The Best Scented Winter Flowering Shrubs
Their Selection, Quantity and Position in the Garden
Nov 12, 2009
Many winter flowering shrubs are less than special for the rest of the year, but having no flowers in winter would be a very sad omission from even the tiniest of plots. Most winter flowering shrubs have the added attraction of being heavily scented.
So Why do They Smell so Good?
The fragrances emitted by winter flowering shrubs attracts any pollinating insects which are active at this time of year. The few creatures working in winter have a much greater ability to smell than to see, in any case most winter flowers are pale yellow or white, making them much less obvious than the large brightly coloured sorts which attract bees in summer.
The Positioning of Scented Plants in the Garden.
Gardeners don't always plan their gardens with scent in mind, tending to concentrate mainly on plant form together with flower size and colour. Scent in the garden should be an intermittent pleasure achieved by the sparing use of carefully selected and intelligently sited plants, avoiding the splash it on-all-over approach. Position your aromatic treasures where you will gain the most benefit when they are in flower. Consider the following places:-
- Beside paths leading to sheds or greenhouses.
- Near the front and back doors.
- Underneath windows which you are likely to open on a sunny day.
- Enclosed seating areas where the fragrances will be trapped.
- Against walls and fences.
There is little point in placing scented winter flowering shrubs a long way from the house in places you are unlikely to visit on bleak winter days.
A Selection of the Best Fragrant Winter Flowering Shrubs
- Viburnum x Bodnantense 'Dawn' is an upright deciduous shrub with dark pink flowers aging to white.
- Hamamelis mollis (Witch hazel) has spidery golden yellow sweetly scented blooms arising directly from its shoots and branches.
- Lonicera fragrantissima, a bushy, spreading honeysuckle with 1cm long, highly perfumed creamy-white from from winter to early spring.
- Sarcoccoca ruscifolia (Christmas box) , a hummocky evergreen with tiny insignificant whiter flowers which can be smelt on the slightest breeze.
- Mahonia x media 'Charity' starts to display its primrose yellow 24cm long flowers with scent reminiscent of lily of the valley in November, but its buds will go on opening for weeks.
- Clematis armandiii is a vigorous, scented, evergreen climber which bears saucer-shaped, white flowers with cream anthers.
- Chimonanthus praecox (wintersweet) carries small waxy blooms which are pale yellow outside and brownish purple inside.
Give Your Senses an Aromatic Lift for the Winter
A blast of fresh scented air wafting into the house via a temporarily opened window can really lift those flagging winter spirits. Use winter scented shrubs sparingly around the garden. That way you can appreciate their individual aromas over a long period. Bunging them all together means you can't tell one smell from another.
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