SCENTS OF THE SEASON
Nature’s perfumes aren’t just for summer – even in the colder months shrubs can release clouds of fragrance to lift the spirits
‘Perfume is important in a garden all year round, but particularly in winter’
With outside space playing an ever bigger role in the social aspect of our lives, filling it with colour and scent all year round will only make sitting out in every season all the more enjoyable.
Whether you have a balcony, patio or a garden, there are a number of shrubs you can grow that come to life during winter, saving their best flowers and fragrance for this otherwise bare time of year. Many were originally woodland shrubs, but will do well in pots or beds, as long as you follow the necessary planting and care instructions. Position close to seating areas or doors for maximum effect, or bring branches indoors to make the most of the scent. ‘Perfume is important in a garden all year round, but I think it’s particularly special in winter. At this time, a lot of plants have to work extra-hard to attract their pollinators, as there just aren’t so many Edgeworthia chrysantha around,’ says garden designer Fiona Edmond who grows dozens of winter-scented shrubs and trees in the woodland gardens around her home, Green Island, near Colchester. Fiona has a particular soft spot for witch hazels – and grows 32 varieties in her gardens – but counts many other shrubs on her favourites list. One thing worth noting is that these shrubs or trees aren’t cheap to buy – upwards of £20 for young plants. Hopefully though, each time you catch a waft of their gorgeous, heady fragrance, you’ll feel it was an investment worth making.
Here are six winter-scented shrubs that Fiona loves…
1 EDGEWORTHIA CHRYSANTHA
Before Christmas, the remarkable, spicy-scented Edgeworthia chrysantha has silvery buds that look like baubles – they then magically open and turn upwards as the days start to grow longer. Flowers appear in clusters on the tips of the bare stems and open late in winter. They will need a sheltered spot.
2 DAPHNES
At the top of Fiona’s list of must-haves for winter scent are Daphnes, particularly Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’, which she finds are more tolerant than others of being occasionally dried out or left slightly wet. ‘Darjeeling’ has very pale-pink flowers fading to white, while ‘Gurkha’ is pinker and flowers earlier.
3 SWEET BOX, SARCOCOCCA CONFUSA
The tiny white flowers of Sweet box, Sarcococca confusa, are largely hidden beneath its dense evergreen leaves, but have the ability to project a delicious vanilla fragrance right across the garden.
4 WINTERSWEET, CHIMONANTHUS PRAECOX
Wintersweet, Chimonanthus praecox ‘Luteus’, has pure yellow flowers that look wonderful against a blue winter sky. ‘It needs a nice sunny wall for the wood to ripen well and I train it hard, because 4 frankly it’s a bit dull for the rest of the year,’ says Fiona. ‘But a few sprigs of it will scent a whole room, so it’s well worth growing.’
5 WITCH HAZELS
Fiona loves witch hazels (Hamamelis) for their amazing resilience – ‘They will put up with anything the weather can throw at them’ – and for their graceful shape and longevity. ‘Like most other winterflowering shrubs, they have a very long, flowering period, often ‘frozen in time’ if there’s a particularly cold, snowy snap,’ she says. ‘The zingy citrus scent is spicier in the darker flowers, but sweeter and stronger in the paler, yellow flowering varieties, such as Hamamelis ‘Pallida’ and ‘Arnold Promise’.’
6 PRUNUS MUME ‘BENI-CHIDORI’
In her Japanese garden, Fiona has trained the ornamental apricot Prunus mume ‘Beni-chidori’. This small tree has stunning vivid pink flowers with prominent stamens, with a rich almondy-vanilla scent.
With their graceful shape, resilient witch hazels make for striking displays, both indoors and out