Fabulous florals
Discover the plants used in specific perfumes, and how to grow them
Smell is a powerful sense. It brings pleasure, a feeling of wellbeing and connection, and perhaps most importantly, it triggers our memories. Too often, in our gardens, we focus on the visuals, and forget that addressing our other senses can heighten the enjoyment. But stop and inhale! Aromatic leaves, ripening fruit and the smell of moist soil all stimulate our emotions... and floral scents can have the most intoxicating effect.
Many modern perfumes or colognes contain floral scents that we can grow in our own gardens
(although not all floral scents in perfume come from real flowers – see box overpage for more on that). Why not take a lead from the perfume industry, and mix and match plants whose scents you love, to create your own kind of fragrant garden?
Here’s a look at the floral notes underpinning a range of perfumes, and information on cultivating those scents at home.
Arabian jasmine (Jasminum sambac)
The flowers of Arabian jasmine impart their fragrance readily to foods such as tea and rice, or when placed among clothing, so it’s no surprise this scent features in perfumes. Known as ‘the king of oils’, jasmine is said to be the most masculine floral fragrance.
Smell it in Cashmere Mist (Donna Karan), Opium (Yves Saint Laurent), Jasmin Rouge (Tom Ford), Jasmine (Demeter Fragrance Library), Imperial Tea (Kilian).
Grow it Unlike many jasmines, Arabian jasmine needs little maintenance, is long-flowering (spring to autumn), and is tough and reliable.
Its many forms include climbing plants, compact shrubs (1.5–3.5m high), and single, semi-double and double-flowered named cultivars.
Best climate Warm temperate, subtropical and tropical. In cool zones, grow it against a warm, sunny wall.
Champaca (Magnolia champaca)
The blooms of this tree, also known as Joy perfume tree, are regarded as auspicious in Asia, where flowers are often placed in temples. It provides a warm floral note that’s tea-like yet heady. Smell it in Euphoria (Calvin Klein), J’adore (Dior), Champaca (Ormonde Jayne), Un Matin d’Orage (Annick Goutal). Grow it Champaca is a luxuriant, broad-leafed, upright tree, belonging to the large group of magnolias formerly classified as Michelia spp. In the wild it can reach 30m high, but only 8–10m in cultivation. It features starry, heavily scented, cream flowers throughout the year. It requires a warm position protected from frost and cold winds, and resents root disturbance.
Best climate Warm temperate, subtropical and tropical.
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Arabian jasmine’s waxy white owers age to pale pink; champaca hails from the tropical eastern Himalayan foothills; the only way to experience lily-of-the-valley’s natural fragrance is to grow it, or buy a bunch, as its scent is manufactured in perfumes; despite the name, English lavender is native to the Mediterranean.