The Daily Telegraph report that a new range of Organic Seeds are to be available from Duchy Originals. This announcement coincides with Prince Charles visit to Ryton the Garden Organic establishment (HDRA).

It amuses me to see amongst the range of tools on sale at Duchy Originals a Dutch Hoe but may be I am confused somewhere with the Prince of Orange.

It is the scented leaves of Pelargoniums rather than the flower that attracts growers and collectors. They are often used in scented gardens for the blind but are useful in a normal garden border where they may be brushed or touched. As indoor pot plants they are ideal as living pot-pourri and may be hybrids or species in their own right.

Top 10 Scented leaved Pelargoniums

1. Pelargonium Fragrans Variegata a small plant with lots of scented green and white leaves with the aroma of spice, pine and lemon.
2. Mable Grey woody and harder to grow but heavy lemon scented leaves
3. P. graveolens Lady Plymouth a strong grower favoured for exhibitions with a rose like scent
4. Prince of Orange is an old variety that as the name implies smells of orange
5. Little gem is a dwarf grower with a spicy scent that remains fresh until late in the year
6. Attar of Roses is small and compact with plentiful multi lobed leaves
7. Other possible contenders for ‘a top of list’ include P tomentosum (peppermint), P clorinds (pine), and P. quercifolium an aquired pungency not to everyones taste.
8. There are a range of fruit and nut scented varieties like Countess of Scarborough (strawberry), Big Apple and Patrons Unique (apricot)
9. Not to my taste is the Chocolate Peppermint with brown leaves that are mint scented

Cultivation tips

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You do not always associate Tulips with fragrance but here is a selection that may be worth trying. Tulips do not need to be planted until November but if you want specific varieties it may be worth getting your order in sooner rather than later. I have received two bulb catalogues and the newspaper had a special offer this morning on lily flowers tulips. If you can’t get to a specialist nursery try mail order as your bulbs will be supplied at the right time and in good condition.

Scented Botanical or Species Tulips

• T. aucheriana rich sweet flowers open flat
• T. celsiana Persian tulip June blooms delicious scent
• T. gesneriana scarlet flowers sweetly scented
• T. primulina primrose yellow flowers smelling of lily of the valley
• T. saxatillis lilac flowers with primrose scent
• T. suaveolensscarlet scented blooms
• T. sylvestris Lemon-yellow with sweet perfume
• T .fragrans pronounced scent as you would expect with a name like that

Other Fragrant Tulips worth Considering

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Can you see a smell?

The scent from this rose should be pulsing through the internet in waves of perfume. It certainly pulsed through the RHS garden at Harlow Carr with a far spreading aroma. The light rain (well it is an English rose in an English summer) probably enhanced the sweet scent as the fragrant oil was dissolved and let loose. Moss roses have furry growths which at a glance look like aphids but are in fact oil glands that provide fragrance.

White flowers attract pollinating insects, butterflies and sometimes birds by the scent and source of nectar. They do not use colour for obvious reasons. For this reason white flowers in a species are often far more scented than coloured equivalents. Some of the most scented flowers are white including Philadelphus, Lily of the Valley and members of the Rose family.

Hints on other Achillea to grow

I have had a disaster this year with my sweet peas sown last Autumn. They didn’t fare too well in the cold greenhouse. I gave them a long root run but probably didn’t give them consistent watering and TLC. So by spring they were thin specimens with lacy leaves eventhough I had pinched them out. Because they didn’t look too good I didn’t feed them up and cosset them but just plonked them in the ground. Well it serves me right and I have a very poor showing at the moment.

Next year will be different and I have already made plans and placed an order for 36 plants from Unwins ‘Super Fragrant Collection’. which consists of Heathcliff, Bobby’s Girl, Valentine, Southampton, Scartlett, and Lively Lassie. I will take delivery in March or April 2009 of healthy plants grown by a nursery. As I have paid good money for them I will take great care, prepare the ground and look after them. Hopefully we will get the sun to make them excel.

Unwins are Sweet Pea specialists and the plant collections I could have chosen include Showbench, Cut flower, and Mixed unnamed collections. They also do plentys of seed varieties and mixes. So for me next season it is plants over seeds (but may be I will do some seeds as well). I am not yet ready to join the National Sweet Pea society but if I do well with my plants I may well do so

Herbal Teas, Tisanes and Infusions

Herb tea made from dried or fresh leaves can be drunk hot or iced. Chamomile tea is popular and can be bought in tea bags but growing your own is more satisfying. Use one or two tea spoonful of leaves, dry or fresh, to a cup of boiling water and steep for five to ten minutes then strain if you wish.

• Mint, Fennel and Sage can be used to create teas in the same way.
• Tinctures are make by soaking in alcohol like cider vinegar and raspberries to make raspberry vinegar

Herb Pillows

Herbs were added to straw to deter insects in less sanitary times. Today it would be enough to collect flowers and put them in a small packet or muslin bag and hang it close to the bedhead.

• Lavenda, Mignonette, Rosemary and Lemon verbena (Aloysia) make suitably restful pillows
• Eucalyptus leaves are good for congestion with a strong scent when crushed

Herb Baths

Aromatic herbal baths can be theraputic and pleasurable. Hang a muslin bag filled with a handful of leaves under a running hot tap as the bath fills.

• For stimulation try Basil, Bay, Lemon balm and Verbena, Mint or Rosemary.
• For relaxation try Chamomile Valerian, Lavender or available scented flowers.
• Healing herbs can be used such as Calendula, Acillea and Mints

Herbal Remedies

Herbs work as both preventative and curative medicines and the Greeks and Chinese have long been exponents of the craft. Remedies can be very powerful and be treated with respect. Do not ingest with prescription medicines without consulting a doctor.

• Sage can be used to make a gargle for infected throats
• Feverfew leaves or Meadowsweet can be chewed to relieve a headache
• Yarrow tea is said to be good for colds
• Dock and plantain leaves have long been used to relieve stings
• Buy a good herbal medicine book

Has the Antirrhinum majus got a scent

Originally these self pollinating plants and flowers had no scent . As they do not need insects to pollinate them a scent has no purpose. Other members of the family such as Penstemon and Nemesia are also devoid of scent.

In the 1960’s several hybrids with tall spikes, ruffled double petals and a sweet perfume were developed. Growing over 30 inches tall and developing many spikes the three best varieties were

1. Vanguard a deep cerise colour with a strong clove like scent
2. Venus semi-double peach and pink with a softer perfume
3. Super Jet with apricot yellow flowers

How the ‘Snapdragon’ got its name.

Was it Saint George spearing the Dragon and the blood fertilising the soil. Or perhaps it was the snap of the dragons jaws as it chased the fair maiden before St George arrived on the scene.

More likely is the Henry Phillips 1820’s version ‘on pressing the sides of the flower it opens like a gaping mouth, the stigma appearing to represent the tongue and on removing the pressure the lips of the corrola snap together …’

Cultivation Tips

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If you want to walk around your garden in a summer evening and take in the scent then consider some of the following recommendations.

• White flowers often smell the best like Nicotiana alata or the taller N. sylvestris
• Lillium regale can have an almost over powering scent on a still evening
• Philadelphus ‘Beauclerk’ a large flowered and orange blossom scented.
• Rose ‘Iceberg’ can come in a climbing form as well as floribunda
• It may seem obvious but night scented stock Mattihola bicomis are an absolute winner and the seed can be sprinkled freely as the plants are small and unobtrusive. Many plants like this are pollinated by moths and other evening insects
• A selection recommended by Bob Flowerdew is Zaluzianskya capensis ‘Midnight Candy’ also called night phlox with a marzipan almondy scent an annual grown from seed.
• Simple jasmine can enhance any scented garden and Hesperis sweet rocket and Reseda odorata Sweet Mignonette can all be added to a list to try. Give each plant an area where its scent isn’t in conflict with another strongly perfumed variety for maximum impact.

It has been difficult to finalise a list of the top 10 fragrant plants. So I have elected to chose my ten favourite flowers with a selected variety. I have cheated by including two roses but could easily has 10 or 100 roses in a list. Your choice will vary and the result will depend on the location, culture and selections you make.

1. Philadelphus lemoinei ‘innocence’ Mock Orange single creamy white flowers
2. Hyacynth ‘Bismark’ porcelain blue
3. Wisteria sinensis the white form if you can find it
4. Honeysuckle Lonicera americanum with masses of rich spicy flowers
5. Regal Lily lilium regale
6. Datura inoxia another white form needing some protection
7. Dianthus barbatus Sweet Wlliam Dobies ‘All Double’
8. Old garden Gallica rose ‘Charles de Mills’ raspberry coloured.
9. Climbing Rose ‘Guinee’
10. Freesia ‘Gold Coast’, ‘Treasure’ or ‘White Giant’