Musings from a scent garden
Trachelospermum jasminoides
There are three boxes I always try to tick when considering the plants in my garden. Not always adhered to, as sometimes the heart wins over the head, however it’s helpful to at least attempt some degree of discipline.
Sarcococca confusa
The first is right plant, right place, as instructed by the renowned Beth Chatto. A lesson once finally learned, has made me a better gardener and means my plants not only live, but sometimes even thrive.
The second is wildlife. It is a simple delight seeing the wren darting amongst the borage once it’s gone to seed, and hearing the buzz of bees among the echinops, foxgloves or chives. Planting according to who or what may benefit, knowing that nature will turn up, is very satisfying.
And the third, well, that is scent.
The unfussy Sarcococca confusa has got me through the last three winters.
Those dark mornings and grey days are cut through by the sweet scent from it’s tiny unassuming white flowers. So unassuming in fact, that I forget where the intoxicating smell is coming from, forcing me to raise my head up and follow my nose.
I now have S. confusa in a pot at my backdoor as well as window boxes at the front, providing a welcome whoosh of sweetness as soon as I go outside or come home in the dark.
Prunus mume “Beni-chidori”
Come February, the early flowering Prunus mume ‘Beni-chidori’, with it’s deep pink flowers that emit a sugar almond scent, signals that the long-awaited spring is almost here. Backed up by the slightly late, winter flowering Daphne Odora, which when I press my nose to the blossom, is akin to entering an expensive French parfumerie.
The summer is typically filled with the scent of lavender (all of Hidcote, Munstead, Grosso), martagon lilies which seem to thrive in my more shaded garden (box one checked!), repeat flowering, huge red roses from Rosa ‘Climbing Ena Harkness’ and my most coveted of all, Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides), nursed for many, many years until I was finally rewarded two summers ago, very much worth the wait.
Actaea simplex “Black Beauty”
Into September, and just when we think that summer might just keep on going this year, I keep one eye firmly on the Actaea “Black Beauty” and Actaea “Brunette” dotted around the garden. Mainly because I love the rich candy floss scent but also because once it blooms, it signals that Autumn is just around the corner. Actaea is the last plant to flower in my garden before everything starts to slow down and gradually die back over the coming months. Not to worry though, there are still the ferns offering up their comforting earthy scent, a scent especially present after a little rain, and known to me now as ‘petrichor’. I love that there is a specific word in the dictionary for how the earth smells after rainfall.
Dicksonia antarctica
And as we come back around to winter, not long now until my senses are greeted once more by the keen to please Sarcococca confusa. Off we go again. The garden really is is a never-ending festival for the senses.
Recommended reading
If scent in the garden is something that inspires you too, I can recommend reading Isabel Bannerman’s “Scent Magic - Notes from a Gardener”. Find Isabel on Instagram.
Heart - Lavender, Mandarin & Palmarosa
Thanks for reading, TBC x
Roses from the garden