Flowers for fragrance Award-winning gardener, author and broadcaster, Liz Zorab reveals some of her favourite blooms for scent and cheer in spring
In the cool, damp air of spring, I think there is nothing nicer than noticing the scent of flowers in the garden, or as I walk along a street. As spring progresses and the air and soil warm, the number of fragrant blooms increase and reminds us of the riot of colour and scents to come over the summer months. I can be a bit of a fairweather gardener, so anything that entices me into the garden and encourages me to stay there is a very good thing.
I think it is worth investing in a few key plants that will fill the garden with their sweet scent throughout the year. Growing shrubs and herbaceous perennials in pots allows us to move them around the garden, so that we can make the most of them during their flowering period. We can then maybe place them in a less conspicuous place when they have finished their moment of being a star in the garden.
Hamamelis × intermedia ‘Vesna’
This variety of witch hazel grows to form a large, deciduous shrub. The bare stems provide a visual framework upon which the flowers are borne. Each striking flower has slim, dangling petals that are orangey-yellow, flush with red at the base. Although they prefer a sheltered site, I’m growing them in the long shrubbery in our north-facing, windy hillside garden and they are coping well.
Sarcococca confusa
I often see this plant described as ‘unassuming’ and it’s a perfect description of its visual impact. An evergreen shrub that grows to around 2m (6ft) tall with green, glossy leaves, it is nothing to write home about for most of the year. However, when it comes into flower, during late winter or early spring, you will notice sweet box before you see it. The scent of the little cream flowers is strong and heady without being cloying. I have a Sarcococca confusa growing in a large pot which I put near the front door of the house during April.
Hyacinths
The unmistakable fragrance of hyacinths will hang in the air around a clump of flowers. Edge a path or have a clump near the door, so that you can enjoy their scent as you walk past. In the garden hyacinths will naturalise and look less like those fussy clusters of flowers that we know from forced hyacinths in bowls, but still provide a sweetly-scented area.
Viola odorata ‘Baroness Alice de Rothchild’
Here’s a plant for the front of the border, tucked under a tree or in pots and containers near the house. Sweet violets are low growing with dark green leaves and large, but delicate-looking, purple flowers held above the leaves. The plant grows to around 8in (20cms) high and prefers free-draining fertile soil. The fragrance is of violets, those pale purple sweets we had as children. Viola odorata flowers from winter through to spring.
Skimmia japonica ‘Fragrant Cloud’
A compact evergreen with heavily fragrant white flowers that open in spring. Skimmia form male and female flowers on separate plants and ‘Fragrant Cloud’ is a male flowering shrub, so does not produce berries after flowering, however the glossy leaves provide a good backdrop to other plants in the garden. The tiny and closely packed bell-shaped flowers smell of lily-ofthe-valley. It grows best in an acid soil or pot with ericaceous compost and will tolerate shade and a windy site.
Peony ‘Claire de Lune’
This hybrid peony has distinctive mid-green leaves and is early to flower. From mid-May, it provides a good display of flowers with pale lemon-yellow petals and a bright golden centre. Each flower is sweetly scented and is good as a cut flower. Growing to around 70cm (27in) tall, it’s a good plant for the centre of the border. I also grow peonies at the front of a bed to add a splash of colour and to enjoy their fragrance more closely. Although the flowering period is only a month or so, I think they earn a place in the garden for the interest they provide.
Dianthus
For years I thought of garden pinks as a bit old-fashioned, but a couple of years ago I bought a tray of them to use as ground cover and I’ve been delighted with the results. The fragrance of Dianthus fills the air around the plants and there are a huge array of colours from which to choose. The silvery-green leaves and stems are attractive and form mounds, above which the flowers appear. In my garden, the flower buds tend to suffer in the very wet spells, but deadheading keeps the flowers coming over a long period. They propagate readily from cuttings, so one or two plants will be sufficient to provide plenty of new plants for the garden.
Myrrhis odorata
Sweet Cicely is an herbaceous perennial herb with a sweet aniseed flavour - and all parts of the plant are edible. A few leaves added to rhubarb can reduce the amount of sugar needed by up to 25%. The roots can be cooked like a parsnip (they taste like parsnip with a dash of aniseed) and my favourite are the seeds, which can be eaten when green and are as sweet and flavoursome as the aniseed balls we ate as children. In some areas, Myrrhis odorata may be considered invasive, but plants can be kept in check by removing all seeds before they drop and cutting back throughout the season.