Sicilian Sunshine Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis) Grow your own bay leaves! The flowers, which start pink and fade to white, can be the size of softballs. Ginkgo Trees. Accidentally wounding the bark of a shrub or tree with a string trimmer, lawn mower, saw, or hockey stick promotes ready access for insects, fungi, bacteria, and viruses. The leaves give off a pungent, mulch-like odor when crushed. In the spring, this shrub, which reaches six or more feet tall, will literally fill the entire garden with its spicy sweet fragrance. The bush is named for its fragrance, which contains a combination of sweetness and sharpness. While viburnum adds evergreen color to the landscape and is well suited to many growing conditions, the plants will emit a strong odor on rainy days -- the smell may be reminiscent of cat urine to some. Viburnum is relatively easy to grow since it does well in alkaline or acidic soils and flourishes in a sunny location. One of the more well-known species is the old-fashioned Snowball viburnum (V. opulus) with beautiful, white snowball-shaped blooms. 9. It can be susceptible to mildew however. Deer red buds burst open to reveal snow white flowers rich with fragrance. Notable viburnum types that are popular for their intoxicating fragrance include the Asian varieties, Cayuga and Burkwood. They’re eye-catching on their own and really take center stage in autumn. Spice Girl viburnum offers dozens of pink flowers; Spice Baby is a dwarf variety that’s great for small space landscapes. Many plant nerds, myself included, find the smells, well, interesting. Hi Val, it's probably a Viburnum as 'Mowtastic' says and the smell is from the plant being attacked by Viburnam beetle I know because my neighbour has one and every year when it is under attack it smells … Barks works like your skin: It keeps good things in and bad things out. This popular herb is also a gorgeous landscape plant. I was thinking of planting one or two of these shrubs, either the Wentworth or Philips variety but have read here and there that the berries are pretty stinky in the winter and possibly the flowers smell bad in the spring. Wilfried Wirth/Getty Images Korean spice viburnum (Viburnum carlesii) is an example of a shrub that boasts early-spring flowers (April) as well as fall color.The buds are pink but then open to become clusters of white flowers. These evergreen shrubs - odoratissimum and suspensum - can get very big (huge, in fact) but you can keep them trimmed to a reasonable size. Korean Spice viburnum (Viburnum carlesii) is such a fragrant shrub that one of its other common names is "fragrant spicebush." Viburnum juddii opens its flowers in mid-spring, just in time to keep step with daffodils and tulips. (Cranberry bush) Xty G (z4) 5 years ago. Hardy to USDA zone 4. This is one viburnum you want to smell before you plant it close to your entries or outdoor living areas. It’s dense enough to hide unattractive views, and frequently used for this purpose in commercial landscaping. Handsome foliage carries this plant through the rest of the season. In the home landscape it’s big enough to require some room. Mother nature has given these plants an unusual smell for a purpose and that sort of thing always intrigues me; but if you are put off by bad odors, here are a few plants to avoid. Viburnum odoratissimum is an evergreen viburnum popular in the South, Texas and Florida. Reaching 4 to 6 feet tall, it puts out clusters of sweet-smelling flowers. Types of Viburnum Shrubs. As a bonus, it is a great shrub for fall color. Do viburnum trilobum smell bad? Perhaps the mother of all fragrant viburnums is the Korean spice viburnum (V. carlesii). Viburnum odoratissimum is a fast grower; suspensum grows at a bit more moderate pace. There are several different types of viburnums. Odoratissimum can be kept 4 to 6 feet, suspensum 3 to 5 feet tall. 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