The season of scent
Stopping to smell the flowers

Rosemary foliage is fragrant all year–round

Arlene Marturano

The Lights of Christmas at Riverbanks Zoo is a feast for the eyes. When I was there, a sweet scent was filling the crisp damp night air and luring me from the lights to a massive dark form bearing clusters of crème colored flowers exuding holiday perfume.

The loquat trees along the path had not been strung with lights but were using their exotic perfume to attract the primitive olfactory receptors. I felt like a winter moth.

Nothing is more memorable than a scent. We are surrounded by scents of the holiday season, all plant derived: ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, pine, and bayberry. The Magi gifted the Christ Child with frankincense and myrrh.

A plant emitting scent at the holiday season will continue to do so for years to come. Giving the gift of perfume is as easy as visiting a garden center to sample the scents. Take along a list of scent starters to initiate your search.

Loquats, eriobotrya japonica, are a moderate size evergreen tree whose blossom attracted the perfume industry in Spain and France.

Furry fragrant blossoms of the loquat tree

The inconspicuous flowers of the shrubby winter honeysuckle, Lonicera frangrantissima, have a sweet lemony fragrance.

Winter daphne, Daphne odora, is a highly fragrant evergreen shrub.

Camellia sasanqua is a staple in the garden for its soft sweet winter fragrance and color.

Japanese skimmia, Skimmia japonica, bears highly fragrant flowers in late winter. Male plants are larger and more fragrant.

The bad hair day flowers of the witch hazel shrub, Hamamelis, are overshadowed by its fragrance in both native and introduced cultivars.

The Japanese apricot, Prunus mume, bears richly fragrant pink flowers from December to February.

The dependable flowering quince, Chaenomeles japonica, bears aromatic flowers on thorny stems before leaves appear.

Some plants secrete more fragrance from their foliage than flowers like rosemary, sweet bay, wax myrtle, and lavender. Brushing up against the plant releases the essential oils carrying the scent.

Whatever holiday perfume plant you select, locate the plant to get the full benefit of its scent and not the confounding scent of a mélange. Taking a solitary night walk in your garden or a blindfolded rope walk with the family, may reveal some surprising scented vegetation unnoticed in the sight and light of day. Celebrate the scents of the season in the garden.

Arlene Marturano is a master gardener, writer, and educator. As an advocate of gardening as a tool for learning, she helped develop the Carolina Children’s Garden at the Sandhill Research and Education Center. She is an education consultant with T.E.A.C.H.

marturano@yahoo.com