SCENTS AND SENSIBILITY
There are a surprising number of fragrant shrubs that bloom in gardens during winter, including winter-flowering honeysuckle, daphne and osmanthus.
These winter-flowing shrubs smell great but have rather nondescript flowers, as if saying that as their scent is going to do all the work they don’t need to put on a floral show.
Not luculia! This large fragrant winterflowering shrub has big heads of pink flowers and a glorious scent.
It is a plant to treat with respect as it comes with a reputation for suddenly dropping dead. To avoid unexpected losses, avoid digging around its roots, keep it moist and well mulched with leaf mould. Also shelter it from cold wind. We have a large luculia in an eastfacing spot in our garden, but it gets very sulky if there’s too much cold wind or a fall of snow.
Luculias can be pruned in spring after flowering, but cut them back cautiously.
Not at all fussy, and also adding bright flower colour in winter, is the easy-going yellow jonquil that’s in bloom now.
This bulb regrows year after year and flowers reliably from late June or early July as a prelude to the daffodils of late winter and early spring.
Plant bulbs in autumn or look for flowering potted plants at your garden centre.
Quiz answers 1. Marlon Brando 2. South America 3. Alma Pramac Racing 4. Lion 5. New York 6. Posh Spice 7. Caspian Sea 8. Triangle 9. True 10. 2010 South Africa 11. Peace 12. The Sleeping Beauty 13. Melbourne Tigers (United) 14. Djibouti 15. Sex and the City 16. Crises 17. Peter Rabbit 18. Venezuela 19. Madonna 20. Casablanca 21. False 22. Two-euro coin 23. John Isner 24. 15th and 16th 25. Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers 26. Eminem 27. Syria 28. Canadian 29. Tina Fey 30. Metamorphic
Target word answers: holster, horse, horst, hose, host, hostel, house, lest, lose, loser, lost, lotus, louse, lush, lust, lustre, opus, ostler, oust, ouster, peso, pest, pesto, plus, plush, plusher, pose, poser, poseur, posh, post, poster, presto, prose, pulse, purest, purse, push, pusher, rest, result, rhus, rose, rouse, roust, ruse, rush, rust, rustle, sept, shoe, shop, shore, short, shot, shout, shut, slept, sleuth, sloe, slop, slope, slot, sloth, slue, slur, slurp, sole, sore, sort, soul, soup, sour, south, spelt, spore, sport, spot, spout, sprout, spur, spurt, step, stole, stop, stope, store, stoup, strop, stupor, suer, suet, super, sure, those, thus, torus, UPHOLSTER, upset, user, usher.