Cast your mind back to spring, when you or someone near you cut their lawn for the first time. Remember the smell? That first cutting of the lawn always awakes the memory banks for me, evoking summer sun, the buzz of insects and a general feeling of well being.
Human beings are very sensory creatures, but we are not renowned for our sense of smell, when compared to other animals. The scent of foliage and flowers is very subjective and variable even between one individual and another.
Scent at the start of the season is in short supply unless you are willing to crawl among your small crocus. It is not until the daphnes flower that any real fragrance worthy of the name appears. This for me is one of the most eagerly awaited scents after dreary winter.
I have two large Daphne mezereum shrubs positioned strategically near the front door. One after another, the milkman, the postman and even the chap who comes to read the gas meter, seem to have only one question on their mind. Where on earth is that scent coming from, looking at me very quizzically when asking the question? So scent, even amongst non-gardeners evokes reactions.
With the wealth of June our noses are twitching this way and that, or should be. Modern plant breeders have succeeded in producing bigger and better blooms, but often at the expense of scent. This is the quality that gives most plants their soul. It is also the most ephemeral.
Present a deep red rose to anyone and they will invariably plunge their nose into it. Lacking scent it will still make a name for itself, but it will fail to win our hearts. Roses have been subject to the most intensive breeding for new varieties than almost any other flower. I have never really understood the passion for modern roses over the more restrained fragrant old roses. Repeat flowering and brighter colours are factors I suppose, but at what expense!
In deep shade and next to a high hawthorn hedge, grows rosa alba maxima. Sometimes known as the ‘Jacobite Rose’ or ‘Cheshire Rose’ it is as tough as old boots. This rose flowers for well over a month. This year as most years, it is covered with its creamy-white and highly intoxicating blooms. Not many modern shrub roses could cope with anything like these demanding conditions and flower well as this.
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