many cases, some of these less common plants are only readily available when they are in season and when there is a strong attraction from flowers, fragrance, fall color, etc. Since now is prime bloom time for wintersweet, it shouldn't be all that hard to find.

And look for wood violets when they come into bloom as well. Any of the V. odoratas or Parma violets should offer a delightful fragrance but need the strength of numbers to have a strong carry.

Cistus had some beautiful dark red-brown Boronia in gallons last Sunday. Worth a trip for all the other goodies too.

Thanks! You have great suggestions and I'm on the hunt!

This is a terrific group of gardeners. Thank you.