Floral magic creating a fragrant February
VISITORS TO Yorkshire’s most prized beauty spots enjoyed the mild weather over the weekend – and the pleasure can be all the more satisfying knowing that the conditions could help this month shape 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.
RHS chief horticulturist Guy Barter explained the phenomenon: “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.”
And there are “bewitching” perfumes at North Yorkshire’s Harlow Carr across the 15 varieties of witch hazel.
Paul Cook, curator of the Harrogate garden, said: “Hamamelis has a wonderful winter scent that is stopping visitors in their tracks – it is the best I can remember.
“The fragrance is just bewitching, intensified by the mild winter and a lack of frost which can mute its sweetsmelling perfume.”