Fragrant February Gardens.

Fragrance...in February?! Yes it's true, no matter how miserable the weather is out there!

There are plants that are at their peak throughout the month with stunning flowers filling the air with delightful scents that you just can't ignore.

Daphne odora 'Aureomarginata'

Probably the most prominent plant filling the air with scent at the moment is Daphne odora 'Aureomarginata' AGM with delicately variegated leaves and lovely, small, deep pink or white star shaped flowers borne on the stems throughout January, February and into March. Growing to a max height of around 1.5M this plant is great for use in a container or in the border. Likes full sun, or dappled shade.

Daphne bholua 'Jacqueline Postil'

Daphne's are "semi-evergreen" and will drop their leaves if the weather gets too cold, don't panic if this happens, new leaves will appear when the weather warms up!

 - Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postil’ AGM, is another fantastic variety of Daphne with again, white or pink flowers, but may arguably be even more fragrant than its other odora counterparts.
'Jacqueline Postil' is also slightly bigger than odora growing to a height of 2/2.5M.

Sarcococca confusa.

Another plant that is in full bloom with a delicious scent is Sarcococca confusa. A slow growing, evergreen shrub with dark green glossy foliage which often "hides" the lovely small white flowers which pump the lovely scent into the air from January right through till March. Eventually the plant will reach a height of around 1.5M, but will take some time to get there. Sarcococca needs to have partial or full shade to avoid scorching and promote healthy strong growth.

Sarcocca hookeriana var. digyna.

 - Another fantastic Sarcococca is Sarcococca hookeriana var. digyna which has the same growth habit but with slightly red tinged flowers with less foliage covering those flowers, again producing an amazing scent all winter long.

The flowers of Lonicera fragrantissima.

It may be hard to believe but there is indeed a honeysuckle with an amazing fragrance coming into flower around now! Lonicera fragrantissima is a deciduous species of honeysuckle which bears its creamy white, or yellow flowers on the bear branches of the plant before the leaves appear for the main season.  Unlike some other honeysuckles this variety is a bush rather than a climber and will reach a max height of 2M, but can be planted in a container, near a doorway or planted in a border near a path so that you catch its glorious scent.

The above are just a selction of the fragrant plants that have caught my eye recently but there are many others that I haven't mentioned above like;
 - Hamamelis x intermedia.
 - Viburnum tinus.
 - Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’
 - Skimmia japonica 'Fragrans'

So go out in to the garden, get some fragrant winter plants in your displays and enjoy their beautiful scents each winter, for years to come!

Jack.