Summertime in our gardens should be the ultimate outdoor sensory retreat.
The wonderful long evenings on the deck or patio should be the antidote to the stress we all feel during our busy days. The big question is can our decks, patios and gardens meet the challenge?
Summer colour and how we blend analogous tones together is very important, but fragrance is perhaps the most important when it comes to creating that sensory refill. Ironically, most of the colour with which we surround ourselves has little perfume. It’s time to add the fragrance!
As easy as it sounds, finding lasting perfume is more of a challenge than most of us think. Finding plants that will accommodate sun or shade, be compatible with other plants and continue to perfume all summer is possible, but we all need to think out of the flower box just a little.
Heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens) is one of the most universal of all the summer blooming plants. However, not all heliotropes are created equal. Some of the new varieties are far more compact but have little perfume. The very best is still the nameless old-fashioned variety that has that lingering scent of baby powder. It’s versatile enough to be used in hanging baskets, containers or in bed plantings. It will, as most heliotrope varieties, do well in shade or sun.
My second favourite variety is Sachet. It is a very dark foliaged variety with fragrant deep lavender-purple blooms. Its rich dark foliage provides wonderful contrast with pink, white or silver flowers and with other foliage. It’s also a compact grower and well suited to containers and plantings. Blue Marine, another compact dark foliaged variety, produces fragrant deep blue flowers about 10 cm across and grows only 25 cm tall and wide.
When folks ask for a flowering shrub that blooms all summer with a nice perfume, one plant leaps ahead of all others: the Butterfly Bush. Native to China, Japan and other parts of Asia as well as Chile, Mexico and the U.S., there are at least seven different species, all unique in their own ways. The greatest challenge for many species is their invasive nature and there are now many regions in North America, including British Columbia, Oregon and Washington, where gardeners are encouraged not to plant them. The great news is there are now many new varieties which are sterile and do not pose this very important environmental concern.
Another too often overlooked fragrant plant is Spanish broom (Spartium junceum). This tender zone seven plant needs a protected sunny dry spot but will bloom with huge fragrant yellow pea-like flowers from early summer through autumn. It has a wonderful perfume that seems to carry throughout our patios and gardens. Spartium does very well in containers or in the ground at the edge of patios. It has virtually no leaves, but its rush-like stems make interesting focal points. It’s a must have plant.
If you do a little searching, you’ll discover many more garden jewels that have a delightful summer perfume, like fragrant hostas, perfumed roses, clethra (summer sweet) and summer blooming Jasminum officinale. Fragrance makes a huge difference to the enjoyment and appreciation of our summer garden and to our senses. Please try to include even a little fragrance in each bed or container.
