Hi markbudde, I don't know where you are located but I often see 2-3 different varieties of ming (fine fern-like leaf and larger leaved) at my local Meijer's store ($5-$20...5" to 2.5') in Ohio. The ming in the photo I'm posting was purchased thru Amazon.com from Hirt's gardens also in Ohio. I got it(3 plants in the pot shown) a year ago at about 6" tall and now it's 14" and still sprouting new growth. Hope this helps. As a side note can anyone tell me exactly what variety it is? Here is a link that might be useful:

Well, it mainly depends on the type of weather you are having. I am on the border line of Zone8/9 and keep them in containers under my plantzebo. They are at least 4 years old now and suffered our freezing weather this year. I would not recommend keeping the young seedlings under those conditions. Say if your night temperatures don't fall below 45 degrees or so the seedlings should be safe. Are you in the position to keep the seedlings in the house for the winter or find a way of keeping them warm? Supannee

Hi, Kemistry. I'm sorry I didn't see your post before this. About the fragrance-- I haven't been able to catch any fragrance from it. There have been several flowers that matured and opened up, tho they didn't turn yellow-- stayed green and then fell off. I've tried mornings and evenings, and quite often at midday. We've had many, many very hot, humid days. I just don't get anything. Unfortunately, I believe my nose is losing its ability to detect a number of scents, so I can never be sure when it is the plant and when it's my nose. Sorry I can't be of more help. If I ever am able to catch a whiff from it, I will definitely report back here. The artabotrys hexapetalus I had five or so years ago had a wonderful rich scent of bananas plus a lot of other notes in it that started to waft about 2 or 3 in the afternoon. It was the richest, warmest, loveliest scent I had ever smelled, and this is what I was hoping to recapture.

I bought a C. Fruticosa because it is a dwarf variety (10-15 ft height) and could not have the preferred C. Odorata, which is a very large tree (50 + ft in height) in my garden. The smell of the Fruticosa is a very subtle lemony fragance, mostly felt in the calm of the morning in my area. The flowers are first green in color and will not be fragrant until they turn yellow. It also needs temperatures of 85+ F and humidity, which is no problem in South Florida, where I reside. I regularly visit a botanical garden in my area where they have a huge C. Odorata (Ylang-Ylang) tree and when it is in bloom, the fragance is much stronger and nicer than the Fruticosa I have. It fills the surrounding area with its delicious fragance but there are many more hundreds of flowers on this tree than on my dwarf variety. I also bought a Michelia Champaca (Joy perfume) which has orange flowers and is not as "delicate" as the Michelia Alba (white). I bought it 2 years ago, and it is now about 8 ft tall. This spring, it flowered for the first time. A few scattered flowers mainly in the lower (older) branches. This fragance is definitely much nicer and stronger than the C. Fruticosa. I cannot wait until it grows more mature and gets full with flowers. This tree has a nice structure (similar to a Christmas pine) and can grow to about 25-30 ft. I planted it just outside the patio so we can enjoy the fragance from inside. I hope this was helpful.