Scent in the garden
On 26th May ODGC were delighted to welcome back Timothy Walker, botanist and former Director of Oxford Botanic Garden.
Timothy first became interested in scent 25 years ago when Oxford Botanic Garden created an exhibit for Chelsea Flower show using plants with ‘smelly’ flowers, including the Voodoo lily, a member of the arum family which stinks of rotting flesh to attract its pollinators, carrion flies.
Plants produce scent to communicate, to attract pollinators and as a warning. Petals, sepals, anthers and pollen all produce a cocktail of scents in a flower. Sunflowers have 150 different molecules to attract bees. The bee orchid has a modified petal resembling a bee and produces a pheromone to attract them. Scent is not restricted to flowers, many plants have scented leaves, pelargoniums, lemon verbena and eucalyptus. Schisandra has scented stems, the variegated horseradish a scented root and the bark of cinnamon is aromatic. It is thought that the evaporation of oil from the leaves of cistus aids heat reduction.
Accompanied by a beautiful slideshow Timothy showed how we can enjoy scent in the garden throughout the year. In winter this can be provided by Chimonanthus, Sarcocca, Hamamelis, Viburnum bodnantese “Dawn” and the vanilla scented Petasites. Spring brings azaleas, Philadelphus, Daphne bholua and Magnolia sinensis giving way to numerous scented summer plants, roses, honeysuckle, pineapple scented Cytisus battandieri and in late season the tiny primrose scented bells of Clematis rhederiana.
Timothy reminded us that scented plants do not just provide a perfumed haven for gardeners but are also of economic importance. Vanilla pods hail from Madagascar where the flowers have to be hand pollinated. Frankincense and myrrh are used in perfume production and lavender in aromatherapy. Scented leaved Artemisia annua grows in China, it is used to treat malaria and is responsible for saving 17000 lives annually.
Ghislaine Arundale
On 17th May ODGC held a very successful plant sale at Orleton Village Hall. The club would like to thank everyone who contributed to the day, those who donated plants, helped man the stalls, provided refreshments and of course our thanks to our loyal customers.
