return to garden design advice
Plan your garden to please all your senses in every season and you’ll soon find you won’t want to be anywhere else.
What could be more cheering in spring than drifts of daffodils? Choose the varieties Narcissus ‘Cheerfulness’, Narcissus ‘Sweetness’ or the white variety “Paper White” and enjoy their sweet scent as a bonus. Add a few hyacinths e.g. Hyacinthus orientalis‘Amethyst’ in pots and your patio will be richly scented. Annual wallflowers Erysimum asperum with their myriad colours could follow. If your site is slightly shaded then Convallaria majalis (lily-of-the-valley) may be a good choice.
For a touch of sophistication a Magnolia stellata shrub will have beautiful white star shaped flowers with a slight fragrance in early spring. Osmanthus delavayi is a slow growing shrub with white sweetly scented tube like flowers. Choisya ternata is another spring favourite of mine. Its glossy evergreen leaves earn its keep all year round and in March its flowers have a slight orange scent.
Also consider your other senses. A pot of Artemisia ‘ Powis Castle’ placed near your sitting area feels soft when you run your hand through it. And who can resist Stachysbyzantina ‘Silver Carpet’ (Lambs ears)? Their felty texture invites you to stroke them.
As summer approaches my thoughts turn to the mulleins. Many of these have soft leaves to stroke as well as striking flowers. My favourite is a recent introduction, Verbascum ‘Megan’s Mauve’ with its raspberry pink flowers. A delight for the eyes as well as the fingers. I still have a soft spot for Antirrhinums (snapdragons). Who did not squeeze their flowers as a child and make their mouths open and close?
In summer you are spoilt for choice when looking for scented shrubs. Roses are an obvious choice. Have fun sniffing out your favourites at the garden centre or a dedicated rose garden and note their names for purchase in the autumn. My current favourite is Rosa ‘Radox Bouquet’. I just had to buy this after discovering a beautiful scent at Chelsea and tracking down its source. Not bad considering the numerous scents competing for your attention in the marquee!
I could not have a garden without the rich perfume of Philadelphus (Mock orange). There are several varieties. The deliciously fragrant purple-throated flowers of ‘Belle Etoile’ will saturate a nearby bench while the creamy white flowers of the compact Philadelphus ‘Manteau d’Hermine’ have a lighter fragrance.
The garden pinks are among the best perennials for summer fragrance. Dianthus ‘Mrs Sinkins’ is an old favourite with fully double white flowers and an evocative perfume. Annuals such as Nicotiana alata and night scented stocks Matthiola longipetala assail your nose in the warm evenings. And in the daytime the scent of sweet peas whisks me back to my childhood. The pink and white variety Lathyrus odoratus ‘Painted Lady’ or the mauve ‘Matucana’ are probably two with the richest perfume. I also have to have a few bulbs of Liliumregale in pots. The scent of these is very heady.
Many of the herbs will provide a double treat. An aromatic smell and a tasty nibble! The mints are an obvious choice but also try lemon balm Melissa officinalis – very calming when a leaf is rubbed between your fingers and the fragrance inhaled. Good floating in your drink too! It’s a pleasure to rub your hands through lemon thyme Thymus x citriodorus and smell its uplifting perfume. Try a nibble too – if there’s any left after last nights lemon chicken recipe!
While the main harvest of the garden is probably left to autumn a hanging basket of cherry tomatoes on the patio will provide us with a tasty treat. Pots of strawberries add to our delight.
Lavandula angustifolia (lavender) is a real sensory experience. The leaves tickle us as we brush against them releasing their old fashioned aroma. The flowers are not the only visual treat – butterflies are making the most of the nectar. And if we close our eyes we can hear the calming buzz of the bees busy about their work. It’s evergreen too and will provide a harvest of lavender heads to scent your house. What other plant can provide so much!
Now it’s time to revel in other sounds. The subtle trickle of your water feature. The whisper of the bamboos and grasses. Now is the time to put out your wind chimes so they make a calming sound in the gentle summer breeze. Please don’t be tempted to leave them out all year so their pleasing melody becomes a raucous noise in the autumn winds.
Autumn and the gentle, rustling grasses take centre stage. Pennisetum villosum bears its silky heads, which tempt you to stroke it. The fluffy plumes of Stipa tenuifolia(Feather Grass) are beautiful in drifts and so soft to touch. The garden is going out in a blaze of glory. An explosion of colourful fireworks – Vitis coignetiae, Cotinuscoggygria and the Acers provide a visual feast. Our taste and smell are excited by the sumptuous harvest of fruits – the step over apples and cordoned pears against the fence that we squeezed into our small space.
Winter comes and still our garden provides a sensory treat. From the warmth of the house we can see and hear the birds squabbling over goodies on our bird table. And when we venture outside the spidery yellow flowers of the Hamamelis mollis ‘Pallida’ are very fragrant. For a small garden Sarcococca humilis will scent the air but where space allows a Lonicera fragrantissimawill delight.
And there are still things to touch. The bark of Prunus serrula is smooth and shiny. The shiny leaves of Choisyaternata are still inviting and have a subtle orange smell. And taste? Enjoy the experience of a hot mug of chocolate as you sit in a sheltered spot in your winter garden. Delicious!
The garden can provide pleasure for all your senses year round with a small amount of planning. ENJOY!