Fragrant February for flowers

Lovers of floral scents are in for a treat this month, which is shaping up to be the most fragrant February in memory, according to the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS).

Seasonal flowers including witch hazel, winter-flowering viburnums, shrubby honeysuckles and Edgeworthia are blooming larger and more profusely as a result of last year’s hot, sunny summer and a lack of hard frosts this winter.

Plants compete for pollinators, and it is thought that winter-flowering plants flower at this time to avoid the competition they would face in summer, the horticultural experts said.

The plants use scent, released on warm days when pollinating insects are most likely to be on the wing, to entice pollinators such as flies, as well as the few bees that are active in winter.

Some scents such as wintersweet may fade by the end of February, but others such as viburnum will continue into March.

RHS chief horticulturist Guy Barter said: “After a period of cold, the flowers are coming out in a rush with the warming air and, on warm days in particular, the scent drifts over the gardens.

“In summer, scents are prolific and tend to mingle but as fewer plants are in flower in winter, you can distinguish the individual scents more easily.”

The RHS said visitors to its gardens across the country could experience the wealth of fragrant scents.