Scents & Sensibility

With the festive season now behind us I can now feel the adrenalin rush of a brand new gardening year. The shortest day has been and gone, daylight hours are at last beginning to lengthen. In the meantime the garden seems to sleep. There are many reminders of summer's hazy, lazy days to admire. The tall spent spikes of Acanthus spinosus, the browned leaves and seedpods of Crocosmia 'Lucifer', the seed heads of Agapanthus africanus, not to mention the many hips of species and single-flowering roses.

In the middle of winter the garden's skeleton is revealed. Look around your garden to see how well your winter framework shapes up. Are there plenty of evergreens to brighten and refresh the scene? Have you been adventurous in planting winter flowering shrubs? And what about herbaceous perennials? Most of us garden in the Northern hemisphere where the dark days of winter last a good third of the year. I don't know about you, but my spirit needs uplifting badly by the time we get to January. Nothing does the job better than scent. So, what uplifting whiffs can we turn to?

Starting with shrubs where the choice is widest. Top of my list would be the beautiful scent of Hamamelis mollis, the Chinese witch hazel.

Having clusters of deep-yellow, spider-like flowers, which are truly intoxicating. Probably the best form is 'Pallida', raised at the Royal Horticultural Society's garden at Wisley, from seed thought to have originated from Belgium's Kalmthout Arboretum. All the witch hazels are upright, slow-growing shrubs, preferring acid to neutral soils, which are moisture retentive. Best planted if possible against a dark background to show off the flowers to best advantage.

Next on our 'must have' list would have to be Daphne mezereum, a deciduous shrub with a perfume unmatched by anything else in the garden. Flowering in mid to late winter, the rose-purple flowers appear on bare stems.

In autumn and early winter it has large red berries which are very decorative. Try to plant this gem near a well-used footpath. Each waft of its sweet scent will remind you that spring is just around the corner. There is also a white form D. mezereum 'Alba' with creamy-white flowers and yellow berries. All the daphnes are slow growing and resent any major pruning, liking well-drained soil in full sun or part shade.

Another delightful smell is provided by a semi-evergreen bush, a honeysuckle called Lonicera fragrantissima. Not stunningly attractive in summer, its lemon-scented flowers more than make up for this shortcoming and can last many months. This is a large shrub, up to 6 feet tall by 5 feet wide. Most honeysuckles enjoy a wide range of soils but prefer their roots in shade.

Go To Page: 1 2 3

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic