How to add scent to the garden
Beauty is the garden scent of roses, murmuring water flowing gently...
Can words describe the indescribable?
RUMI, Rumi's Little Book of Life: The Garden of the Soul, the Heart, and the Spirit”, p.96, Hampton Roads Publishing
Perfume Delight, Rose in the front garden
A garden without scent is missing a great opportunity to engage with one of the senses, your sense of smell.
Scented flowers have an amazing ability to sooth an anxious mind, bring specific memories to mind, and attract pollinators.
Geranium in
the front garden
Thankfully, adding scent to the garden is as simple as choosing plants that have been cultivated with scent in mind.
But finding flowers that engage with our sense of smell is harder than one would think. This is because flowers have been gradually losing their scent because gardeners have bred them for their appearance rather than their smell.
Take for example, wild roses. The roses that grow in the wild rely on their sweet scent to attract pollinators. So if you have ever walked along a patch of wild rose, you will immediately be surrounded by a wonderful scent that envelops the senses. However, if you receive a bunch of cut flowers for a special day, and bury your nose in its blooms, you’ll smell nothing. Or nothing pleasant.
This is because cut flowers have been bred for the visual traits alone.
Butterfly bush in planted in the back garden.
Thankfully a few plants are still sold routinely in local nurseries that have a wonderful scent. (Though note , some consider the butterfly bush to be invasive)
The following are some fine smelling options that I’ve planted.
Perfume Delight, a Hybrid Tea Rose.
Butterfly Bush
Sage
Scented geranium
And of course, you can always just go to your local garden nursery and ask what great smelling options they have!
Russian Sage in the back garden