Award-winning gardener, author and broadcaster, Liz Zorab reveals some of her favourite blooms for scent and cheer in spring
In the cool, damp air of spring, I think there is nothing nicer than noticing the scent of flowers in the garden, or as I walk along a street. As spring progresses and the air and soil warm, the number of fragrant blooms increase and reminds us of the riot of colour and scents to come over the summer months. I can be a bit of a fairweather gardener, so anything that entices me into the garden and encourages me to stay there is a very good thing.
I think it is worth investing in a few key plants that will fill the garden with their sweet scent throughout the year. Growing shrubs and herbaceous perennials in pots allows us to move them around the garden, so that we can make the most of them during their flowering period. We can then maybe place them in a less conspicuous place when they have finished their moment of being a star in the garden.
Hamamelis × intermedia ‘Vesna’
This variety of witch hazel grows to form a large, deciduous shrub. The bare stems provide a visual framework upon which the flowers are borne. Each striking flower has slim, dangling petals that are orangey-yellow, flush with red at the base. Although they prefer a shelteredsite, I’m growing them in the long shrubbery in our north-facing, windy hillside garden and they are coping well.
Sarcococca confusa
I often see this plant described as ‘unassuming’ and it’s a perfect description of its visual impact. An evergreen shrub that grows to around 2m (6ft) tall with green, glossy leaves, it is nothing to write home about for most of the year. However, when it comes into flower, during late winter or early spring, you will notice sweet box before you see it. The scent of the little cream flowers is strong and heady without being cloying. I have a Sarcococca confusa growing in a large pot which I put near the front door of the house during April.
Hyacinths
The unmistakable fragrance of hyacinths will hang in the air around a clump of flowers. Edge a path or have a clump near the door, so that you can enjoy their scent as you walk past. In the garden hyacinths will naturalise and look less like those fussy clusters of flowers that we know from forced hyacinths in bowls, but still provide a sweetly-scented area.
Viola odorata ‘Baroness Alice de Rothchild’
Here’s a plant for the front of the border, tucked under a tree or in pots and containers near the house. Sweet violets are low growing with dark green leaves and large, but delicat
