[Lilium regale - showing the purple petal backing]

A Contrary Gardener - 'scentstory' gardens - part I

Hortus

Denmans garden

The Plantsman Nursery

Longstock Park

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Whilst I have been writing this, the heavy smell of Hawthorn [Crataegus] has given way to the green, slightly metallic scent of Elderflower [Sambucus] which in turn has been replaced by the cucumbery sweetness of the various Limes [Tilia] in the local park and streets. The scents held in the thick air remind me of a warm muggy day travelling through the Kent countryside some years ago. The smell of the rape fields was almost overpowering and made me slightly headachey, the effect compounded by the dizzying combination of sunlit bright yellow against purple-grey skies. On the coast, the scent from the mounds of Crambe maritima in the shingle added to the pervasive sultriness of the day.

Germaine Greer recently wrote in 'The Daily Telegraph' that the scent given off by flowering rape could actually be classed as a poison [I did try to do some quick Internet research but didn't come up with much]. I have read that the scent of one particular Lime tree [Tilia] has a narcotic effect on bees and if you should fall asleep under the branches of a flowering Brugmansia [Datura] your dreams will be bad ones. Roy Genders in his book 'Scented Flora of the World' relates a similar 'story' from Leicestershire, where falling asleep in a broad bean [fava] field was thought to have the same effect. And beware! sniffing violets temporarily deadens your olfactory nerves !

I had a long think about scent the other day when a correspondent e-mailed me asking about plants for a garden that they are planning that could provide enough scent to ambush and stop you in your tracks both during the day and into the evening.

My small town garden in Bath was originally planted with the intention of creating a 'bowl' of scent at certain times of the year, in late June heady wafts of Lilium regale and Lonicera japonica, Halliana & Hall's Prolific fill the garden.

So here is a start on some ambush or evocative scents .....................

Lupins
The peppery smell of Lupins brings back memories for me of gathering armfuls of naturalised blue lupins in Norway for a summer party. Another memory of a path cut through a meadow filled with lupins and grasses on a hot summer day in a Cambridge college garden. I like the feel of a lupin flower spike and the jewelled drop of water held in the centre of the leaves after rain. The lupin tree from California [Lupinus arboreus] is scented although not as heavily as some references suggest, maybe the yellow is less scented than other colour variants?

Wisteria
My father was surprised when I talked about Wisteria having scent, he'd never noticed. Some smell, some don't particularly, I believe W.sinensis does, some cultivars markedly so. Peter Loewer in his book 'The Evening Garden' notes that W.floribunda the Japanese Wisteria is the most scented at night. Wisteria has a heady scent which reminds me of very ripe bananas. It can pervade a space when the walls the Wisteria climb on heat up. Flowering comparatively early in the year just as the main show kicks-in the scent is especially welcome. Also I remember a wonderful colour combination climbing up a Victorian red brick house in Clapham, SW London, a semi double scarlet rose flowering amongst the lilac blue of the Wisteria - zing!

Matthiola bicornis
For an evening ambush, night scented stock makes up for weedy limp growth, as evening approaches, the pale white and lilac flowers open and the scent starts to develop. Lovely on a warm evening after a hard day. [Mignonette too, inconspicuous green flowers but a gorgeous scent]. Matthiola incana the perennial stock [short lived] is also good value for scent and it's white flowers and whorled silver foliage fit in well with silver/white or Mediterranean schemes.

Dame's violet
Hesperis matronalis in the single form has simple rather boring flowers in mauve or white, and coarse hairy leaves, so is best hidden behind other things to suprise with it's heady scent in May/June, developing during the day and into the evening. I remember arriving late in the evening at my garden in Wiltshire from a dusty London, and walking the garden in the early summer dark 'lit' by the scattered white heads of stock dancing above the borders. The must-have of the 1980's was double stock, another rescued plant which had become weakened by virus and was subsequently cleaned up by tissue culture, but with me it didn't stick around for long.

Honeysuckle [Lonicera]
I have to say one of my favourites is the common Lonicera japonica 'Halliana' for scent, and the gentle colour change from cream to gold that works it's way down the long flowering shoots. I also grow L. j 'Hall's Prolific' which starts into flower slightly later than 'Halliana' and has larger flowers and is more strongly scented than the other form. I have L. similis delavayi which looks like a refined version of L. Japonica 'Halliana' with finer longer trumpets and more profuse bunched flowers, but have found it to be a bit of a thug and not as scented as I had hoped. I am beginning to appreciate the powerful colours of x heckrotti 'Goldflame' which has dusky orange pink outers and a deep gold inner. I have not found much joy scentwise in Lonicera pericyclamen 'Graham Thomas', I planted it in expectation of heavy scent but it doesn't seem to be very forthcoming.

Lilies
Sumptuous in pots pumping out their scent on a warm summer day, I grow L.regale 'Alba' which as the flowers fade can become too overpowering, Roy Genders says that the scent has some of the constituents of rotting carrion, charming! but I am not put off as the fresh scent is pure luxury. I also have two 'gold' cultivars 'African Queen' [orange/apricot] and 'Royal Gold', these flower about three weeks later than the L.regale 'Alba' which gives some succession. I would love to grow the Madonna Lily, one of those cottage garden stalwarts, once happy it is as tough as old boots. I found my snails also adored the emerging growth which didn't help. For a small pot on an outdoor table or somewhere at nose height I rate Lilium formosanum 'Priceii' growing only about 8 inches high, comparatively large white trumpets and well scented. At the moment I have some 'Stargazer' lilies in flower [August], big swathes of pink on the petals and upward facing flowers, but they do not seem to be quite as powerfully scented although still figure as a player in the 'ambush' category.

Jasmine
So far so disappointing! I have x beesianum and Jasminum officianale 'Fiona Sunrise' [very yellow foliage, it was one I felt sorry for at an end of season sale], the cloud of scent I have been hoping for has yet to materialise. I am not growing J. officianale per se as it gets large dense green and scruffy looking, too much for a small garden. I would love to try Jasminum sambac which from the pictures seems to have huge white flowers, but this is for conservatories only in the UK. I am also growing Trachelospermum asiaticum and T. jasminoides 'Variegatum'. The T. asiaticum has taken off now and seems to be full of buds so I am hoping for some significant scent from the jasmine-like cream propellor petalled flowers. As I have been writing this it has flowered the scent is 'contributory' to an overall scented effect rather than dominant.

Tilia
On this rather eclectic ramble through scented plants I come to the scent of the lime tree, another favourite. OK not for a small garden, mine are enjoyed in the local park where a number of different types have been planted, including one with very small twisted leaves and lots of flowers which makes it look more delicate and frilly than the normal Lime trees [L.tortuosa ?]. On breezy days the scent of the Limes is picked up in gusts which can suddenly ambush you well before the tree is in sight and give no hint of itself when you are actually under the tree. Sweet honey with a cucumbery undertow is how I would describe the scent. Tilia x euchlora is said to have a narcotic effect on bees.

Eleagnus
Another suprise, a pleasant strong scent. Eleagnus angustifolia 'Quicksilver' has been used extensively at Bryan's Ground, the garden being developed by the publishers of the 'Hortus' garden magazine. On a recent visit to the gardens on a warm sunny early summer day the scent from the funny little yellow flowers hidden amongst the silvered foliage added a touch of the south of France [not evergreen though]. Eleagnus x ebbingei is evergreen and could provide a scented hedge, flowering in the autumn, an unexpected time for strong sweet scent. [Also Osmanthus heterophyllus another evergreen with sweet scented flowers in the Autumn].

Buddleja
I think Buddleja is often overlooked because it is so common, one of those urban sights and scents of summer we take for granted. Take a train ride in late summer and approaching stations the buddleja are everywhere, purples, violets and whites, thin spikes, fat spikes, all seeding and crossing. Growing in dry barren conditions and sprouting from gutters and cracks in walls, a tough beastie! But wow! can that honey drenched scent ambush you! But let's stray away from the more common or garden for a moment, slightly tender Buddlejas that flower in winter include B.auriculata [from South Africa], not exactly showy with it's washy offwhite/cream scented flowers but worth it for the unexpected scent at that time of year. I have two more tender one's at the moment, B.madagascariensis [cream'yellow] which is winter flowering and B.agothosma [pale lilac]. B.agathosma has huge felty leaves with wavy cut margins, I have seen this growing against a wall at Stockton Bury gardens near Leominster,[a fantastic 'planty' garden]. B.Crispa is another one with felty leaves but smaller than B.agathosma, it has sulked and died often with me. Mostly grown as a wall shrub in the UK to allow it to make the most of protection and warmth. B.salviifolia has an odd look, perhaps not very attractive overall but stunning in the polytunnel at Hunts Court in Gloucestershire in early June, the flowers an odd shade of light blue-violet. I am even warming slightly to B.globosa [which comes from Chile rather than Asia]. I also have B.saligna another South African, as it is slightly tender it doesn't flower every year, flowering now [Late July/August] I can attest that it's funny elderflower-like white heads are not heavily scented!]

Of the B.davidii [which originate from China], 'Dartmoor' has to be on the list, a large growing shrub with fat multi fingered panicles of pinky/purple blooms, and 'Nanho Blue' for smaller gardens with compact thinnish spikes of a rich blue/purple. At the RHS gardens at Rosemoor in Devon they are growing a buddleja called 'Mungo' [which looked like a Nanho type] as standards which I haven't seen before. Longstock Park in Hampshire hold the National Collection of Buddleja, so worth a visit. Last year I bought 'White Tor' which has furred silvery leaves and a blue tint to the purple flower spikes. Wandering off scent, B.colvilei when well grown has fantastic bunches of claret bells unlike any 'normal' Buddleja - downside is it's tender although Hilliers note it is more robust when mature.

Rosa rugosa
Just one rose for now. One of the pleasures of my allotment for the last few months has been Rosa rugosa. The flimsy shortlived flowers on suckering bushes, one white the other cerise pink, the scent distilled by the sun. I remember being in the walled garden at Denmans [created by Mrs Robinson and now gardened by John Brookes] many years ago and having one of those perfect moments in time. The sun soaked gravel and red brick walls, the space abuzz with insects, and my nose just above an open rose absorbing the warm scent of the blossom emanating in waves.

Lavender [Lavandula]
A clean medicinal smell, another subtle ambusher - brushed past or when the sun heats up the volatile oils. The scent was very powerful in one particular garden at the Westonbirt Garden Festival recently. Roy Genders notes that Canon Ellacombe wrote that the air would be fragrant for miles around in Shakespeare's time when the Lavender growers of Mitcham in London were burning the old bushes which had passed their best - something current residents might ponder on!

Sarcococca
I don't suppose I could finish this first item on ambush scents without mentioning Sarcococca. One of the earliest ambush scents available to us, flowering in Jan/Feb, the off-white brushes of flowers nestling amongst the evergreen leaves. I grow S hookerana digyna, there are others to choose from. Hilliers notes that S confusa is very fragrant and that S saligna has little if any scent.

But enough! so many more to mention including favourites Acacia, Philadelphus, Choisya, Lilac, Sweet Peas, Clematis rubra x marginata and C rehderana, the list goes on!

Scent part 2 - article

Reference:

Scented Flora of the World [1977 & 1994] Roy Genders, an excellent reference work on scented trees, shrubs, bulbs, climbers, annuals and perennials.

The Evening Garden [Timber Press, 1993] Peter Loewer

The Flowers of Evil John Sherwood 1987 [ A Celia Grant murder mystery on the effects of Datura]

Trees in Britain [1978] Roger Phillips

Hortus
This garden 'periodical' is published privately 4 times a year by David Wheeler and Simon Dorrell from their home at Bryan's Ground in Herefordshire near the Welsh border. Before I go any further I would say that not everyone will tune into this type of garden writing. It appears as a thick A5 booklet on creamy paper, no colour photographs, many of the black and white illustrations are by Simon Dorrell. Hortus is not about how to garden in the normal sense. It looks at gardens in history, in literature and famous gardens and personalities of the present and the past. I would say over the years I have subscribed on and off that I have been left with many impressions and ideas that stay with me. Different ways of looking at plants and gardens. The writing is always to a high standard, but I have my favourites, Katherine Swift writing very lyrically about the Dower House at Morville [which I do hope to visit soon], Mirabel Osler's inimitable style, and the late John Kelly are some that stand out. I first read about Ian Finlay Hamilton's garden 'Little Sparta' in Hortus and a piece on planting for rain effects in a garden which still amuses me as an idea to pursue. Hortus is a periodical that can also be re-read and enjoyed, old friends over the years.

I recently visited Bryan's Ground the home of Hortus on a garden open day to see how reality and imagination combined. The setting for the old house and garden is idyllic right on English/Welsh border, the River Lugg provides the boundary. The gardens are still very much a work in progress where ideas are still being implemented and experiments undertaken. For my mother the highlight was the squares of flowering Iris sibirica that led to the front door. They have made good use of shrubs and trees such as Prunus [laurel], Yew, Box and Hornbeam as lollipops, stilt hedges and formal hedging and borders. Water features are also coming to the fore, one includes a rather fun statue of a dog [the recent summer edition tells more about the water features].

I did expect more plants and varieties thereof, particularly in the kitchen garden, but as I said this is still a work in progress and there are many ideas to take away particularly if you are into more formal gardening styles.

Hortus web site

Denmans Garden in Sussex - worth a visit. I remember the creator of the garden, Mrs Robinson, riding around in her 'buggy' telling visitors about the garden in her inimitable fashion! The garden is now owned by John Brookes the garden designer. Denmans has a well stocked nursery, many years ago I bought a very unusual variegated lilac there which has the most amazing blue/lilac flowers, [which since I wrote this has sadly expired!]

[I have visited again more recently and I admit it was on a very dull early spring day. For me certainly the walled garden has lost its magic, feeling more closed-in and over planted and in need of a sort-out. The rest was much as I remembered].

The Plantsman Nursery
The nursery stocks a very comprehensive range of tender and not so tender climbers. I have not bought anything from them but a gardening friend was very positive about their advice and the plants supplied.

The Catalogue on Jasminum sambac ......"This should be the one plant in every conservatory and in our top ten. Tender, evergreen, woody climber, broad oval leaves with a light covering of fine hairs, long stems (which make it perfect for a wall shrub) needing support. Flowering all year, the main show in spring and summer, are upright bunches of thick waxy satin white heavily scented broad stars that last and will scent an entire room".

On Lonicera similis var. delavayi - "With Holboellia, my number one plant selection from the entire catalogue for the garden. A vigorous twining evergreen with large lance shaped hairy leaves and beautifully fragrant large white bowed trumpet tubes turning yellow with age. Flowers from May till October and now writing in December, we have a plant in flower outside our house in as sheltered a spot as you can get in Dartmoor! Strongest scent of the hardy honeysuckles and the clincher is that it never suffers from aphids or mildew due to the hairs on the leaves and stems". [I don't agree perhaps mine which was purchased elsewhere is a runt!]

The Plantsman Nursery

Longstock Park Nursery - National Collection holders for Buddleja and Clematis viticella

[All work on this site appears in draft]

@Kari's garden 2002 - 2003