Surrey Homes | SH41 | March 2018 | Fashion supplement inside

Garden
Scents of
spring
Even before your garden is in full bloom it can
be heavenly scented says Jo Arnell
It seems positively greedy to expect flowers to be fragrant
at this time of the year – a glimpse of colour is treat
enough when we’ve been waiting all winter. The glad
news is that there are quite a few scented plants around in
early spring, pumping out their perfume to attract early
pollinating insects. Many of the dainty woodlanders and
demure, shade loving shrubs need to have fragrance; in fact
they might get overlooked if it weren’t for their scent. In
summer, scents abound and we can surround ourselves with
fragrant plants – roses and lilies are a heady mix, with deep,
sensual undertones. Spring flowers exude lighter, fresher notes
– more Doris Day than Gina Lollobrigida, but that’s just what
we need to wake us up to the delights of the coming season.
Where to grow spring scented plants
It’s easy to get lost in the visual when planning a planting
scheme, we’re often drawn to colour or filling gaps in borders,
at the expense of scent. If possible, situate fragrant plants
in a warm, sheltered spot where aromas will intensify and
not be blown away by strong spring winds. Use containers,
or prune shrubs with care to keep scents at nose height.
A well-placed scented plant is an uplifting thing in its own
right, but because our sense of smell is located in the limbic
system in the brain, where emotions and long-term memories
are lodged, the scent may also create, or trigger, evocative and
powerful memories. Fill spaces near paths, seating areas, or
doorways with scented plants and they will be transformed.
Just imagine, the mundane trip to and from the front door
could become a delightful amble through a sensory paradise…
What to grow
In general, the closer you are to the species, the more
fragrant a flower is likely to be; for instance a Primrose
(the ‘prima’ rose) is scented, but its hybridised (I was going
to say cultivated, but I can’t think of them as that) cousin
Polyanthus is sterile and unscented. Flowers bred for their
looks will often lose characteristics like scent. Plants with
flouncy double flowers are hybrids and are usually sterile;
they have no need for pollinators, so will not attract wildlife
either. More frilly frou-frou on a flower generally means less
fragrance. Luckily the plant breeders have realised and pay
attention to other attributes than just looks now, so many
cultivated versions of species plants retain their scent.
Woody plants
Blossom on trees and shrubs is one of the great delights
of the season, but remember the above rule if you want
fragrance from a tree or shrub, and go for single flowers,
rather than flouncy doubles. The powerful scent will
more than make up for shy, diminutive blooms.
Here are some of the best:
Daphne odora ‘Aureomarginata’ All Daphnes are
highly scented, but can be a bit fussy, demanding
conditions that are just right (perhaps they should be
renamed ‘Goldilocks’?). This variety is evergreen with
golden-edged leaves, its fragrant flowers emerging
early in the season and carrying over a distance.
Osmanthus x burkwoodii is another evergreen with
small box-like leaves and tiny white flowers that have an
intense fragrance. This can be grown as a hedge, but if
so, prune after flowering in late spring/early summer.
Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’ has tiny pink
flowers with an intense fragrance which emerge on
dark woody stems in late winter and early spring. Snip
off a twig and bring into the house to put among your
cut flowers, or even on its own in elegant starkness.
Buddleia alternifolia is technically verging on summer
flowering, but this is the earliest of the Buddleias. Small lilac
flower clusters smother the drooping branches, which is a
gorgeous enough sight, but get closer and you’re in a bath of
pure honey. And of course, being a Buddleia, it’s a magnet for
butterflies and bees. The only downside is that when not in
flower, like a starlet after a party, it’s a wild untameable mess.
Only plant by a path if you can do what they’ve done to the
one at Sissinghurst and turn it into a sort of weeping tree.
Climbers There are plenty of scented summer climbers
– rose, jasmine, honeysuckle, sweet peas – but not so many
for the spring. Clematis armandii ‘Apple Blossom’ is a good
(but rampant), evergreen with large leaves and pale pink
flowers; more fragrant still is the aptly named Clematis
montana ‘Fragrant Spring’. Montanas are the earliest, most
vigorous of the Clematis family and will quickly smother
a wall or shed – ideal if you want total coverage, slightly
overwhelming if not. Wisteria sinensis is another that
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