Calycanthus - Growing Advice

How do you harvest the bark without killing the plant?

 

I suspect you can take narrow slivers - it didn't shed or anything like acer griseum. But it didn't look particularly appetizing...

 

Here's what you do @noisette47 (not my knowledge, an online source .)

1. Prune twigs from the shrub in late summer
2. Let the twigs dry in the sun or a low oven
3. Peel the bark from the twigs
4. Use the bark like cinnamon

Tips for using allspice

• The dried bark can be kept indefinitely, but it will lose some of its intensity over time
• Warming the bark in a dry pan over medium heat can release some of its fragrance and flavour
• The bark can be used in strips or ground into a powder

Mine will be harvested if it doesn't flower by year 2!

 

It certainly has a scent when you put it through a shredder.

 

Oooooo you're a hard man! Mine's been in for about 4 years and it's still less than a metre tall

 

Well, it has flowered in its first year, surprisingly! The flowers start off a nice wine red but then fade to an almost parchment pink, a bit like the old blotting paper . I think it needs a bit more organic matter at the base and more moisture as some of the leaves are already browning. I haven't got close enough to see if it has a scent. I'm still blighted by Rowan pollen which has caused a repeat of last year's hay fever .