Scents of spring
Yes, we’re only just into autumn but it’s time to think aboutthe...
EVERYONE knows that planting bulbs in the autumn will add a welcome splash of colour to gardens in spring. The sight of flowers nosing their way above the ground is guaranteed to lift the spirits after winter, but the way to really delight the senses is to choose varieties that will also fill your space with a delightful perfume.
There’s a host of beauties that carry a bewitching fragrance.
Hyacinths are the obvious one, but there are some fantastic daffodils, tulips, crocuses, dwarf irises and grape hyacinths that give your olfactory senses a treat. Even a few snowdrop varieties produce flowers with a distinctive honey scent.
Mention scented spring bulbs and the first species that comes to mind are hyacinths, with 8in spikes of bell-shaped flowers that burst through a cluster of strap-shaped leaves during March and April. Their tiny single or double blooms come in shades of white, yellow, pink, orange, red, blue and purple.
They’re largely native to the Middle East, but we’ve been growing hyacinths on our shores since the late 1500s.
During their Victorian heyday hundreds of varieties were available but today’s gardeners will come across only 60 or so. Winners include ‘Sky Jacket’, ‘Jan Bos’ and ‘Midnight Mystic’, with its dark purple flowers.
A word of warning when handling hyacinth bulbs: the scaly outer skin sheds tiny, needle-like shards that contain calcium oxalate crystals, which cause itches, rashes or an allergic reaction on contact with skin. Avoid problems by wearing a pair of gloves when planting.
Many daffodils have scented flowers, which range in potency from light to super-strong. Multiheaded tazetta types are heady and grown commercially across the world for their essential oil, which is used by the perfume industry.
Among the best are ‘Yellow Cheerfulness’, ‘Geranium’ and ‘Silver Chimes’. My favourite scented daff is ‘Sir Winston Churchill’, whose knee-high stems carry multiple small flowers with a jasminelike fragrance in March and April. The double, creamy white flowers are flecked with orange, giving them a swirly appearance that reminds me of a Cadbury’s Creme Egg. Apart from turning noses in the garden, the long stems of many fragrant daffodils make them perfect for cutting and displaying indoors – in my opinion, they’ll mask bad odours better than any artificial air freshener.
Take a few stems when the blooms are on the verge of opening and they’ll last up to a week in a vase.
Tulips are celebrated for adding colour, glamour and drama to our gardens in mid to late spring but few realise that some also have delightfully scented blooms. The aroma varies enormously between varieties, from fresh to spicy, and from subtle to a freesia-like scent that hits you squarely on the nose.
Ones to sniff out at garden centres include ‘Brown Sugar’, ‘Angelique’ and ‘Peach Blossom’.
Dating from 1949, ‘Prinses Irene’ is a cracking type with bowlshaped, orange blooms adorned with flame-like, purple markings. The sweetly scented flowers stand to attention on 12in-tall stems during April and May.
In order to maximise their scent, plant tulip bulbs en masse. A swathe of them will enhance beds and borders but for real punch, inter-plant with sweet Williams and fragrant wallflowers – these spring-flowering biennials are widely available to buy in autumn as plug plants and bare-root specimens.
Spring-flowering bulbs are best planted in September or October, although tulips are best left until November – bulbs don’t form roots until the weather’s cooler, and later planting avoids fungal diseases.
Most need setting in holes two to three times their own depth, spacing them at least twice their own width apart.
In my view, there’s little point in planting bulbs in remote corners of the garden.
Plant them in beds close to paths, patios and seating, so you can appreciate their fragrance when you spend time outdoors.
Set them really close to the house and the scent will drift indoors through an open door or window.
Plant near the house and the fragrance will drift indoors