Lonicera fragrantissima/fragratissima

This is one of those shrubs that obviously has two spellings of the name - one perhaps an Americanization of the true latin but with constant use it has been taken as a legitimate alternate spelling.

Now that it is in flower I am noticing the shrub in many older gardens and along a few hedgerows. Clearly it was popular in the early part of the 20th century and hasn't really come back into vogue, which is a shame.

The flower is definately sweet smelling and it has been in bloom for almost two weeks now and still going strong. The leaves are looking a bit drab though. The books say the bloom come out before the leaves, but in the south the leaves persist through the winter and are still there when the bloom arrives.