Top 5 Scented Plants For Somerset Gardens

Posted 22nd March 2023

Discover my top 5 scented plants for Somerset gardens

I’m a great one for believing that gardens should appeal to all five senses. Sight, sound, touch, taste and scent. Hard landscaping features can accommodate sight and touch, and to an extent, they can provide sound too. But it’s the plants that provide most of the textures, tastes and scents.

These five plants are some of the very best I know for filling a garden with glorious smells.

Roses

Roses seem to have fallen out of fashion of late, which is a shame and I definitely think it’s time they had a revival. The scent of roses is reminiscent of so many other ‘vintage’ customs such as afternoon tea served in bone china cups, reading the newspaper on a Sunday morning, Victoria sponge cake, and children playing on the lawn. Forgive me for being all wistful.

Modern roses are virtually trouble free. Choose a variety that is disease resistant and the only things it will need from you are a sunny spot, an annual feed, occasional deadheading and winter pruning.

Garden centres don’t always have a huge choice of rose varieties, so shop for roses online and pick your favourite colours, growth habits, flower shape and scent level.

Sweet Peas

The heady scent of sweet peas takes me back to my childhood. There were some growing in the garden every summer. They’re great if you like cut flowers because the more you pick, the more blooms you’ll get. A posy of home grown sweet peas makes a great gift for a friend or relative too.

Sweet peas are annuals, which means you’ll need to grow them from seed every year. It’s not difficult to do and it kind of creates a bit of a buzz, knowing that you’ve grown your own flowers. They’re climbers too, so use them to hide a bare bit of fence or encourage them to scramble through shrubs in the garden.

We’re very fortunate in Somerset to have our sweet pea specialist. Take a look at the Somerset Sweet Peas website and see what takes your fancy.

Jasmine

Jasmine gives a truly exotic scent that instantly makes you feel relaxed and at home. Maybe it’s because one waft of it encourages you to take some long, deep, meditative breaths so that you can really enjoy the aroma. Deep breathing is always a good way to calm the mind.

There are several different forms of Jasmine. Some are winter flowering, some are summer lovers. Why not plant both and extend the experience for several months?

A good alternative for Somerset gardens is Trachelospermum jasminoides – it’s a bit of a tongue twister to say but the plant is a real ‘good doer’ and won’t take long to shroud an arbour seat in shiny evergreen leaves and tiny white flowers.

Daphne

There are dozens of scented shrubs but this one stands out because it flowers in winter time. When all around is gloomy, it really does lift the soul to breathe in a lovely floral fragrance. In fact, you’ll probably find yourself taking a turn around the garden just to smell the flowers. Getting outside in winter can help to alleviate the symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder (the winter blues)

Daphne is usually evergreen in Somerset gardens but it can be sensitive to sharp frosts. It’s not too big and not too small, and oh – that fragrance! Go-on, treat yourself.

Abelia Grandiflora

A wonderful shrub for the back of the border. It eventually grows quite tall but can be pruned. Subtly coloured flowers appear from mid summer right through until October and it smells delicious. If you are keen to encourage bees into your garden, Abelia grandiflora is the plant for you.