Now that spring is in the air, you will be anxious to get out into your garden and possibly plant some new things to change your horizons a little.
Might I suggest you think about including some scented plants?
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This is a good idea on many counts, not only for your own enjoyment but that of visitors who might have problems with their sight.
When a person loses one of their senses, the others usually increase to compensate and, for a non-sighted person in particular, the sense of smell can give them an increase in joy when walking around a garden.
Smell is, perhaps, one of our least understood senses. What you can smell, I might not be able to; and what smells lovely to me, may smell awful to you.
It is very subjective. In addition, flowers seem to give out their perfume more fully at different times of the day, so what has no scent in the morning may be full of it by late afternoon.
If you have had daphne or daffodils flowering through winter you will have enjoyed their perfume.
You, perhaps, also planted bare-rooted roses but if you missed out on getting them in then, it won't be long before you can buy potted ones.
Look for those with perfume. Sometimes, of course, the roses with the most fragrance also have the most prickles because the gene for these seems to be connected in some way.
Jasmines are another choice and you could also consider cacti flowers. Even though their flowering time is usually brief, the scent of some knocks your socks off.
I can't wait until my wisteria is in bloom. Each year I get more and more flowers, hence more fragrance.
The draping flower spikes emerge from the bare stems in early October and every day I have to go out into the garden to drink in their perfume and look at their beauty.
Lavender is, of course, another wonderful choice.
Not all garden perfumes come from flowers alone. Many leaves exude a powerful fragrance: think scented Pelargoniums like lemon, peppermint and apple varieties.
Then there are pine leaves, Rosemary and many of the herbs.
Some plants only flower at night, hence the fragrance is exuded then.
Gardens rich in scent have a quality that is near indefinable, yet one that so captivates the mind that they are among the most memorable.
