plants: mint, for example, is a gregarious type that will take over the whole garden if not kept in check; wild thyme is tough and independent, used to putting up with difficult conditions; others, like chamomile and marigold, are mild and easy-going by nature and will even help to look after other plants around them. Of course, many of the tropical plants familiar to the aromatherapist, such as sandalwood, clove or cinnamon, are impossible to cultivate in colder climates. Nevertheless, other exotic plants, such as the madonna lily or the hardy jasmine species, have adapted to more temperate climates, while tender species, such as citrus trees and scented pelargoniums, will thrive given the protection of a greenhouse or conservatory.
In the first scented garden that I designed, I took on an already well-established garden. At the back of the house was an overgrown potager with a pleached lime hedge running the length of the boundary. The vegetable garden was divided in half by a line of old espalier apple trees. I was very grateful for these traditional features, which would have taken many years to establish if I had started from scratch.
Peony (Paeonia)
yevgeniy11
Sweet Williams (Dianthus barbatus)
Eag1eEyes
I did, however, change the overall layout of this section of the garden. On one side of the apple trees, closest to the kitchen, I created a traditional herb garden laid out around a standard variegated box in the centre. Herbs were planted according to species, as in the old monastic physic gardens, with all the types of sage in one bed, thyme in another, and artemisias, lavenders and mints, etc., each in their own bed. As time passed, I became more relaxed and inter-planted old roses, peonies and irises amongst the more classic medicinal and culinary herbs. I also allowed the fennel to self-seed freely, along with lady’s mantle, marigold and frilly pink opium poppies. Then I planted a line of fragrant standard roses to further divide the herb garden from a scented cutting garden. Here I mixed aromatic bulbs, such as madonna and regal lilies, with scented annuals such as sweet williams, stocks and heliotrope or cherry pie.
The front of the house was also largely overgrown, but here again there were redeeming features that were retained and incorporated into the new design. Two ancient wisterias graced the south wall near the entrance porch – although the white species (Wisteria sinensis ‘Alba’) flowered profusely with a divine perfume and the purple barely at all. I planted the rose ‘Zephirine Drouhin’ in the semi-shade by the gate and the hardy jasmine (Jasminum officinale) to climb over the porch. A rather ragged box hedge formed a rectangular compound outside the front door. I fed and renovated this and eventually it matured to form the basis for a miniature, classical rose garden with several perpetually flowering cerise Rosa ‘De Rescht’ and the sumptuous, richly perfumed burgundy ‘Dark Lady’ as standard features.
Evergreen chocolate vine (Akebia quinata)
Ph_Stephan
In the very dry, sunny raised bed against the porch I massed various varieties of cistus, including C. ladanifer, not only because they looked stunning tumbling over the old stone but also because they were one of the few plants that seemed to thrive in such a free-draining site. On very hot days, they exuded a lovely rich, almost resin-like aroma – the so-called labdanum gum from cistus is used extensively in perfumery. The small patio area in front of the house was defined by a wooden pergola hung with the rosy-leaved rambling rose ‘Albertine’ together with a common honeysuckle Lonicera periclymenum ‘Graham Thomas’ and the pink-flowered jasmine (Jasminum x stephanense). These gave a lovely scent to the whole seating area, especially in the evening. Low-growing violets, old-fashioned ‘Mrs Sinkins’ pinks and, close by the paving, hardy scented cyclamen (C. cilicium) sprung up at their base, flowering at different times of the year.
On the sheltered face of the house, I planted a spreading Fremontodendron ‘California Glory’ which bore dramatic yellow flowers from spring until early autumn (no scent but gorgeous), together with the strange and exotic-looking evergreen chocolate vine (Akebia quinata), which has unusual vanilla-scented ruby-red flowers. Further along I planted the exquisite evergreen scented clematis, C. armandii ‘Apple Blossom’, which virtually covered the entire wall in a single season, plus Trachelospermum jasminoides – not a ‘true’ jasmine yet bearing white star-shaped flowers with a pervasive jasmine-like perfume and glossy evergreen leaves. A half-hardy honeysuckle (Lonicera etrusca) was trained around the bedroom window with the climbing white rose ‘Souvenir de la Malmaison’ for night scent. Since this was the most sheltered spot in the garden, I also risked planting slightly tender species at their feet, such as lemon verbena (Aloysia triphylla), the delicate fringed lavender (Lavandula dentata), a ginger plant (Hedychium gardnerianum) and the delicate pink Darjeeling daphne, D. bholua. All survived the winters (with a little help from agricultural fleece) – in fact the lemon verbena turned into the most beautiful, healthy shrub with a very refreshing and uplifting perfume.
Some years later, I had the opportunity to develop a completely different kind of scented retreat right in the centre of an urban environment. Here, my aims and possibilities were more challenging since there was no garden as such, but only a large sunny terrace. I immediately decided to use the opportunity to try growing all sorts of tender species, because the city provided a warmth and level of protection that was out of the question in the open countryside. Mimosa (Acacia dealbata) with its yellow ball-like flowers, the graceful Nerium oleander, even the wax flower (Hoya carnosa) survived outside all winter with the minimum of protection! Standard grapefruit and lemon trees, the former grown from seed, were over-wintered indoors but benefitted from being outside all summer. Inside, the exquisite gardenia (G. augusta), exotic scented orchids such as Dendrobium nobilis and the white waxy-flowered Stephanotis floribunda thrived so long as they were kept out of direct sunlight. Culinary and classical herbs including lavender, rosemary, parsley and basil were grown in pots outside the kitchen window. Even in the centre of a city, it is possible to create a scented sanctuary – a place to nourish the soul and soothe body and mind.
My most recent aromatic gardening project has been the development of a traditional stone longhouse with about three acres, located in the foothills of the Epynt Mountains in Wales. Once a working farm, much of the original land had been sold off to local sheep farmers over the last century, but the original buildings and barn still remained. I bought the property in a wild and altogether unmanageable condition, but the stunning views and seemingly benign location on a south-facing slope made it irresistible. A fast-flowing mountain stream cut through the wooded valley with its many ancient trees, including a large oak and several majestic Scots pine, making the very landscape seem alive. My aim was to create a naturalistic garden using mainly aromatic plants, planted in swathes or random ‘waves’.
It soon became apparent that the mountainous weather of the Epynt region was very erratic. Before a year had passed I began to look at my garden in a different light: which plant species were going to be ‘survivors’. All my spreading rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Prostratus’) died during the very first winter, when temperatures plunged to -17°C (1°F), and I also wondered how all my small lavender ‘Hidcote’ bushes would manage to get through February all covered in snow, having planted them out in the late autumn.
Surprising survivors were the evergreen clematis armandeii ‘Apple Blossom’, due to being located on the south wall, and my various species of lavender planted in a south-facing sloping gravel bed. This was one place where aromatics thrived, like
