Fragrant 'Stargazer' lily (Lilium) shine in the early summer garden. Photo courtesy www.bulb.com
Plants produce fragrance to attract pollinators or warn predators. The pleasure the perfume gives humans is an unintended consequence. We enjoy these plants in the garden, cut them for indoor arrangements and harvest them for commercial uses in food, fragrance or medicine.
Some plants, such as lilies and roses, have fragrant flowers. Others, such as Russian sage and thyme, have aromatic stems and leaves, releasing their scent when you brush against them or crush them. The scents almost always are intensified when fragrant plants are clustered, which is where a new book from the Brooklyn Botanical Garden.
Fragrant Designs, edited by Beth Hanson, guides us to a sensual landscape with designs and plant recommendations for front yard gardens, wildlife friendly green strips in urban settings, native woodland gardens, evening gardens, children’s gardens, aromatic containers, pathways, roses and vines.
The designs encompass four seasons, but Indiana gardeners will want to consider alternatives for some of the acid-loving plants the book recommends, such as rhododendrons, or those not winter hardy here. The lists include spring bulbs, annuals, perennials and shrubs.
The book provides descriptions, care and growing tips for the 100 plants recommended for the seven gardens and three containers. Downloadable garden diagrams and plant lists also are available at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Web site.
One of the recommended plants is summersweet (Clethra alnifolia), a favorite of butterflies, bees and other pollinating insects.
umblebees and other pollinating insects savor ‘Hummingbird’ summersweet’s fragrant flowers. © Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
Summersweet is a native shrub with a vase like shape. It has white or pink bottlebrush flowers in mid summer and pale yellow leaves in fall. It is a very adaptable shrub, tolerating full sun to shade, wet or dry soil. It even tolerates salty conditions. This shrub ranges from about 3- to five-feet tall, depending on the variety. There are several cultivars that do well here, including ‘Hummingbird’ and ‘Ruby Spice.’
Great post. I am in business with flowers almost 5 years and here I learned something.