Fragrance is magical. It evokes memory better than any other sense. Even unpleasant scents have their purposes. Bad-smelling plants are often the uneatable or poisonous ones. Bad odors also protect the plants, influencing people, birds, and insects to stay away. It’s easy to add a pleasurable dimension to your landscape by filling it with appealingly fragrant plants. But not every plant flaunted as aromatic is indeed so. The scent of roses, for example, is notoriously changeable. Some, such as ‘Mister Lincoln’, have a renowned rich fragrance. Others are only lightly scented. Still others deliver about as much bouquet as a sheet of notebook paper. With fragrant flowers, as with people, appearances can be deceiving. Hybridizing often sacrifices fragrance for gorgeous looks. Many of the most scent-laden species are the most humble-looking. But a few look as spectacular as they smell. The wildly popular ‘Star Gazer’ Oriental lily will draw people across a garden to examine its beauty more closely. That’s what magic is all about, mesmerizing the nose as well as the eyes.
Tags: Flowers, Garden, Fragrances
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