This time I will talk about flowers with a nice scent – honest! Susan has learned not to trust me when I invite her to sniff unfamiliar flowers – she knows my tastes run to the weird and obscure.
This time I want to list my favourite scented flowers in our own garden. These have no protection whatsoever in our wet USDA zone 8 fairly coastal garden in NW England. Our soil is shallow, very alkaline (pH 7.7) and free draining, on top of limestone rubble on a west facing slope overlooking Morecambe Bay. It has lower rainfall than further inland but is very exposed to the prevailing winds from the Irish sea. Most winters we only get slight and transient frosts. Winters 2009/10 and 2010/11 saw temperatures dip to -8C and stay below freezing in daytime for weeks. This is unusual. 2015/16 and 2016/17 had no frost at all – Pelargoniums in pots lived trough the winter outside.
Iris ‘Jane Phillips’.
We love bearded Iris, and Iris of all kinds, but when it comes to scent this is unbeatable and is currently (late May) at its peak in our garden – scenting the whole garden. It is a very vigorous and healthy plant too.
Paeonia suffruticosa/rockii hybrid?
This is an unnamed tree Peony we bought cheaply at a local garden centre and is one of my favourite flowers in our garden. The beautiful dinner-plate size flowers have a lovely and overpowering scent. I just bought a plant of true P. rockii (see second pic below) – something I have wanted for years – but it will be a few years before I can sniff this one! Many of these tree peonies are reputedly hardy to -40C so suitable for those readers in NE US and Canada perhaps?

Daphne.
These, for us, epitomise scent in the garden. Luckily our garden conditions are perfect for the vast majority of them and we have lost count how many we grow – it exceeds 30 species and varieties. They range in size from the huge and vigorous D. tangutica to the little alpine cushions of D. arbuscula. (The even tinier D. petraea gets winter protection from the wet so is excluded here). Colour is usually white/cream or pink but we also grow the yellow D. calcicola and D.giraldii. The latter is deciduous (as is the cream-flowered D.alpina), the others we grow are evergreen.




Primula flaccida.
From Yunnan ans Sicuan in China. Gorgeous, amazingly scented but short-lived and better in a more damp and shaded garden. It is normally blue-flowered as you can see in the link:
https://www.ewhurstprimulas.co.uk/product/primula-flaccida-nutans/
My keen-eyed wife Susan spotted this (very very) rare white form on a nursery stall and snapped it up.
Rhododendron luteum.
One of the deciduous ‘azalea’. This is impossible to grow in the limy soil of our current garden but I could not miss it out. Our friend Peter Bland, who specialises in Rhododendron, regards it as his favourite. The scent is strong and wonderful and it covers itself in flowers. It is native to SE Europe and W Asia – centred on Turkey and the Caucasus.
Arum creticum
I include this here largely because I like Arums and this is a rare example of one with a pleasant scent (fruity). It is also visually attractive. The flowers only last a few days but shiny foliage is attractive and it can produce attractive berries in autumn too. Originally thought endemic to Crete it has since been found on neighbouring Karpathos and mainland Turkey.
Spiranthes cernua var odorata ‘Chadd’s Ford’
Named for the place in Pennsylvania where it was found, this has been in cultivation since the 1970s and is one of the very best Orchids for the open garden, provided it can be given a constantly moist position. It is quite tall and has a nice vanilla fragrance. It is valuable for its late flowering – October to November.
Trillium
This, like Arum, is a genus with some unpleasantly pongy species. I grow two which have a very pleasant scent.
Trillium luteum from the Smoky Mountains is a dwarf species which often has very nicely marked leaves but the yellow flowers have a citrus fragrance.
The lovely Trillium albidum from California is much larger and the flowers, white with a hint of pink in the throat, have a strong rose fragrance. Photo by ‘Eric in SF’ via Wikipedia.
Narcissus.
The best of the scented narcissi for the open garden is probably N. poeticus or its hybrids but the little Jonquils are often better scented. They are better placed on a sunny rock garden than in the general flower border. They are also great in pots and troughs.

Hyacinths.
Nothing new here – Hyacinth bulbs and their flower scent are a feature of early spring and are often forced for indoor flowering in winter too. This unprepossessing little thing is the wild Turkish species that the garden hyacinths have been bred from. It shares their lovely fragrance.

And a couple of other plants that are a bit more risky but cheaply available and this makes them worth experimenting with:
Iris tuberosa.
I have seen this emerging through snow in parts of the Mediterranean. Named the ‘Widow Iris’ for its sombre colouring it has a pleasant scent and has been used as a cut flower. This is very borderline in our garden and does far better with a little protection from rain especially, but it can do well in a warm sunny spot that dries out a bit in summer. It is closely related to the Iris reticulata group but has leaves throughout the winter, which leaves it vulnerable to extreme weather and to mollusc predation. It does not usually like being in pots but I am lucky enough to have a form that tolerates this, which means I can protect it to some extent.
Muscari macrocarpum.
Native to rocky areas and cliffs in the Eastern Mediterranean this is one of the largest Grape Hyacinths. This is surprisingly hardy in the UK (and available quite cheaply) but prefers a well drained soil that dries out a little and is warm in summer. It does OK for us. The strong sweet scent has a hint of Banana.

The very close Muscari muscarimia is less easily available but just as nicely scented, though rather more musky.
Addendum June 4th : For Eve and anyone else wondering: This is a view of the back (main) garden looking west from upstairs. In the foreground is the green roof of the extension. The property line is just inside the tall trees at the end, after the shed just visible beyond the greenhouse. Along the edges you can see the right and left boundary fences, the right one is overdue for replacement. We also have a much smaller front garden.
Beautiful Photography. Reading all the names of the flowers made me this of my father. He knew all there was about outdoor plants. His gardens use to be amazing. 🙂
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Thank you so much😄❤ It skipped a generation with me. My biggest influence was my grandfather, with whom I shared a lot of my personality. My wife’s father also.
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That Iris! I am going to try to find one!!! The mail arrived today!😉
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Glad the mail arrived in time😄. You would love this iris. It is such a good grower and the scent is gorgeous. X
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Wifey loves Siberian and Japanese, but bearded are my favorites! I need to remember to list the names, when I post flower pictures. You’re so good at that. “Mariposa skies” and “Splashacata”are on my list to order.
I saw one called midnight treat and thought of you. I wish I could send you rhizomes. It had velvety Black Falls and indigo standards. The edges of the black falls were the indigo color. It was incredible. A beautiful black tongue, too. 😍😍😍
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Well if you put on the names I can look out for them here. To be honest most of our bearded Irises have long since gone unlabelled and Jane Philips is one of the few I can remember. Labels go astray so easily with plants that get divided every couple of years!
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You made my day by saying this. I tried to keep track of all the tags. I put all of my bearded irises in a database. I kept track of when they bloomed, I had a picture for each one. I even kept track of when I divided them. Once I had over 50 varieties, I could not keep up with it. I remember quite a few names but honestly not all of them.
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Part of the problem is that whilst I can recall the ones that I bought, sometimes Susan rescues bits of rhizome from the trash at the nursery without labels too.
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I so love her! I am always saving plants!
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Midnight treat sounds perfect for me. I do love very dark ones. Do you grow the Siberian Iris chrysographes ‘Kew Black’?
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No…I will look it up!!!
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Gorgeous! I’ll return to this post again and read and look more later, pretty stormy here at the moment.
We’ve a Magnolia that has the most wonderful scent (called Magnolia Susan, don’t know it’s Latin name). And I’m on the hunt for a scented rose that my mother loved but can’t for the life of me remember what it was!
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Thank you. We would love some rain! There was some forecast for today but we just heard some distant thunder then it cleared up without raining. Been almost a month now.
We were once given a tiny plant of Magnolia Susan because Susan is my wifes name but it was a very feeble little plant from Woolies and never established.
We almost bought an almost blue flowered rose recently which had a great scent. Good luck with your hunt😄
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Oh i’ve smelled the daphne, they’re Awesome !
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They are😄❤
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These are beautiful …. my favourite has to be the white Primula flaccida. Wow it’s stunning! X
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Thank you Katie. Yes it is gorgeous. It does have a hint of blue in the throat of the flower which just makes it even nicer. X
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Heaven. I shall remember this for when I have my own garden again. X
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Beautiful, Arty, very inspiring
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Thank you Luda😊
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Wow.. 👌👌😍
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Wow! I love the new design you did for your blog. Beautiful. This post is awesome too. I have learned so much. Just wish I could smell the flowers.
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I am so glad you liked the new blog theme. I was really bored with the old one.😄❤
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Change is good for you! No matter how small it is. You know that better then anyone. 💐
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You know me so well, and that really touches me. ❤
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😊 💕💕💕
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Darren, I agree with Dominique! I love the new design and the color is my favorite!!
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Thank you Lisa. I never liked the old theme much and got really bored with it. This is much fresher and has far more customisation options. I am condidering changing the header image though. What do you think?
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I love your current header but I think one of your botanical illustrations would look beautiful with the color theme. 🌞💗🌻
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Ok. Thanks Lisa. I wondered that too😄❤
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Love this Darren! I am always looking for beautifully scented flowers for my garden. As you know the peony right now is my favorite. All the flowers are gorgeous! 🌞😊
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Thank you Lisa😄❤. I know you are fond of peonies which is why i included the info on how hardy P.rockii is.😉
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Thank you 😊 I appreciate the zone information on that. They grow beautifully here. 💗
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So pretty!!!!!!!!!
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I swear I can almost smell these beautiful, beautiful flowers, Darren!!! I also love the barbed Iris and the Daphne and peony looks so lovely. The only thing better than admiring your wonderful garden flower pictures would be to actually wander in it! 😄
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I love these pics, but I’m hating on you just a bit due to jealousy. Zone 8!!! *waves to you from Zone 4 1/2!” Can’t see me? That’s because there are so many other Zones in the way!
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Move to florida? 😄
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I don’t think I’d make a good Floridian.
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Don’t like alligators?
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I love alligators! The whole Disney, theme park, touristy thing isn’t really me. The Keys might be nice for wildlife sightings.
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Ah. I should have guessed as I would have exactly the same views.😄
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Wow You are so knowledgeable You should create a perfume. Wonderful post as always xoxo Cris
https://photosbycris.blogspot.com/2018/03/fashion-in-marina-mirage.html
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Thank you Cris!😄😄❤
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Echoing the others I also love the blog theme and colour. My favourite of the gorgeous flower photos is the top iris – just stunning. I get the feeling your garden is on average! How big is it really? Or is it a country garden estate? 🙂
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Thank you😄. The garden is a little larger than average for a suburban house in the UK but we removed all the lawns as soon as we moved in to give us more space for plants. I have some good pics of the whole thing from the bedroom window somewhere on the ipad at home. It is a long narrow garden of about 120 feet by 30 feet.
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I have added a pic of the garden from upstairs in the house😊
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Oh my GOSH these pictures are beautiful. This is quite the garden
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Thank you Jen😄❤
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These are all beautiful Darren, but I may be partial to the Daphnes!!🌹🌸🌼
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Thank you and you have great taste😄❤
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Oh boy I eventually catches up on all ur recent posts😀nice to read you again😍
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Hello😊❤️
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😊❤️
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New look I see? Very nice. Thanks for identifying so many spring flowers. 🙂
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Thank you Lani😊. Yes I never did like the old theme. This one suits me better but I want to tweak it more yet!
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Educational and beautiful…and what a lovely view you have from your window! 🙂
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Thank you Jen. In winter we have a sea view when the leaves are not on the trees😄
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Wow, all your flowers are beautiful. I think you must have a little piece of the world in your garden! Great pics too! 🙂
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Thank you Gill. For many years the world was a scary place for me so, yes, I think I have tried to create a nice space where I can enjoy plants from around the world but without the anxiety of actually travelling😊
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You’re knowledge is incredible and the pictures are breathtaking. ❤️xoxoxo
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Thank you dear lady❤️
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Some genuinely wonderful blog posts on this internet site, appreciate it for contribution. “The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.” by Arnold Glasgow.
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