The plants in our front garden are revelling in the hot dry weather. The Dieramas (Angel’s Fishing Rods) are a picture; their bell shaped flowers held as if on invisible cotton, like mobiles. As well as the three original plants, we now have a number of seedlings in various shades of pink from deep maroon to palest blush. Although not the hardiest of perennials in pots (they hail from South Africa) once in the ground they seem to come through most winters unscathed if drainage is good at the roots and they are not swamped by winter wet. The ripe seed is shed by the parent plants and we now have a plantation of seedlings that mix easily with the grasses, Yarrow and Sedums to create a prairie feel, requiring little work.
Mrs McGregor and I have used the back garden far more this summer for soaking up the sun and dining, enjoying meals sat in the evening sun, giving us time to admire the garden and begin the inevitable list of ‘improvements’.
Plants in our garden are especially chosen for more than one point of interest and one of my habits is to wander around with a glass of wine and rub leaves that I know are scented to release the fragrance. French Lavender has to be one of my favourites and I have this planted in a sunny border near a path. Caryopteris is a beautiful deciduous shrub for sun and well drained soil. As well as clusters of soft blue flowers in late summer and autumn that are a magnet for bees and butterflies, the smoky gray green leaves are pleasantly scented, not unlike the French Lavender. Known as the Blue Spiraea, this is a winner for late color but lazy to wake up in the spring often not coming into leaf until May!
We also have a Ribes ‘Pulborough Scarlet’ one of the first shrubs to flower in spring and the leaves are scented not surprisingly, of blackcurrants. This Ribes is an ornamental currant grown for the drooping clusters of bright red flowers that appear with the new leaves rather than the ability to produce any fruits!
Evergreens in the garden that have scented leaves include Choisya ternata and Box. Neither are pleasant, smelling of cats, but I can forgive them this for the neat form of the Box and the clusters of sweetly scented white flowers of the Mexican Orange Blossom that are produced twice each year in late spring and again through the autumn.
Even some of the humble Cranesbills have a powerful, balsam like scent to their leaves and this is accentuated on hot days. One of the best for dry shade is Geranium macrorrhizum – another plant that I would not be without for its clusters of bright pink flowers which are produced over several weeks from late spring onwards.
A recent visit to my local Notcutt’s garden center tempted me with a range of half hardy Salvia (Ornamental Sage) which as well as having brightly coloured flowers from now until the first hard frosts, also have scented leaves. Whether the scent is pleasant or not is down to individual taste but they are certainly something different for the garden this summer!