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Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles
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'Lonicera × purpusii' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
A deciduous shrub of dense, rounded habit, up to 10 ft high, more in diameter; young stems glabrous or almost so. Leaves ovate to oval, 2 to 31⁄2 in. long, 1 to 13⁄4 in. wide, pointed, broadly tapered to rounded at the base, glabrous above, slightly hairy on the midrib and veins beneath, margins bristly. Flowers white, fragrant, in axillary clusters of two to four; corolla 5⁄8 in. long, 1⁄2 in. wide, the short rounded lobes reflexed; stamens glistening white, anthers bright yellow, conspicuously exposed. Bot. Mag., n.s., t. 323.
A hybrid between L. fragrantissima and L. standishii. Flowering like them early in February, it makes an attractive addition to early flowering shrubs.
This hybrid resembles L. fragrantissima in having the branchlets almost glabrous and the corollas glabrous on the outside; but the leaves are edged with bristly hairs as in L. standishii.
Awards
AGM
RHS Hardiness Rating: H6
Now a classic,scented winter-flowering shrub that has been widely planted, ‘Winter Beauty’ was raised at the Hillier Nurseries, by Alf Alford, selected from a backcross of L. × purpusii with L. standishii made in 1966 (Edwards & Marshall 2019). It forms a dense, twiggy bush, which benefits from regular thinning of old wood and light pruning to stimuale new growth, on which it flowers. The foliage is a slightly yellowish pale green. The prolific creamy-white flowers are strongly and delightfully lemon-scented.