I have been thinking of getting one for my new border. I love the color of the blooms. I have never seen one for sale or in anyone's garden....maybe it wouldn't do well here.

MoBot says it's hardy to zone 4.
Floridata says it is hardy to zone 5.

Maybe you seldom see it in people's gardens because it tends to throw suckers.
As my garden guru Miz Gloria says, "As long as I have a shovel, I'm not afraid of suckers."
Mine was a sucker off someone's plant. Getting a passalong plant insures that you have a fragrant one.

Here is a link that might be useful: Floridata on Sweet Shrub

Mine haven't bloomed here yet this year, but 'Athens' has buds. I don't think it smells as strong as the "common" ones I have. Just wanted to second Foxesearth's recommendation on getting a passalong (or scented cultivar). I bought some inexpensive ones years ago and several years later had two unscented bushes and one that actually stank. One I got from a local plant sale is wonderful. The lady offering it led me around her home to the parent plant so I could sniff...it was heavenly.

I think the flowers are nearly the same color as my pawpaw tree flowers. I couldn't have planned it better.

oh I like that...I will look for some at the coming benefit plant sale ...all local plants that others have potted up to raise money for the Food Bank. c

Sweet shrub is on my "want" list. Its a pretty long list, by the way. I never thought the flowers were much to look at, but the fragrance is SO heavenly!

You know, I've never smelled a sweetshrub bloom. I first saw them when a friend rented a home from someone who gardened. The specimen there was HUGE, probably planted in the 50's. It was in bloom but we didn't note a scent that day. That particular day was the day I decided in earnest to become a "southern gardener".
Myself, I have "Athens" because I like the greenish yellowish bloom. It needs to be in front of an evergreen to get more impact though.
When I rebuild this garden, I plan to add more, Sweetshrubs and various buckeyes are on my list of "must haves"!!

GGG

GGG, if you get one of the really fragrant ones, like my Mother had, it will perfume your entire yard. They smell very fruity, is the best way I can describe it. I think she and my Dad dug it up out of the woods around their house many years ago. I just wish there was some way to know how fragrant they are before you buy them, cause they are not always in bloom when you see them in nurseries.

I had one (a few houses ago) in my wooded setting. My grandmother always pointed them out to me on our walks in the woods when I was young. Carolina allspice is a native plant here in some areas of North Carolina. My grandmother called it "Sweet Bubby" ....well, go look it up the nickname! LOL

They bring up memories.
Cameron

Mmmmmm, another one I'm not familiar with, never seen it for sale around here or maybe I just haven't looked. Has anyone ever grown it in a tub/half barrel? I try to get as much fragrance in the garden as I can. I'll have to look in the nurseries, go armed with both common and botanical names.

Annette

Many years ago I moved to a house with a sweet shrub at the side of the house. When it bloomed, I could smell it in my bedroom. It was beautiful and smelled wonderful! Eight years ago I moved to a new house and I bought two sweet shrub.They grew fast and look beautiful, but neither have any scent. It has been disappointing,can't imagine why. They are beginning to bloom and I love them anyway.

Scented Memories...When we were buying this house 21 years ago...I was walking in the backyard, thinking about what I wanted replaced and changed about it, when I smelled the sweetest of scents...drawn to it like a magnet, hadn't seen or smelled the shrub since I was a child...smiling as I remembered how my Mother would place the dark flowers inside a white hanky before going to church...Maybe it's wild, the shrub returns every year...wasn't aware that you can buy them at nurseries...

You have to be careful with this one! Like Gabriell I have had no scent and bad smell Calycanthus, after spending quite a bit on them.

ONLY BUY WHEN IT IS IN BLOOM!

Turns out there are two different Sweet Shrub species in commerce - one is the fruity fragrant one, and one smells like old wine barrels - unfortunately that's the one I bought and it was nasty.

Secondly, it turns out that if plants are cloned and cloned and cloned for several generations they can lose their scent, among other desirable qualities. And that could explain the Calycanthus with no fragrance at all - also something that happened to me.

I would love to have one but twice burned...