July 20, 2018       Fragrance in the garden

         I love fragrance in the garden and I specifically plant for it.  I’ve a ‘Little Gem’ Magnolia tree with big waxy white flowers that starts blooming in the spring and then intermittently through the summer and into the fall.  Just snapping off one blossom and bringing it in to lay on the coffee table fills a room with its sweet smell.

I plant more and more lavender each year – even though I often kill it.  Not enough sun, too much water, not enough water . . .if I knew how I was killing the lavender I wouldn’t have to expend so much money each year replacing them.  But finally, this year I got the variety called Phenomenal which is supposed to be just the plant for this hot, steamy plant zone.  When in bloom I cut long stems to make lavender wands or I just snip the blossoms to tuck into sachet bags and hang on lamps switches.  When I turn on the lamp, I brush the sachet and it releases the fragrance.

I have several Lonicera fragrantissima bushes; common name, Breath of Spring or Winter honeysuckle, that fill the yard with fragrance starting in winter and continuing through late spring.  They can stand the heat and the drought and some people think they are invasive.  I just cut them back and let them grow out again.  The birds love to nest in them and the long stems make great additions to floral arrangements.  A handful of bare branches in a vase during the dull days of winter will burst forth into bloom and quickly chase away the winter doldrums.

Every year I try to plant Moon Flowers – Ipomoea alba – which have heart shaped leaves on a vigorus vine and huge blossoms that open at dusk.  The fragrance is incredible.  The white blooms attract humming bird moths at night.  If you have kids, or just for the-kid-in-you, you start them from seed early and set them out below a strong trellis and they will climb well over 10 feet if given support and consistent water. This year I got a lovely stand of them and can’t wait for them to start blooming in late summer. They bloom after dusk, opening at night and closing in the morning sun. Not only are they extraordinarily fragrant – but watching the flowers open at dusk is awesome fun.  A little bit of patience is well worth the delight.  The bud will wiggle a bit, then turn up and slowly unfold.  If you haven’t the patience, you can witness this on You-tube . . . but then, you’ve really NOT experienced it appropriately.

Then there is the gardenia bush with the shiny leaves and haunting fragrance that lingers in the sultry evening.  I bought two new plants this spring and so far one likes its location and the other one doesn’t. [I believe I will move it today.]  I hope that one or both of these new shrubs will mature so that I can cut arms full of branches and bring them into the house for their fragrance.   Hopefully, one or both will grow to become a fine specimen and I can take it off my “garden plant bucket list.”

But, I feel the grand dame of all fragrance in the garden is the white Lilium ‘Casa Blanca’. It has beauty, stature, and fragrance – what else can you ask for? Their recurved blooms are often eight inches in breadth.  Given the right location, they will please you for many years.  It is wise to stake them just in case you have high winds in your garden.  I have successfully grown them for several years in different locations.  I find that here in North Carolina they prefer morning sun with a bit of shade.  I haven’t been able to grow them in full sun as they like cool soil – so 6 to 8 hours of sun works best in my location.

Visitors to my garden always notice the fragrance and can’t seem to get enough “sniff” of them. I often pick one or two stems as they come into bloom to bring into the house as a personal treat.  Their fragrance actually fills the whole house.  My one other word of caution besides staking, is to be careful of the anters.  Those pollen laden tips inside the blossom.  It is almost impossible to remove the stain from linen or clothing.  It does no harm to pull them off gently before you arrange them in the vase.

         If you are new to gardening, I suggest you plan to include as much “fragrance” as you can.  It is one of the main reasons I garden. . . . to experience the fragrances that only fresh trees, shrubs, vines, and flowers possess.

You can obtain the lilies from:

https://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/381378-product.html