One of the great pleasures of having a garden is fragrance or perfume from the trees, bushes and flowering plants. The fragrant garden adds a whole other dimension to the visual and tactile experience of a garden.
You often see people walk up to a rose bush and lean over to smell the blooms, right? You can multiply this reaction many-fold if you carefully select plants with fragrance when you go to the nursery next time.
It is easy to design a perfumed garden if you are starting from scratch, however, if you already have an established garden, it will require a different approach. You don’t have to dig up healthy plants to replace them with fragrant ones.
A couple of things you can do to add fragrant plants to your established garden.
- When a plant dies – replace it with a perfumed plant – that’s obvious I know!
- If a plant is scraggly and just doesn’t add to the quality of your garden – chuck it and replace.
- If you have a wall or fence – train a fragrant climber over it – with a trellis or wires.
- Find space for tree roses!
A starter list of fragrant plants for you to consider.
• Climbers: Jasmine, wisteria, clematis, roses, honeysuckle
• Perennials: Gardenias, Roses, Abelia trilora, boronia, buddleia, daphne, hosta, luculias
• Annuals: stocks,
• Bulbs: Easter lily, freesias, grape hyacinths, tuberoses
• Trees: Citrus, magnolias, myrtle, michelia doltsopa (magnificent)
And rosemary, mint, lavender, basil for the perfume of the foliage – it’s quite lovely to simply rub your fingers amongst the leaves.
Depending on where you live, you can’t go past frangipanis for high perfume. Additionally, many Australian acacias and eucalypts have both fragrance and flowers.
If you have a veranda or an arbor, train a wisteria over it – the perfume will knock your socks off every time you go by.
You can also effectively train a perfumed climber up an umbrella trellis and place it smack in the middle of the front lawn – or train one over an arch that crosses over the path or the front gate.
Lilac
Fragrant plants exude their perfume at different times of the day – so try and get a mix of ones that waft out the perfume at differing times. For example, roses are best before the noon sun hits them (– so pick them in the early morning). Your nursery can advise you for the best in your area and climate.
The fragrant garden is a garden that you will love and delight in.
