Let It Grow
By Tammy Thornton
Well-planned gardens should captivate all of the senses. We eagerly taste the edible garden, touch the soft leaves of lamb’s ear, and hear the mesmerizing buzz of bees and melodious songs of birds. Meanwhile, we dreamily gaze at waves of colorful flowers, dancing butterflies, and fountains of water rising and falling. But oh, the wonderful sense of smell! When you walk under an arbor and are gently lured by the fragrance of some unseen flower, it’s enough to make you swoon and want to linger a bit longer to take it all in.
Recently, my friend told me about her son Declan’s introduction to lilacs. She had him take a whiff of the fresh blooms and asked him what he thought. He told her they “smell like magic.” Later that day, he asked his dad if he knew about the magic flowers in their garden. I think these parents have a young romantic on their hands. May we all be so lucky to retain some of that childlike wonder in our way of experiencing nature.
This budding gardener and future poet makes a great point. Scents of the garden wafting through the air are the stuff of magic. However, we aren’t the only creatures drawn to heavenly scents. Pollinators are attracted to particular plants based on their smell. By day, butterflies and bees are lured to flowers by their scent, but night-blooming scented flowers attract moths and bats. If you are like me, the thought of a bat competing for a sniff of my enchanting, night-blooming evening primrose sends a shiver down my back. But you may offer bats first dibs on your evening blooms when you realize that, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, “some small bats can catch up to 1,000 or more small insects in a single hour.”
Let’s explore some of the more fragrant flowers that you can plant in your garden. The pure white flowers of gardenia make the top of the list. I can’t walk by gardenias without pausing for a quick sniff. Depending on the variety, these beauties can be hardy in our zone 7. I have had gardenias come back for years, but they have needed a little coaxing to bloom after the first season. They appreciate the sun and acidic, well-drained soil. Though they are already fading in some of our spring gardens, hyacinths and daffodils have a lovely strong scent, and as a bonus, they are both deer-resistant.
This time of year, stock flowers have so many lovely scented flowers. Make sure that you make the best use of these beauties with a boring name by placing them where you can take full advantage of their fragrance, like a walkway or in a container by your entryway. Though they seem too pretty to eat, stock flowers are in the brassica family, and the flowers and pods are edible. Stock flowers are a cool-season plant and will fade away once it gets too warm. Move them to a shadier area as the days get hot to extend their season.
You may catch the sweet scent of honesty blooming this time of year. They will bloom well even in shady areas and are most notable for their see-through seed pod disks that also give them the name money plant. Don’t forget scented shrubs like the strongly scented viburnum and, of course, lovely lilacs that “smell like magic.” When my lilacs are at their peak of bloom, I can smell them from the other side of my yard. They make a beautiful cut flower, but their fragrance is almost overwhelming indoors.
Night bloomers have a special place in my heart, and I love creating an evening garden full of scented flowers. These mysterious beauties grow more fragrant in the evening since they are closed during the day and come to life at dusk. It’s like a secret party for those who can stay up late enough to attend. Both the moonflower vine and datura plant (that is often also called moonflower) have heavenly-scented white flowers. Also, the exotic but toxic angel’s trumpet (Brugmansia) announces the evening with its amazing flowers and strong scent. My evening primroses open before your eyes, almost on cue. Once open, they have a soft lemony scent, similar to honeysuckle.
Some plants are fragrant even with the absence of flowers. I love weeding or hanging out near my catmint. Whenever I brush up against these plants, it releases their scent. I can’t resist rubbing my hands over rosemary, lavender, Russian sage (Perovskia), and lemon thyme to absorb their fragrance.
In your quest to create your own backyard Eden, don’t forget the allure of fragrance for you, your guests, and your pollinator friends. Take time to smell the roses﹘and the jasmine, and sweet alyssum. As you drink in their scent, your worries will also fade away, if only for a delicious moment.
Tammy Thornton lives with her husband, children, and crazy pets while enjoying a life of gardening, cooking, and going to the beach.
