Lazy summer days in the garden are made to feel extra special when you can breathe in the sweet fragrance of fresh flowers. The key thing to remember with scented flowers is that they need to be in a place where you can get the most out of the fragrance. Enclosed, sheltered spaces are the best because the perfume can be ‘trapped’ and won’t be nulled by strong winds. Think of opening a window in the house to get rid of a smell – it’s the same principle in reverse!
Plant fragrances are often exaggerated by warmth, so it’s a good idea to pinpoint the sunniest parts of the garden and see if you have room there for your scented plants. Warm, sunny walls are also great for scented climbers such as honeysuckle or climbing roses, which allow the fragranced flowers to be easily accessed. Why not plant one by the front of the house and offer a sweet-scented welcome?
Another way to ensure scents are enjoyed to the full is to think strategically about the parts of the garden you sit in most. Position potted scented plants around seating areas or even make them table centrepieces in small pots. This is the best way to enjoy the perfume of low-growing plants, without having to bend down each time to smell the flowers.
Sunny days aside, there are also some fine fragranced plants that will add spice to an evening spent in the garden. Night-scented options include the tobacco plant ‘Sensation’, available from B&Q as a seed. Want to fill the rooms in your house with natural perfume? Grow wisteria or honeysuckle near a window that can be opened.
Grow lavender in an open, sunny place, in soil that drains well – stony soil is perfect. Cut it back after flowering to keep it busy but avoid cutting into woody stems or it might not re-sprout.
A partly shaded spot will ensure this beautiful climber stays lush and green, allowing its deliciously perfumed, spidery flowers to really pop. Cut it back in early spring if you find it gets too big.
A spectacular variegated form of the classic ‘butterfly bush’. Grow this towards the back of a border and it will be bursting with wildlife. Cut it back hard each spring to ensure a good flowering display.
The classic scented climber. Grow these plants up bamboo cane wigwams in border gaps or large containers and keep snipping the flowers first thing in the morning for a continuous supply for months.
These wonderful large-flowered lilies can be planted in spring for summer flowers (feed regularly with tomato food for large, good quality blooms) – just remember they’re poisonous to cats.
A spectacular shrub for heavily scented summer blooms with a classic look. Cut it back after flowering if it outgrows its space and mulch with compost every year in spring.
Border phlox adds a touch of nostalgia to the garden and the delicate pastel blooms can also decorate the house, as they work really well as cut flowers in a vase.
The idea that ‘roses don’t smell like they used to’ is a myth. The choice of strongly scented roses available at B&Q is vast, and with such a variation in height and flower shape and colour, this flower is an indispensable part of a scented garden, with a variety to suit every space.
A climbing rose will usually be superbly scented, but if you’re unsure, check the plant label – all of B&Q’s labels indicate whether a variety is fragrant or not. It’s suitable for growing on walls and trellises, as well as through obelisks and it flowers all through summer, with blooms from the top to the bottom of the plant. Angle the plant at 45 degrees towards its support, so the stems are easy to tie in.
Taking the following steps will help ensure the display is as good as it can be. All roses, whether climbers or shorter bushes, need regular watering and feeding in order to put on the best show. To help them get off to a great start, plant them in heavy soil (clay soil is ideal, but they’ll thrive in most types), and when planting, make sure the bit where the stems join the roots is below ground level.
This will keep the plant well anchored and prevent it from drying out – crucial if the plant is to flower well. In pots, plant roses in containers at least 30cm wide and deep, in two parts Verve Rose, Tree and Shrub Peat-Free Compost to one-part multi-purpose compost.
Once planted, thoroughly soak the base of the plant until puddles form on the soil surface. For roses growing in the ground, you’ll then want to apply a 5cm layer of Good Home Peat-Free Beds and Borders Manure around the base of the plant, but not touching the stems.
Keep the newly planted roses well-watered in the first year after planting. Give them a thorough soaking until puddles form whenever the soil around the plant becomes dusty and dry in summer. This is preferable to watering little and often, which will result in shallow roots that don’t go down deep enough to seek out water and nutrients.
You’ll also want to feed roses growing in the ground with a granular rose food in April and June. Feed roses in pots with a half-strength liquid food such as Verve Liquid Plant Feed every two weeks. Alternatively, a dose of half-strength liquid tomato food will give them a welcome boost in summer.
Thyme and lavender will have your garden buzzing with bees in early summer (purple flowers are especially attractive to bees). Also, plants that are free from neonicotinoids (as all of B&Q’s are) are safe for them, and simple, single flowers are easy for them to access, so bear this in mind when choosing scented roses, if you want lots of bees in your garden.
Another cottage garden classic that will attract pollinators is climbing honeysuckle ‘Graham Thomas’, which has large white flowers that turn to yellow as they age. You could also try Salvia ‘Hot Lips’, which flowers from summer until frosts in a sunny, very well-drained spot.
For scented flowers later in the year, the long flower stems of butterfly-friendly Verbena bonariensis mingle well with other plants and will self-seed in well-drained soil.
Let your garden bloom with B&Q
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