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Scented shrub ID

B3B3 Posts: 27,505
There's an evergreen shrub that's in bloom all over the place at the moment. It has very small white honeysuckle -like flowers. I find the smell really unpleasant. It smells a bit like urine to me.
Could anyone tell me what it is in case I buy one by mistake?
In London. Keen but lazy.
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  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    Not Lonicera purpusii, I hope... mine doesn't smell of urine but it has small honeysuckle-like white flowers...
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    I was going to suggest sarcocca too but @AnniD beat me to it while I was looking for a photo. It is supposed to smell lovely though.

    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Loveliness in the nostril of the beholder, I suppose. I find cistus really unpleasant too. I will avoid sarcocca . I don't think it's the lonicera @Liriodendron predictive text changes lonicera  into knickers in case you're interested. Could've been appropriate under the circumstances.
    Thanks @Busy-Lizzie and @AnniD I'll go with your suggestion.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • I bought a sarcococca in B&Q tonight on the way home from work. They were perfuming the whole plant section and I enjoyed the scent of my little plant for the rest of the walk home. 
  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445
    Viburnum tinus doesn't smell very nice and it's evergreen but the flowers don't look like honeysuckle


    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • Songbird-2Songbird-2 Posts: 2,349
    edited 6 February
    We have this exact plant that @Lizzie27 has specified in our front garden and for the first time since we planted it out,( 3+ years ago) it has started to send its perfume out. It’s sickly and not very pleasant but I, too, had read that it was supposed to smell lovely.
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    edited 6 February
    I have viburnum tinus. Can't say I've noticed anything unpleasant around it.
    There's a huge clump of the unpleasant one outside Guy's Hospital. I had to hold my breath and I pass another on the way to the shops. 😐
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • SueAtooSueAtoo Posts: 380
    I too dislike sarcococa and viburnum tinus though some of the viburnums I do like. Just shows you should buy plants in flower if at all possible. Roses too can have very different scents.
    East Dorset, new (to me) rather neglected garden.
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    It's interesting the way that we perceive different smells.  I have 2 Sarcococca and like the perfume  :)
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