Re: favorite fragrant plants
david feix wrote:
>
> I came across the topic of fragrant plants with scents
> that waft on another web site about fragrant plants.
> I thought it might be interesting to put a
> mediterannean climate twist on this, as most of the
> posts were about plants for more temperate climates.
> I'd be interested to hear what some other people's
> favorites are...
>
> It also might be worth noting that scents don't seem
> to waft nearly as well in cooler climates like that
> found in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is noticeable
> when we do get that rare warm night how much better
> some scents carry.
Hi David
A delectable garden of scents indeed. I can add just a couple - the
sweet violet (V.odorata) and yes, it is a true Med. plant - I just
looked it up! I once remember passing a whole border of these in bloom
and the wafting scent was stunning. The other is the florists Hyacinth
which also has Med. connections.
The propagation of scent is an odd thing. With many plants one can catch
a delicious fragrance as one passes, but stop to smell individual blooms
and the scent is strangely elusive. Also some scents (violet is one)
seem to rapidly exhaust one's sense of smell if one keeps on trying to
enjoy them. The only remedy is to go away for a while.
As you say, many scents do need warm weather to spread them properly,
but in addition there are many white-flowered plants which smell
strongest at night. This is because they are moth-pollinated (which
brings us up against the fact the flowers do not smell nice for actually
our benefit but to attract the appropriate pollinator!)
Mention of Rhodo. X'fragrantissimum' puts me in mind of one of the
spring delights of my own garden - one of its parents, R. formosum.
This is a little-known species which can best be described as a
miniaturised version of its familiar child, the bush being of modest
dimensions and the flowers about half the size and clear white, though
the buds are brownish-pink. The stunning scent however is very similar.
My bush growa on top of a wall very close to our front porch and the
quite warm nights which most years accompany its blooming are for us the
real essence of spring.
Regarding this group and Daphne odora I can assure Angela that far from
needing winter chill to set their flowers both seem happiest with little
or no frost. In fact R x "fragantissimum" is likely to have its buds
destroyed with more than a few degrees of frost.
What both species do relish is a cool root-run, so a partially shaded
site is pretty essential. With the Daphne at least though there must be
an emphasis on the "partial" . We have found locally that the odd very
sunless summer has resulted in these plants flowering poorly or not at
all the following spring.
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata (near Wellington, capital city of New Zealand)
