The Scented Garden Tips
Read these 16 The Scented Garden Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about English Garden tips and hundreds of other topics.
The Californian Lilac.
The Californian Lilacs are amongst the most beautiful scented blue coloured shrubs .Many are evergreen in the warmer climates, dropping their leaves in the more temperate regions.
Ceanothus do best in sunny sheltered positions, in free draining neutral to acid soils. Amongst the most hardy are:
Ceanothus "Gloire de Versailles": Powder blue flowers in late summer/ fall. Rarely more than 7 ft tall.
Ceanothus thrysiflorus repens: Mid blue spring flowers. 3ft tall.
Ceanothus "Marie Simone": Pale pink flowers in late summer/ fall. 5ft tall.
Ceanothus "Autumnal Blue": Evergreen , dark blue flowers in late summer/fall. 6ft.
Ceanothus "Southmead": Royal blue flowers, May/June.evergreen 6ft.
All will grow taller if planted against a south facing wall.
An All-Time Favorite
My favorite vanilla scented plant is the white heliotrope. The vanilla fragrance is extremely intense. The only drawback to this plant is you cannot let it dry out.
Mock Orange .
Philadelphus is one of the stars of the early summer garden, indeed there is one to suit every garden, large or small. Blooms in all sorts are white and deliciously scented of orange blossom.
The most popular sort is the double white flowered “Virginal” which can grow to 15 ft in time. A more compact double flowered type is “Manteau d ‘Hermine” which rarely grows taller than 4 ft.
A beautiful six footer is “Belle Etoile” which has single white blooms with a purple centre.
The baby of the bunch is Philadelphus microphyllus , which is covered with single pure white flowers and grows to 2 ft tall.
Mint Scents
Todays mint comes in a wide variety of flavors, give some of these varieties a try.
Chocolate mint
Lime mint
Bubble gum mint
Peppermint
Spearmint
Ginger mint
Banana mint
Candy mint
If that isn't enough of a choice for you, just look around and you are sure to find more.
Some Wonderful Lavender Varieties
There are literally dozens of Lavenders on the market today, but which are the best for your garden?
The following are amongst the easiest and most hardy of the lavenders. They are superb planted next to paths so that as you brush past them, their intoxicating odour is released.
Lavandula angustifolia "Hidcote"; Compact grower 2 ft. Violet flowers from early July. Grey foliage.
Lavandula angustifolia "Munstead"; Compact grower 2 ft tall. Deep blue flowers from early July. Narrow green foliage.
Lavandula angustifolia "Alba": A beautiful white flowered strong grower.4 ft tall Late July .
Lavandula angustifolia "Loddon Pink" ; Pale pink spikes of flowers on a 2 ft plant. Early July onwards.
Lavandula angustifolia "Miss Katherine"; The deepest pink and the most fragrant. 2 ft tall. Early July onwards.
Lavandula angustifolia "Little Lady"; One of the most compact at only 18" tall. Silver foliage anddeep lavender blue flowers.
Lavandula angustifolia "Miss Muffet"; Lilac blue flowers adorn this little beauty. A tiny 8"-12" tall. Perfect for the patio container.
Escallonia .
Escallonia "Appleblossom" is an easily grown evergreen shrub with small, white tinted pink sweet smelling flowers. Growth is compact, the shrub eventually making 5' The flowering season is from May till October, but if the frosts are light in your region, you may see a few flowers later.
Escallonias in general are trouble free, but do best in free draining soil and a sheltered aspect.
Escallonia "Appleblossom" makes a wonderful seaside shrub, but a major consideration is that
it will not survive in areas with severely cold winters.
An Introduction to Lavender.
All Lavenders, being mediterranean natives revel in a sunny hot position.
The English lavenders or varieties of Lavandula angustifolia are the most hardy. Trim off faded blooms immediatly after flowering.
Lavenders are not fussy about soil types, as long as it is free draining.
The Butterfly Bush
All Buddleja davidii cultivars and Buddleja alternifolia are beautifully honey scented, easy to grow and will grow well in a sunny position in ordinary soil.
Most can grow to 10' plus and make excellent specimen or back of the border shrubs.
Blue Spiraea.
Caryopteris clandonensis is a very pretty short growing shrub with aromatic greyish-silver foliage. The pretty foam-like blue flowers are produced en mass from late summer onwards and are lightly scented and highly attractive to bees and butterflies.
Good varieties are;
Caryopteris “Arthur Simmonds”: 3 ft. tall with sky blue flowers.
Caryopteris “Heavenly Blue”: 3 ft tall with dark blue flowers.
Great Choices For Chocolate Scents
Do you want to grow chocolate scented plants? Here are a few that emit a chocolate fragrance.
Hoya (certain ones)
Chocolate mint
Chocolate cosmos
Chocolate Daisy
Scented geraniums (certain ones)
Skimmia.
Skimmia japonica is a reliable early spring blooming evergreen shrub. The perfume from the clusters of tiny, white flowers is strong and pervading.
Skimmias grow to around 4 ft tall. and are naturally neat growers , making a pleasing round shape.
Male and female varieties need to be grown if the sealing wax red berries are to be produced, or grow Skimmia reevsiana , which is bisexual.
A great favourite of mine is the male variety Skimmia “Rubella” which has beautiful red flower buds for much of the winter.
Herbs With A Fruity Fragrance
Many herbs emit a fruity scent. Give the following herbs a try.
Pineapple sage
Honeydew sage
Lime mint
Lemon balm
Lime balm
Lemon thyme
Orange thyme
Orange mint
Russian Sage.
Perovskia atripliciifolia is a 4-ft. tall grey foliage shrub that is scented of sage .The deep blue flowers appear on long spikes in summer. Plant near a path where you have to brush past it for maximum scent release.
The best flower colour is on the variety “Blue Spire”
Sweetly Fragrant Shrubs.
Shrubs provide maturity to the garden and the following types are amongst the most highly scented and will provide many years of enjoyment.
Spanish Broom.
Spartium juncium provides a myriad of pea-shaped golden yellow blooms over a period that extends from midsummer to early autumn.
The green rush-like foliage provides year round interest in this fast maturing shrub. Height is around six feet and the fragrance is of very sweet bubble gum.
The Sweet Pepper Bush.
Clethra alnifolia "Paniculata", the sweet pepper bush is a very underrated late flowering shrub. The white blooms in terminal racemes appear in August and fill the garden with a sweet fragrance.
Clethras prefer a sunny /semi shaded aspect and must have a moist acid soil.
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