Gardening with fragrance
Sweet alyssum.
PROVIDED BY UF/IFAS
Gardens provide our senses with an abundance of treasures. We can enjoy all our senses in the garden: the sound of palm fronds gently rustling in the breeze; the vibrant colors of tropical plants; the touch of soft ferns against our fingers; the amazing taste of fruits, vegetables and herbs; and the scents of beautiful flowering plants. Because of our brains’ anatomy, scent is the strongest human sense; smell, memory and emotion are closely linked in our neural pathways. This explains why scents can immediately trigger intense memories and emotions. We can use these strong associations to enhance the pleasurable experience in our gardens and make them truly memorable spaces.
The same fragrances that can fill our gardens have been formulated into perfume for centuries; these scents range from sweet floral notes to herby, woodsy tones. As you plan to incorporate fragrant plants in your landscape, keep in mind that there are several ways that fragrance is spread. The heat of the sun causes some plants, such as gardenias and plumerias, to release their fragrance, while cooler nighttime temperatures encourage moon vine, angel’s trumpet and night-blooming jasmine plants to emit their scent. Other plants, particularly herbs, release their scent when they are cut or crushed. The changing seasons also affect fragrance; winter plants like sweet alyssum, yesterday, today and tomorrow, and jasmine can fill your garden with their sweet perfume, while many other fragrant blooming plants dominate the summer garden.
Our Southwest Florida climate makes it easy to incorporate a variety of fragrant plants in your garden. Many tropical plants use fragrance to attract pollinators, especially at night. You should plan to locate fragrant plants along the most traveled paths in your garden, near doorways and patios or on your lanai so that you and your visitors can enjoy the beautiful scents. Scent has been called “the invisible garden” and it is an important consideration as you develop your landscape.
We are fortunate to have a wonderful local example of an historic fragrant garden in Fort Myers. Mina Edison recognized the value of fragrance when she developed her famous “Moonlight Garden” in 1926 on the site of her husband Thomas Edison’s former laboratory, which he had moved to New Jersey. She proclaimed that this new installation was “a temple to the senses” and the garden today reflects much of her original design. Queen’s wreath, gardenias, jasmine and wisteria provide a heady perfume, especially in the evening hours. The Moonlight Garden is a classic example of excellent and enduring garden design and has been named one of the USA’s greatest gardens and received the Bronze Medal for Excellence in 2017 from the Royal Horticultural Society. If you haven’t had the opportunity to visit this incredible garden, you should plan a trip to the Edison Ford Winter Estates to experience its beauty firsthand.
If you’re convinced that you need to add some fragrant plants to your landscape, you may be wondering what plants I would recommend. Angel’s trumpet, butterfly bush, hoya, all forms of jasmine, gardenias, magnolias, plumeria, scented geraniums, sweet alyssum, tea olive, tropical allspice, tuberose, yesterday, today and tomorrow and ylang ylang are all easy to grow plants and shrubs that thrive in our local climate. Herbs such as basil, lemon thyme, mint, rosemary and lemon verbena provide not only a wonderful scent in your landscape but a flavorful boost to your cooking endeavors as well.
The University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) Gardening Solutions website provides a wealth of information on the selection and care of fragrant plants. Just Google “UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions” to find this valuable resource.
As we plan our gardens, most of us select plants based on their visual impact, color or texture. I invite you to consider incorporating fragrant plants in your landscape plan. You’ll not only be encouraging pollinators but surrounding yourself with wonderful fragrances that will build scent-based memories for you and your visitors!
Cathy Dunn is a Lee County Master Gardener Volunteer and a member of the Garden Club of Cape Coral. Visit www.gardenclubofcapecoral.com.
To reach CATHY DUNN, please email news@breezenewspapers.com