Scents and sensibility
26/04/2007
Early childhood memories linger. And even though I cannot remember where I put my keys five minutes ago, I can remember distinctly the highly scented double Bourbon rose that grew by my childhood home’s front door. It was impossible to enter or leave the house without being overwhelmed by its beautiful fragrance. Now I grow a highly scented scrambling rose up over my own front porch.
Fragrances, good and bad, are powerful invokers of memories; and because of this, gardens often play a big part in our recollections. It would be hard to imagine a garden full of beautiful blooms that lacked scent. The list of scented plants is endless, though some are decidedly more desirable than others.
The rose is as good a place as any to start: try Bourbon Queen, a shrub-rose bearing double flowers in a glorious shade of pink. Shrub-roses are not pruned back to stumps in winter and do require some space because of their generous growing habit. The group of roses known as the Rugosas have quite a strong scent of cloves especially the single white Rosa rugosa “Alba” or the double white Blanc Double de Coubert.
Of all the scented plants available, none is more easily recognisable than the Sweet Pea: Lathyrus odoratus. The Grandifloras, or old-fashioned varieties, are particularly highly scented. Seek out Matucana - a maroon and mauve bicolour. But be warned: they are greedy and require regular feeding and watering. Sow seeds singly into pots in late winter in a cold frame or greenhouse, plant out in early spring and train up wigwams or trellis. To encourage new blooms, deadhead regularly.
Many annuals release their scent in early evening. Nicotiana sylvesris (tobacco plant) grows to a giant 1.5m making a stunning rear of border specimen bearing white tubular flowers with an exotic evening scent. Oenothera biennis (common evening primrose) opens its yellow flowers and releases a delightful lemon scent in the evening. It self sows and could be considered invasive, so you may prefer to grow this in a wilder part of the garden. Hesperis matronalis (sweet rocket) is very soft and cottagey. It grows to about 1m and flowers in early summer emitting a sweet scent early evening.
No garden is complete without climbers. The best-known scented climber has to be Lonicera (honeysuckle). Lonicera japonica “Halliana - evergreen in all but the most exposed sites - produces white flowers maturing to yellow from early summer through to autumn and possesses the all-essential fragrance. It can be very vigorous once established and will respond well to severe pruning in spring. Though deciduous, Lonicera Belgica (early Dutch honeysuckle) produces richly fruit scented dark reddish purple flowers through summer and autumn. Honeysuckles are easy to grow, but like most climbers like to have their roots in cooler soil.
Sweet scented Jasmines are slightly more challenging because they demand a sunny sheltered site and may not prove to be hardy in every garden. Trachelospermum jasminoides (star jasmine) is an evergreen that bears scented star like white flowers in summer, has a dense compact form and doesn’t require much pruning at all. Because they flower on old wood, prune out dead, diseased or damaged wood once a year. A more hardy form of Jasmine would be Trachelospermum asiaticum, an evergreen bearing creamy yellow flowers in summer.
You of course will have your own memories of gardens from your past. Why not conjure up a few happy memories by making your own reminiscing garden? Well I’ve found the car keys so I’m off to the garden centre to buy myself another Jasmine!