FRAGRANT FLOWERS
Enjoy a fragrant garden all year long
In our everyday life, the average human draws 23,000 breaths a day. Included
in every breath are the scents of our immediate surroundings, relaying
a myriad of information. It is in this spirit that we plant our gardens
with fragrant plants.
We do not want to rely on just one plant to provide aroma in our garden.
We strive to provide a palette of scent; a “buffet” for the
nose to consume. In that same spirit, we should not lean solely on the
flowers for the fragrance in our garden. The pungence of artemesia
or the tang of lemon thyme can be perfect counterpoints for the
spicy odor of flowers. Boxwood can not only define the border
of the garden; it can be the canvas for a complex painting of aromas.
Finally, the garden should not lack fragrance at any time of year. Even
our garden chores can provide us with memory provoking scents. In the
fall, the scent of burning leaves accompanies our annual clean up, and
the smell of apples and pumpkins remind us of Thanksgivings past. In the
winter, the smell of cut evergreens defines the Christmas holiday as surely
as snow or Santa, and as the season progresses, forced paperwhites or
hyacinths can herald the approach of spring.
Flower fragrance is food for the soul
As much as aroma is food for the nose, it is also food for the soul. Nothing
is as sure to bring a smile to any face as a whiff of the first bloom
on a fragrant viburnum or daphne in spring. It is the
confirmation of the promise of spring, a sure link to the goodness of
the earth, and a vacation, if ever so fleeting, for the senses. There
is a luxury in the perfumes of the garden, a luxury that remains enticingly
in reach of almost everyone. So please indulge yourself and plant some
of the flowers and shrubs listed here. You will thank yourself nearly
23,000 times a day.
Planning your flower garden
Let’s look at some of the logistics of planting our fragrant garden.
First of all, we want to be able to enjoy our scented plants as much as
possible. This necessitates our placing the garden close to the house.
There are several different reasons for this.
- One - Close placement to the house allows
us to enjoy the fragrant aroma from inside the house as well as in the
garden.
- Secondly - The reflected heat from a wall
or patio can intensify the odors from many plants, giving us more bang
for our buck.
- Finally - If the fragrant plants are set
out in the open yard, the wind can whisk away the scent we worked so
hard to produce. Providing an enclosed space, such as a courtyard will
allow the fragrance to collect and intensify; even a leeward wall will
provide us with more flower power for the nose.
Next, we need to consider the reason the plants have scent in the first
place. Much as people use colognes and perfume to attract the opposite
sex, plants use fragrance as a part of their sexual function, attracting
insects to distribute their pollen. Keeping this in mind, one has to consider
that the more fragrant the plant, the more insects it is likely to attract.
If someone in your household is allergic to insect bites, you will have
to site the garden in a location that allows that person to avoid it.
If this means locating the garden away from the house, you can create
your enclosure by using some of the scented shrubs and trees to create
a barrier from the wind. You definitely have to count on increased bee
and bug activity around your scented plants. People asking for a fragrant
plant that doesn’t attract bees are confused about what the plant
is trying to accomplish!
Seasonal considerations
Finally, we need to consider when we would like the fragrance in the yard.
If we are landscaping a summer home, it doesn’t matter if we have
managed to locate the rare Clematis montana’Odorata’. By the
time the kids are out of school, and we get to the summer house, our prized
clematis will be out of bloom! On a similar note, if we only plant summer
blooming flowers around our year-round residence, we will deprive ourselves
of seasons of scent we could otherwise be enjoying. With just a little
thought and preparation, we can provide fragrance in the garden from the
last frost of spring to the first frost on the pumpkin (and with just
a little more effort we can even find some aroma in the colder months).
Fragrant Flower List
This is not intended as an all inclusive list, just a good place to start
to find scented plants. I tried to keep it general and not include things
like creosote bush that only you Arizonians could grow, but I’m
a northern gardener and as my old granny used to say, “You taste
like the sauce you were boiled in.” Any other plants you feel merit
inclusion should, as always, be brought to our attention. Please make
sure it’s not your local version of a creosote bush, and can be
used by a wide range of gardeners, and we’ll consider it…
SPRING
- Trees
Aesculus hippocastanum/ Horse Chestnut
Magnolia spp.
Tilia spp/ Lindens
- Shrubs
Calycanthus floridus/ Sweet Shrub
Chaenomeles speciosa/ Flowering Quince
Daphne cneorum/ Spring Daphne (‘Carol Mackie’ with the variegated
leaves is
great)
Ligustrum spp. / Hedge
Philadelphus spp. / Mock-orange
Pieris spp. / Andromeda
Syringa spp. / Lilacs
Viburnum spp. / Fragrant Viburnums (V.carlessii, V. juddii, V.
carlecephalum, etc.)
- Vines
Wisteria spp.
- Perennials
Convalaria majalis/ Lily of the Valley
Dianthus spp. / Pinks, Carnations
Primula spp. / Primroses
- Annuals & Bulbs
Crocus chrysanthus/ Yellow crocus
Freesia spp.
Galanthus spp. / Snowdrops (Not all; look for ‘Sam Arnott’
and ‘G.P. Arnott ’)
Hyacinthinoides spp. / Dutch Hyacinths
Iris reticulata/ Dwarf Iris
Lobularia maritima/ Sweet Alyssum
Narcissus spp. / Jonquils, Paperwhites
SUMMER
- Trees
Catalpa speciosa/ Catalpa
Oxydendrum arboretum/ Sourwood
Styrax obassia/ Fragrant Snowball
Syringa reticulata/ Japanese Tree Lilac
- Shrubs
Azalea vaseyii, Azalea viscosum/ Swamp azalea, Pinxterbloom
Buddleia spp. / Butterfly Bush, Summer Lilac
Clethra spp. / Summersweet
Kolkwitzia ambilis/ Beautybush
Itea virginica/ Virginia Sweetspire (Look for ‘Henry’s Garnet’
and ‘Little Henry’)
Osmanthus spp. / False Holly
Rhus aromatica/ Fragrant Sumac
Rosa spp. / Roses (Not all, but most…)
Yucca filimentosa/ Adams Needle
- Vines
Akebia quinata/ 5-leaved akebia (This plant is on many invasive lists)
Clematis spp. (Many of the vines, and check out C. heraclifolium/ Bush
Clematis)
Jasminum officinale/ Jasmine
Lonicera spp.(Good fragrance but often rampant and some are just thugs,
like L.japonica)
- Perennials
Agastache spp. / Hyssop
Hosta plantaginea (and many of it’s hybrids like ‘Aphrodite’
and ‘Guacamole’)
Lavendula spp. / Lavender (Always a favorite)
Monarda spp. / Bergamot, Bee-balm
Nepeta spp. / Catmint
Phlox paniculata/ Garden Phlox
- Annuals & Bulbs
Antirhinnum majus/ Snapdragons
Datura spp. / Angels Trumpets
Cosmos atrosanguinea/ Chocolate Cosmos
Lathyrus spp. / Sweet Pea
Lilium spp. /Lilies (The Oriental Hybrids like ‘Stargazer’
and ‘Mona Lisa’ will floor you)
Nicotiana spp. / Flowering Tobacco (see, it is good for something…)
Tagetes spp. / Marigolds
AUTUMN
- Trees
Heptacodium miconoides/ Seven-son Flower (I use the Latin name as a
self sobriety test)
- Shrubs
Hamamelis virginiana/ Autumn Witch-Hazel
- Vines
Clematis paniculata/ Sweet Autumn Clematis
- Perennials
Perovskia atriplicifolia/ Russian Sage
WINTER
- Shrubs
Hamamelis mollis, H. vernalis/ Witch-Hazels
Corylopsis spp. / Winterhazel
SCENTED FOLIAGE
- Trees
Evergreen spp. (Pine, fir, spruce, juniper, cedar, etc…)
- Shrubs
Buxus spp. / Boxwood
Comptonia peregrina/ Sweet fern
Ledum groenlandicum/ Labrador Tea
Lindera benzoin/ Spicebush
Myrica pennsylvanica/ Bayberry
- Perennials
Artemisia spp. / Wormwood
Dennstaedtia punctiloba/ Hay-scented Fern
Galium odoratum/ Sweet Woodruff (at your own risk, invasive)
Thymus spp. / Thyme (Most of the herbs work here; tarragon and lovage
and savory)
- Annuals
Cymbopogon citratus/ Lemon Grass
Melissa officinalis/ Lemon Balm
Ocimum basilicum/ Basil
Pelargonium spp. / Scented Geraniums
Verbena citriodorus/ Lemon Verbena
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