Van Bourgondien

Scents-ible Gardens

The Bulb Lady^® Miss Lucy Blue Ice Sorbonne Miss America Garden Party Monte Negro Yellow Angel Trumpet Gay Paree Erlicheer Hidecote Lavendar Royal Red Jan Boss Pink Delight Peony-Lady-Liberty Yellow Queen Raspberry Sundae The Pearl Sarita Brazilia Boogie Woogie

One of the most important innovations in public gardens in the past few decades is the development of sensory gardens. By using textured pavements to help prevent accidents when wet, wider paths to accommodate bulky wheelchairs and raised planting beds for easier access, people who are usually prevented from enjoying nature and the outdoors are invited into an intimate relationship with garden plants. In most sensory gardens, the beds are filled with plants that have bold colors, interesting shapes, varying scents and interesting textures. Signage often gives botanical and other information in Braille as well as other languages, so the learning experience can be as complete as the visitor wishes. Research has show that flower gardens induce feelings of peace and serenity in visitors. They have the power to lift people's spirits when they are sad and can even lower blood pressure. At last, public gardens are inviting everyone to experience these benefits in a veritable feast for the senses.

You can have these benefits in your own garden when you combine plants with interesting colors, textures, shapes and scents. If you enjoy cooking, try planting herbs in a bed near the back door – or in a sunny pot on the patio. Many herbs – chives, basil, sage, oregano, thyme, etc. -- are themselves decorative, with interesting habits, colors, textures and flowers. They are even more interesting when combined with pansies, calendula, marigolds, santolina or you-name-it.

Do you love butterflies? Hummingbirds? Invite them to your garden by planting a variety of nectar producing flowers. Butterfly and hummingbird gardens combine the colors and textures of the plants with the flying jewels of the world to create gardens that are both cheerful and beautiful.

Deciduous trees, ornamental grasses, sedges and bamboos can create a soothing sound as breezes play among them. The sounds can be enhanced further with a wind chime, bamboo flute or the splash of water in a fountain, stream, or pond.

Leaf textures can be slick, corrugated, fuzzy, sticky, sharply toothed, rough, leathery, and shiny. Some plants beg to be touched -- Stachys byzantina (lambs ears), for one – others can be enjoyed simply by looking at their shapes and textures.

But of all the senses at work in a garden – sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell – it's the latter that is so intriguing to me. Scent is elusive. It depends on the time of day, the temperature, whether there is a breeze and, of course, the individual differences in our ability to smell scents. Some people can smell odors most other people can't – I feel for them in bad situations. You can blindfold people and give them simple smell tests – apple, orange, lemon, chocolate, coffee, for instance – and some people will misidentify all or some of them. There are probably good reasons why this happens – physical, emotional, or even unfamiliarity with an otherwise common test item.

Many people can recognize a rose when they see one. But, the fact remains, that not everyone can smell a rose. Granted, some roses have no discernable perfume, while others may hint of tea, lemon or clove, but there are some folks who can't catch a whiff of anything. I really feel sorry for them!

But let's assume that most of us can enjoy the myriad perfumes that flowers exude. There are so many fragrant flowers to enjoy, that it's hard to know where to begin a list of them. Maybe we should begin with early spring.

Probably the most fragrant spring blooming bulbs are the garden hyacinths. The densely packed florets on each flower head perfume the air with sweet fragrance that is easily enjoyed when the bulbs are planted near a front door or along a driveway or front walk. The colors are the essence of spring, from pure white through pretty pastels to dark violet blue. For even more intense fragrance, the bulbs can be forced indoors. 'Blue Ice'is powder blue with a violet blue stripe down the center of each petal. 'Gypsy Queen'is luscious orange-peach. 'Jan Bos'is a vibrant scarlet red. 'Pink Frosting'is soft pink – just the right color for a little girl's birthday cake! 'Peter Stuyvesant'is dark violet blue. 'Queen of the Violets'is lavender blue with a slightly darker stripe down the middle of each petal – it definitely lives up to its name. 'White Pearl'is so pure a white that it positively glistens in the sun. 'Yellow Queen'is regal in soft primrose yellow.

Lots of people aren't aware that many types of daffodils are fragrant. Most of them bloom while it's still a little chilly to be on your knees sniffing the flowers. One way to enjoy the sweet scents is to plant them in a pot near your front door – you only have to bend a little to catch the fragrance. Another is to cut a few and bring them inside to enjoy in a vase. (Please note: daffodils should be put in their own vase; they give off a compound that is toxic to other cut flowers.) Among the most fragrant daffodils is 'Erlicheer', a gorgeous double white daffodil with light yellow flecks. Another is 'The Bulb Lady' , named in my honor (and I am indeed honored!), which has slightly recurved pale yellow petals and a long deeper yellow trumpet. It flowers over a long period and naturalizes easily.

Many peonies have a fragrance, though some are sweeter than others. On the sweet side is 'Lady Liberty', a breathtaking double flower that has lavender-pink outer petals and an explosion of smaller petals in the center in cream touched with pink. 'Gay Paree' has flowers with a similar shape but with fuchsia-red outer petals and a center poof of creamy pink. 'Raspberry Sundae'has luscious raspberry and cream flowers. These herbaceous peonies are long-lived reliable perennials that also have attractive foliage all season long. They grow to 24-36 inches tall, bloom in May-June and are hardy in zones 3-9.

Subtle fragrance makes Delphinium elatum 'Sarita'even more desirable either in formal borders or in a colorful cottage garden setting. Growing 35-40 inches tall and blooming in June-August, who could resist making this plant a focal point in the garden? The double blue flowers mature to soft lavender with green streaks and irregular centers. It's a showstopper in zones 4-8.

Oriental lilies have been garden favorites for centuries and one of the many reasons is their outstanding scent – sweet and enticing when they bloom in July-August. Though 'Stargazer' is probably the most well known because it is used so often in florists' bouquets, it makes an outstanding garden plant. When it blooms on 18 inches tall stems, it is spectacular in vivid red with white-edged petals. 'Casa Blanca'is another florists' and gardeners' favorite, in pure white; it is breathtaking at 36-60 inches tall. 'Sorbonne'has soft baby pink flowers with a light green throat on 41 inches tall stems. 'Lovely Girl'is indeed lovely with yellow stripes and maroon spots decorating white petals – it will grow to 36-48 inches tall. New this year is 'Brazilia'with 10 inches wide white flowers edged in lavender-pink. It will grow 36-48 inches tall.

Oriental lily 'Miss Lucy'is not only outstanding as a garden plant and a cut flower when it blooms in July-August, but it is the first truly double lily to be commercially available. As with many lilies, the scent is superb, perfuming the garden as well as your home. 'Miss Lucy' grows 40-48 inches tall and is hardy in zones 3-8. The blossoms can last up to 12 days in a vase, partly due to the fact that there are no stamens. There will also be no stains on your tablecloths!

'Boogie Woogie'is a hybrid lily -- a cross between the exotic Oriental lily and regal Trumpet lily – sometimes called an Orienpet. It grows 36-48 inches tall and blooms in July-August with flowers of a gorgeous yellow edged in soft pink. The scent is outstanding and the bulbs naturalize well.

Dwarf Oriental lilies are also delightfully fragrant, but are perfect for smaller gardens or containers. They grow 10-18 inches tall and bloom in July-August in zones 3-8. 'Miss America' , at 16-18 inches tall, is brand new and is gorgeous – light rosy-pink that turns to silver on the edges of each petal. 'Garden Party'16 inches tall and is white with eye-catching golden yellow stripes. 'Miss Rio'is 16-18 inches tall and is clear pink with fuchsia tips and red speckles. 'Rodolfa', is smallest at 10-16 inches tall, and has gorgeous, pure white flowers.

Two Asiatic lilies are particularly fragrant: 'Monte Negro' and 'Cote d' Azur'. 'Monte Negro' is very dark red with black spots and each bulb produces up to 12 flowers in June-July in zones 3-8. It will grow to 60 inches tall. 'Cote d' Azur' is fuchsia colored and has elegant reflexed petals on 36 inches tall stems. Each bulb also produces up to 12 flowers.

English lavender, Lavendula angustifolia 'Hidcote' is renowned for its fragrance. Lavender has been used to scent linens and soothe tired people to sleep for many centuries. English lavender is a lovely garden plant that can be enjoyed for its beauty alone if you so desire (but wouldn't it be fun to harvest and dry your own lavendar?). It makes a fabulous short hedge to edge an herb or vegetable bed or plant it in groups of three or more in any bed or border. It will grow to 20 inches tall, will bloom in July-August and is hardy in zones 6-9.

Also known as the “summer lilac”, butterfly bushes (Buddleia davidii) are both beautiful and sweetly fragrant. Their trusses of closely packed tiny flowers certainly resemble lilacs and their fine textured foliage looks great until they drop their leaves in late fall. Butterfly bushes make great focal points in your perennial beds and if you enjoy attracting butterflies and other pollinators to your property, they are great additions to a butterfly garden. They grow 6-8 feet tall and are hardy in zones 5-9. In most areas, they should be pruned back to about 18 inches tall in late winter. 'Pink Delight' is an award winning shrub with huge, 12-15 inches long brilliant pink flower panicles. 'Nanho Blue'has flowers of purest blue and 'Royal Red'has elegant reddish-violet blossoms. The flowers are long lasting in a vase.

An old fashioned favorite that makes a great potted plant on your summer patio or in your garden beds is the sweetly fragrant double tuberose 'The Pearl'. Victorian ladies tucked the blossoms into their hair and carried nosegays of this fragrant flower that blooms in July-August. The bulbs are hardy only in zones 8-10.

A native plant of South America, Angel Trumpet (Brugmansia) can turn your patio or terrace into a fragrant, tropical oasis. The large, sturdy plants have lush foliage, and mature plants may produce 80-100 blossoms at one time. The flowers are spectacular – pendant trumpets that are 8-10 or more inches long. Expect new plants to reach 3-4 feet tall in the first season, and perhaps 6-8 feet tall and 6 feet wide in subsequent seasons. They will bloom from July to frost outside; then bring them inside for the winter and place the containers near a sunny window. 'Angel trumpets come in peach, white, and yellow.

This is just a short list of fragrant plants for your garden or patio or terrace. The wide world is full of new plants to try. It's never been easier to “stop and SMELL the roses” -- and so much more.