Garden Clippings
Fragrant plants entice the gardener
By RUTH DAVIES
Article published on Wednesday, June 14, 2006  |
Perfume wafting by you makes a garden very special. A few days after a rain, Brunfelsia densifolia blooms its small yellow trumpet flowers in my garden in the evening. It covers its 6-foot-by-3-foot branches, and I must admit, the smell can be overwhelming. But, I wouldn’t trade it.
Its sister, Brunfelsia Americana, has white flowers with an even stronger perfume, but it is stingier with its flowers. These can be purchased from specialty nurseries. They cannot take cold weather.
Jasmine vines can cover a fence and envelope the small garden with fragrance. Roses, long-standing ones, such as climber Don Juan and tea rose Oklahoma and many of the now popular heirloom roses, will perfume a room as well as the garden.
The gardenia can’t be beat for its springtime fragrance – water weekly and provide acidic soil. This can be accomplished by using peat moss, oak leaves and a fertilizer for azaleas and ixoras.
Tea olive, Osmanthus, is lightly perfumed and can be grown in our cooler parts of the county in sun and kept somewhat dry.
An unusual small tree that is in the Florida Botanical Gardens is the Dombeya wallichii, commonly called the ornament or Christmas ball tree. It has fragrant pink flowers and blooms in late December or January. It does not like freezing weather.
The plumeria or frangipani must be included in a garden for its low care and sweet flowers. It can be shaped to be a small tree or kept pruned to stay as a bush. It drops its leaves in the winter, but the skeleton is still attractive.
Lavender, although difficult to grow, is wonderful placed by a path so it can be brushed while walking – don’t overwater or let it sit in water. Basil is grown for culinary use, but it too has a strong scent on a warm day – this plant likes to be kept moist.
Pineapple sage grows to be a small bush with red flowers. Seems to like our hot humid summer, but keep it moist.
Depending on one’s taste, garlic chives emit their scent in the hot sun. More pleasant is mint, whether it is spearmint, peppermint or applemint. All very easy to grow in a pot if kept moist.
An annual, white flowering tobacco, Nicotiana, alata, releases its fragrance in the evening. Place this near the patio sitting area – keep moist in summer.
Another annual is the dianthus family. Some are low growing and others are taller – somewhat like a small carnation.
Scented geraniums are fun and easy to grow, although they fade in late August; give this plant sun and keep on the dry side. The flowers are insignificant, but the leaves can have scents from rose to citronella to cinnamon.
Daylilies are surprisingly fragrant. These like lots of fertilizer and are to be kept moist. Somehow, in my garden, they survive on little water. Remember, I said survive – the plants are not fine specimen, but the flowers are bright and cheerful.
Anise is a small tree with leaves that when broken have a pleasant spicy scent. Bay tree leaves also release their fragrance when broken. They are used for stews or will repel bugs from flour.
Fragrant plants in the landscape encourages the gardener to walk through, enjoy the flowers and smell the roses.
Events for garden enthusiasts:
• The African Violet Society will host its annual sale at Extension on Friday and Saturday, June 16 and 17, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The show provides many varieties of flowering African violets, starter plants and leaves, as well as a selection of the other gesneriads and supplies. Society members will answer questions and offer help to grow violets and related gesneriads. Extension horticulturists also will assist with horticultural questions. Call 398-7450 or e-mail rlphyllis@verizon.net.
• Free and low cost plants will be offered at 305 173rd Ave. in North Redington Beach on Saturday and Sunday, June 17 and 18, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., as a fundraiser for the Equal Rights Amendment lobby effort. A red ixora hedge is free to those who want to dig it up – bring a shovel. Other plants include bromeliads, frangipani, cacti, dwarf palms and potted gardens. Call 393-0932.
• The first annual Pinellas Living Green Expo will be on Saturday, June 17, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, June 18, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at The Coliseum, 535 Fourth Ave. N. in St. Petersburg. Admission is free. The expo provides real solutions for people to live better, healthier lives with less impact on the environment. Call Darden Rice, Sierra Club, 824-8813, ext. 303.
Ruth Davies is a Pinellas County Master Gardener. Questions can be sent to her at editorial@TBNweekly.com.
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Article published on Wednesday, June 14, 2006
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