Scent in the Garden

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Christine Walkden, Great British Garden Revival, sarcoccocca, Scented plants, Toby Buckland, Viburnum bodnantense 'Dawn', Viburnum tinus 'Gwenllian', winter flowering honeysuckle

Winter-flowering honeysuckle

A few months ago Sue at the blog Backlane Notebook suggested we start a monthly ‘Scent in the Garden’ meme. Being a bit of a fragrant plant lover myself I thought it was a fantastic idea.

For centuries scent was the most important characteristic of a plant. In the days before bathrooms and a plethora of lotions and potions to make us and the world around us smell good, the fragrance of plants was an essential way to combat the many whiffs and pongs that would have been a constant onslaught to our olfactory organs. Nosegays – small posies of scented flowers and foliage – would have been pinned to your dress or coat or simply held under your nose in an attempt to mask whatever unpleasant aroma was in the vicinity. I just love that term ‘nosegay’ – in medieval Britain it meant an ornament to please the nose. Nowadays we have Glade plug-ins.

Now I certainly don’t want to return to the days when the contents of chamber pots were flung out of windows but I do love the idea of embracing fragrant plants and natural perfumes rather than the artificial chemical air fresheners we have today. But, ever since plant breeders started crossing varieties to create fancier flowers and supposedly ‘better’ plants scent has been the feature most likely to be lost in the process. Perhaps as we have become cleaner our interest in fragrant plants has waned. Certainly many shop-bought cut flowers are scentless, and for a period in the mid to late 20th century flower form and disease resistance were higher on the list of priorities for plant breeders, particularly when it came to that classic of all fragrant plants, the rose. Why you would want a rose with no scent is a mystery to me.

I have been enjoying the Great British Garden Revival series of programmes on TV and it has been fantastic to see scent playing a big part, with Toby Buckland championing scented plants and Christine Walkden campaigning for people to rediscover the carnation, a plant which has suffered more than most as a result of the global trade in flowers. So it seems like a great opportunity to seek out, to share and to celebrate all that is scented in our gardens. Sue and I hope you’ll join us each month throughout the coming year by posting about what’s filling your garden or allotment with fragrance. It doesn’t just have to be in your garden though, if you spot a deliciously perfumed plant whilst on your travels, you sniff out something in the hedgerows or you have an indoor plant filling your home with scent please feel free to share them too.

Viburnum tinus ‘Gwellian’

Winter might seem like an unlikely time of the year to be able to talk about scented plants but it’s surprising how many shrubs have evolved to flower at this time of year. It’s not easy attracting the small number of pollinating insects which might be flying around in winter, so to maximize their chances of grabbing the attention of a passing bee many winter flowering shrubs have incredible, intoxicating fragrances which will knock your socks off. One of my favourites is the winter-flowering honeysuckle. It’s a scruffy, unkempt plant for much of the year. It doesn’t have much structure other than looking like an unruly twiggy clump. Every year I debate whether to dig it out. Then it had a stay of execution when we started to think about moving as I didn’t want to have to replant the gaping hole it would leave behind. I’m also a bit sentimental about it. My winter honeysuckle was taken from a larger plant in the grounds of the college where I studied horticulture. A fellow student, Peter spotted a stem which had bent down and where it had touched the ground it had rooted. He dug it up and gave it to me. It’s all the more sentimental as Peter died a few years later.

Then, of course, every winter the plant does its thing and I’m smitten all over again. Tiny, delicate ivory flowers with strikingly yellow stamens appear along the woody stems, looking like miniature summer-flowering honeysuckle flowers. And the fragrance is just beautiful. I spent Sunday afternoon in the garden tidying up dying and soggy foliage to reveal the spring bulbs poking through and the honeysuckle perfume which hung in the air was such a treat.

Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’

You might say, ‘What’s the point of fragrant flowers in winter, it’s too cold, too wet or snowy to venture outdoors and appreciate them’, but a front garden filled with scented flowers will greet you every time your return home. Even a container planted with Christmas box (sarcoccocca) placed by your front door will raise the spirits on a January day. And, of course, you can always pick a few stems and bring them indoors to enjoy the perfume in the warmth.

My own January fragrant plant count includes Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’, Viburnum tinus ‘Gwenllian’, Sarcoccocca and the winter-flowering honeysuckle, which isn’t too bad but I would love more. In particular, I covet a wintersweet (Chimonanthes), although I’m dismayed to hear it can take up to eight years from planting to flowering. One of my quests is to fill my garden with as many scented plants as possible, so I’m hoping that if you’ll join in this meme I’ll be able to uncover lots of perfumed gems to add too my plant wish list.

If you’d like to join in with ‘Scent in the Garden’ just post about what’s perfuming the air in your garden/growing space and leave a comment here or at Sue’s blog Backlane Notebook with a link to your post.

Happy sniffing!

Toby Buckland – Interview

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Gardeners' World, RHS, Toby Buckland

This is the second part of my feature on the gardener Toby Buckland. Toby started gardening after leaving school, working as a pinks and roses nurseryman at Whetman’s Pinks Nursery in Devon. He then trained at Bicton College, Hadlow College and Cambridge University’s Botanic Garden where he subsequently worked as a woodland supervisor. He has presented a variety of TV programmes including Gardeners’ World, writes for a host of publications and is the author of 5 books. In 2008 he won an RHS Gold medal and Best in Show for his Ethical Garden at Gardeners’ World Live. As he embarks on his latest project – his new online plant nursery he kindly took the time to answer a few of my questions.

1. What is your first gardening memory? – Gardening with my Uncle Bob. He took me down to the beach where I live to collect seaweed and put under the potatoes – it keeps off slugs. I remember being amazed when we harvested them that I’d been involved in growing something.
2. What tool couldn’t you be without? – If you’d asked me in summer it would have been the watering lance, it saves your back no end! But now, I’m quite attached to my Gerber knife – packing up parcels, cutting up string to tie up the bare roots – I use it all the time.
3. What is your favourite meal to cook with produce from your garden?– Well, it depends on what time of year. Pumpkin fritters in Autumn, broad beans and bacon, I love making curries with the chillies. I used to be a terrible cook but now I do most of the cooking. I like the variety and experimentation.
4. Which garden has seduced you? – Bagatelle in Paris – very seductive roses.
5. What has been your biggest gardening success? – The Marines Garden at RM 45 Commando Arbroath. I was asked to design a memorial garden for the families to remember the fallen. We brought in large boulders from all over the globe, everywhere that 45 Commando had served since 1971 when 45 Commando moved to Arbroath. It opened on Remembrance Day, 11/11/11. The marines are amazing how they just get things done. They raised more than £200,000 to build it through their fundraising efforts such as running double marathons. I was very honoured to be involved.
6. What has been your biggest gardening disaster? – Thinking I could open the doors of a garage whilst still driving a mower towards them, not a good idea. I was a reckless youth, and I did learn my lesson.
7. Which gardening book will you be snuggling up with this winter? – Truthfully, I’m more likely to read a novel than a gardening book. I prefer doing the gardening to reading about it.
8. Which garden in the world would you most like to visit? – Kyoto.
9. What would be your dream garden project? – If I won the lottery and could have a 1000 acre landscape to play with that wouldn’t be bad!
10. And finally . . . wellies or boots? – Boots definitely. I’m too hard on wellies – they always fall apart too quickly with all the digging. I live in rigger work boots that are easy to pull on and off when your hands are covered in mud.

Thanks to Toby. To read more about him and his new plant nursery go to his website http://www.tobybuckland.com/.

Toby Buckland – His New Plant Nursery

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bare root plants, cottage garden, mycorrhizal fungi, online plant nursery, Powderham Castle, Toby Buckland, walled garden

Toby Buckland in his garden in Devon

The gardener, author and TV presenter Toby Buckland has a new project – he has set up an online plant nursery, but this isn’t just any other plant nursery. Toby wants to get people buying bare root plants, a more eco and wallet-friendly way to garden. In the first of 2 posts Toby told me a bit about his new nursery.

Most gardeners will have planted at least one bare root plant whether it be a rose, raspberry canes or hedging but how many have planted bare root perennials. I didn’t realise it was possible to treat perennials like this but according to Toby it used to be a popular way, prior to the 1960s, of acquiring new plants, digging up plants in their dormancy and swapping with fellow gardeners. Bare root plants can be planted between November and the end of February.

It is also a much cheaper way of purchasing new plants and kinder on the environment. With no plastic containers or compost, bare root plants can be up to a third cheaper than the potted version.

Toby says “It’s one for the early-bird, for gardeners who like to plan ahead. While putting this year’s borders to bed, gardeners are already thinking about next year. The advantage of planting bareroot in the dormant season is that roots have time to establish over winter, ensuring large, healthy plants next spring. Personally, I love the interaction planting bareroot offers. It’s the difference between buying a ready-meal and one you prepare and cook yourself. It might even go some way in helping reduce the estimated 500 million plastic plant pots we throw away in the UK each year.”

I love this idea, especially since my challenge for next year is to use less plastic in the garden.

Toby has specially selected a collection of roses that are good performers, even in difficult wet conditions such as the west of Britain. He has also used his extensive knowledge and experience to put together collections of his favourite perennials, some of which are great for wildlife and some to create special looks such as a naturalistic theme or a cottage garden look. Plants include Asters, Geraniums, Grasses and Sedums.

Outside of the bare root planting season Toby will be selling container plants. He says they are 98% peat free and are working on improving their own potting mixes.

Toby is also selling ‘Toby’s Planting Powder’ a mix of mycorrhizal fungi, biostimulants and nutrients to get your bare root plants off to the best start.

Toby’s nursery is based in the old walled garden of Powderham Castle in Devon and although the castle and grounds are open to the public Toby’s nursery will only be open for special events and talks. So keep a look out on his website for open days next year.

For more information go to Toby’s website http://tobybuckland.com/.

To come in the second post Toby answers a few gardening questions.