For me, adding scent to the garden adds another layer of interest. Creating sensual encounters, stirring emotions and memories and altogether deepening the pleasure of a garden.
Whatever the size of your garden, scent can be brought in by anything from simply placing a pot of highly scented spring hyacinth bulbs on your doorstep to creating a whole walkway of scent.
There are flowers with wonderful scents for every month of the year, but to use them effectively it is wise to consider how and when they will appear and what strength the scent will be.
Here are my top five scented plants:
1. Sarcoccoa Hookeriana ‘Winter Gem’: A compact evergreen shrub with shiny foliage and tiny, sweet smelling creamy flowers in February and March.
2. Syringa Meyeri ‘Palibin’: A smaller, slower growing variety of lilac with heavily scented lily like perfumed flowers in early summer.
3. Philadelphus ‘Belle Etoile’: A medium sized deciduous shrub suitable for any garden, commonly known as mock orange. The open, starry-white flowers with a fresh lemon scent appear in June and July.
4. Daphne Bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’: One of the best scented. An evergreen shrub suitable for a sheltered sunny spot. Clusters of waxy, blush-pink flowers, with a clove-tinged perfume, are borne from April lasting well into the summer.
5. Lonicera, more commonly known as honeysuckle. These can be winter or summer flowering. The variety Lonicera Purpusii produces intensely perfumed white flowers on bare stems in winter, perfect for attracting bees.
Lonicera Periclymenum, the rhubarb and custard coloured summer flowering varieties, offer the best scent, and although they can take a little longer to establish, they are worth the wait. There’s nothing like a warm summer’s evening with the sweet scent of a honeysuckle nearby.
Scent is such a personal experience; we all have our own favourites. For help finding the right plant, with the best scent, for your own garden, please get in touch via email, mobile, or social media.