Winter scents

NOW are the days of dark frosty mornings and dull overcast afternoons. Time spent in the garden is often kept to a minimum, with only the hardiest souls venturing out. During the winter months, it’s easy to assume that there is nothing much of interest to see – or smell – in the garden, but with a bit of imagination and the right plant choices, you can enjoy bright winter stems, plants laden with colourful berries, sculptural seed heads, frosted grasses and winter scented flowering shrubs which will all jostle for your attention.

Winter flowering shrubs - unlike their summer counterparts - must overcome lower temperatures, shorter day length and the risk of frost. They have some common features which enable them to thrive in these conditions. Shrubs must work harder to attract the fewer numbers of pollinators that are around and so rely on colourful, bright and strong-scented flowers to advertise themselves.

A walk through the garden in February can intoxicate the senses, filling the nose with heady fragrances. Winter flowering shrubs are very diverse, some incredibly colourful, some subtle, others extravagant and the majority strongly scented. Below are a selection of some of my favourites:

Sarcoccoca known as sweet box, owing to its resemblance to the common box plant. These glossy innocuous evergreen shrubs which rarely reach more than one metre in height have tiny inconsequential white flowers, but what they lack in size or extravagance they make up for with their powerful sweet far-reaching fragrance. These plants are ideally used as ground cover or low informal hedges; they are easy to grow and are very low maintenance.

Azara microphylla is worth a mention. Much like Sarcococca it is a nondescript looking shrub which bears tiny greenish-yellow flowers which bloom in late winter to early spring. It has a notable honey-like scent. This plant can be trained as a wall shrub at the back of a flower bed.

Chimonanthus praecox is also known as winter sweet. It has tiny hanging waxy bowl-shaped flowers with maroon streaks inside which contrast well with the plant’s bare winter stems. Flowers can range from butter yellow to translucent. It has a sophisticated spicy smell which intensifies whenever the plant is bathed in sunlight. For full effect, this shrub is best planted in a sheltered sunny courtyard, against a wall or near a doorway.

Daphne bholua is perhaps the most dramatic species within the daphne genus. Other popular species include D. odoratum and D. mezereum. This plant originates from the Himalayas and can be both deciduous and evergreen, depending at what altitude the parent plant was collected from, so don’t be concerned if it loses its leaves as the weather becomes colder. Daphnes have terminal clusters of fragrant white, purple and pink tinged flowers. Daphne bholua 'Jacqueline Postill' is the

most widely grown and strongly-scented. Daphnes require shelter from the wind and roots must be prevented from drying out in summer.

Edgeworthia chrysantha or paper bush is a little-known shrub from China, and a close relative of the daphne. If you are looking for something more unusual, this plant might be for you. It looks almost prehistoric with its papery cinnamon coloured bark and terminal clusters of yellow or red fragrant tubular flowers. This shrub is heavily fragrant, its scent almost overwhelming. Edgeworthia is quite tender, prefers full sun or dappled shade, band is best planted against a sunny south facing wall in a prominent position.

Hamamelis – commonly known as witch hazel – has fragrant spidery flowers which come in a range of fiery colours, which I always think resemble candied orange peel! There is a long list of good cultivars in a range of colours available, from the deep red of ‘Diane’, coppery orange of ‘Jelena’, brick red of ‘Rochester’ to the strong brilliant yellow of ‘Arnolds Promise’. These shrubs are highly scented and colourful, have good autumn colour, but unfortunately provide little interest throughout the spring and summer months. Hamamelis is very low maintenance, preferring well drained neutral to acid soils and is very slow growing, an ideal addition to any winter garden.

These are just a small selection of the fantastically fragrant winter shrubs which you can grow in your garden. If you are looking to buy more unusual winter scented shrubs check out Junker’s Nursery Ltd. If you’re visiting a garden this February, ideally pick a sunny and still day to get the most out of the fragrant shrubs.

Jobs for the week

• Prune fruit trees

• Cut back herbaceous plants

• Order seed

• Clear up leaves

With thanks to Matthew Brewer, Horticulturist at RHS Garden Harlow Carr

DIARY DATES

11-12 February: Winter Garden Weekend Get advice, enjoy practical demonstrations and discover how to get the best from your garden during the winter months, and how to prepare for the year ahead. Seek inspiration from the garden’s striking Winter Walk or visit the RHS Plant Centre for the launch of the Harlow Carr Winter Garden Collection, the first in a new range of seasonal plant collections inspired by Harlow Carr. Normal garden admission.

Until 26 Feb: Bath House Gallery & Library - Gardens Behind Barbed Wire A remarkable piece of World War One history is told in this exhibition. ‘Gardens Behind Barbed Wire’ tells the ‘forgotten’ story of an intrepid group of British men who set up a horticultural society in the Ruhleben internment camp in Germany and helped to feed their fellow prisoners throughout the War. Normal garden admission.