Top p 5... shrubs for winter scent
Give your nose as well as your eyes a treat with these perfumed winter wonders
1 Coronilla valentina ‘Citrina’
Pale lemon pea-flowers emit a sweet scent, making a good cut flower. Blooms December to April. Three-leafed, blue-green leaves over a twiggy shrub. Sunny, sheltered spot, in moist, well-drained soil. Hardy to -10C (14F). H/S: 80cm (2¾ft).
Tip Can be pruned and trained as a small wall shrub.
From www.kelways.co.uk; tel: 01458 250521.
2 Daphne bholua ‘Spring Herald’
Upright, slowish-growing, semievergreen shrub with lance-shaped leaves. Clusters of small, white, sweetly scented flowers in January and February. Any moist, well-drained soil, especially chalky. Sheltered spot in sun or semi-shade. Hardy to -10C (14F). H/S: 1.5m (5ft).
Tip Can be trained against a southfacing wall.
From www.crosscommonnursery.co.uk; tel: 01326 290722.
3 Lonicera elisae
Unusual shrubby, deciduous honeysuckle producing pendant clusters of funnel-shaped, white, tinged pink, sweetly-scented flowers in January and February. New foliage flushed purple, turning green. Any moist, well-drained soil in dappled shade. H/S: 1.2-1.8m (4-6ft). Tip Underplant with snowdrops and chionodoxa to dramatic effect. From www.botanicaplantnursery.co.uk; tel: 01728 747113.
4 Sarcococca hookeriana ‘Winter Gem’
Shrubby, upright evergreen with rich green, glossy, lance-shaped leaves on maroon-purple stems. Sweetly scented white ‘flowers’ along leaf joints in late winter. Any moist, well-drained, humus-rich soil in semi to full shade. H/S: 60cm (2ft).
Tip Useful for growing beneath trees and taller shrubs.
From www.crocus.co.uk; tel: 01344 578111.
5 Viburnum farreri ‘Nanum’
Dwarf, twiggy shrub producing clusters of pale pink, scented blooms from November onwards. Lance-shaped leaves purple tinged in spring, turning redpurple in autumn. Any moist, well-drained soil in sun or semi-shade. H/S: 90cm (3ft).
Tip Provide shelter from hard frosts which can damage flowers.
From www.botanicaplantnursery.co.uk; tel: 01728 747113.