My ”Aphrodite” had a few blooms left into the first week of September, but it seems to finally be done now.

Considering it started pushing out blooms in early June, it really does have an impressively long flowering season.

Does it have the spicy-sweet fragrance I've read about?

The fragrance is certainly different from my wild-type C. floridus, which, to my nose, smells of overripe strawberries. Aphrodite smells more like watermelon or cucumber to me, although I've also read that individual specimens of Aphrodite can vary greatly in the nature of the fragrance, and whether or not they even have any detectable fragrance.

I stand corrected: I found one more flower bud on Aphrodite this morning so it’s not quite done yet!

I'd agree that the flowers have a "melony" fragrance. We'll see how late into fall this particular plant (which is growing in a relatively protected location) continues to bloom. Another photo from today (9/20/21).

Speaking of calycsnthus, my aphrodite is suddenly a sprawling five x five octopus. Do any of you orune yours to good effect, snd if so, when and how?

I prune any wayward shoots/suckers on mine after the first flush of blooms in late spring/early summer, since they mainly bloom on old wood.

Keep in mind Aphrodite can get quite a bit larger than 5x5 too! Mine is about 7 feet tall after four years in the ground, and I’ve seen 9 and 10-foot tall specimens.