It is a native of Japan and China that will survive from zone 7 to 9 and into zone 6. Some of the cultivars that can be found in the US include 'W.B. Clarke' a weeping form with a double pink flower, ' Peggy Clarke ' that has double rose colored flowers, 'Rosemary Clarke' with double white flowers and a red calix, 'Alba' a single white form, 'Alba Plena' with very early double white flowers, 'Benishidare' with small single flowers that are especially fragrant and crimson red, and 'Matsurabara Red' that has double dark red flowers. The double flowers on 'Dawn' are pink with a ruffled effect and fragrant. For the rest of the year, the bright green new shoots will provide some interest along with the serrate dark green leaves. The small yellow fruits are 1 to 1.5 inches in diameter and may provide some interest as well, but are inedible.
Japanese apricot performs best in full sun in well drained slightly acid soils.
It is easily propagated from softwood cuttings taken in the summer. White forsythia , a Korean native, is another fragrant winter flowering plant. It is also in my garden and is flowering now along with the Japanese apricot. The flowers of white forsythia are white to slightly pink tinged, and Michael Dirr reports an unnamed pink form. It will do well from zone 5 to 8.