Here’s the latest addition to my wish list for the garden:  Heptacodium miconioides.  Seven Son Flower is a member of the honeysuckle family, or Caprifoliaceae, so you know it’s going to be fragrant.  It is considered a shrub, but is so fast growing that it reaches tree size in a few years which is why it is sometimes known as Seven Sons Tree.  I learned about this somewhat rare shrub through Miss Rumphius Rules, one of my favorite garden blogs.  The beautiful bark and graceful aspect makes up for the fact that it is not an evergreen.  From all the information I’ve gathered it should be really easy to grow here in the Pacific Northwest.  If anyone knows where to get one please let me know.

Update: Thanks to Allison at City People’s on Madison I am now the proud parent of a Seven Sons Tree.  She found a 3 gallon plant that I purchased for $21.00.  It is really beautiful.  The leaves remind me of honeysuckle leaves, but also of mock orange.  When it’s only a baby it’s hard to see that it has a really interesting aspect that is reminiscent of a pagoda dogwood, but that is one of the reasons I wanted to try it.  Pruning it will emphasize that pagoda shape.  I’m excited to have a fragrant fall bloomer outside of my office window, even if it doesn’t bloom this year.  It’s already August after all.