One of the nicest things about moving through a garden is scent, something that really comes to the fore in spring and summer.
I got a nose full of Heliotropium arborescens (cherry pie plant) the other evening and so went even closer to take my fill of the heady scent. I used to have a plant near the front door, just as I had a daphne beside the front door. Neither plant thrived or survived for various reasons, but a replacement Heliotrope has done much better at the foot of a climbing Iceberg rose. It gets a fair amount of shade, being in the lee of a fence, but does okay. This year is the best flowering yet.
Heliotropium arborescens. Photo: Sandra Simpson
Orange blossom is another delight just now, and the sweetly scented Cordyline Red Fountain (which doesn’t grow a trunk) stops me in my tracks in the gardens of others, particularly when two or three are planted together. This Australian article looks at several cordyline hybrids (click on the pdf option for better resolution). Red Fountain was bred by the Jurys of Taranaki and the story of how it came to be is told here.
Cordyline Red Fountain. Photo: Sandra Simpson
The Fragrant Garden is a specialist nursery on the outskirts of Feilding. Owner Marilyn Wightman is just as interested in foliage with aroma as she is in scented flowers. Kings Seeds has a list of “fragrant flowers” in their online catalogue.
What’s your favourite scented plant? Let me know by leaving a comment and if I have a photo of it I’ll include it in a posting.
Sandra's Garden 