SIX OF THE BEST Scented plants
Scented flowers are a vital component of any garden’s design and will bestow an extra dimension of pleasure to time spent outside. Cover all the seasons with a selection of fragrant bulbs, shrubs, perennials and roses.
1. Cosmos atrosanguineus
A rather exotic looking cosmos with a delicious aroma of chocolate and vanilla. It produces copious velvety maroon-coloured flowers if planted in a sunny spot with moderately fertile free-draining soil. Lift the tender tubers in autumn before the first frosts.
2. Pelargonium ‘Sweet Mimosa’
The aromatic oils in the leaves of scented Pelargoniums release their heady fragrances when the sun is hot or when their foliage is touched. This pretty variety has intense rose and lemon-scented foliage and two-tone pink blooms. Available from hayloft.co.uk
3. Buddleja
Entice butterflies to your garden with a highly scented buddleja shrub that produces honey-scented blooms in shades of lilac, purple, mauve, pink or white. Look out for the beautiful compact forms that grow well in containers if you have limited outdoor space.
4. Lavender
Prized for its intense perfume and ability to attract numerous pollinating insects to a garden, lavender never fails to stimulate the senses over a long period in summer. It needs sun and good drainage and doesn’t even mind impoverished soil.
5. Lilium ‘Star Gazer’
As a member of the highly fragrant group of oriental lilies, this much-loved summer-flowering bulbous plant produces tall sprays of star-shaped flowers, which emit a powerful perfume that floats on the breeze. For best impact plant in groups of three.
6. Rosa ‘Gertrude Jekyll’
One of the most highly scented of David Austin’s English roses, this shrub produces clusters of double cup-shaped pink blooms that have a divine old rose fragrance. It is disease-resistant and repeat flowers from late spring until the first frosts.
Plant scented climbers for fragrance at head height, to enjoy as you stroll around the garden!
Position scented plants where they will be appreciated on a regular basis – by the front and back doors, next to seating areas and alongside the shed.