| Scent
From Seed
1st
April 2005
Growing
plants from seed never fails to impress me.
鈥淕iant oaks from small acorns鈥 or
even begonias from seed as fine as dust is amazing.
Where I am in total awe is that tiny seeds have
the power to reproduce the fragrance of their
parents.
 Think
of the small, round, hard seeds of sweet pea.
Ten weeks after sowing they are in flower and
exuding the most incredible perfume. Even with
your eyes closed there is no mistaking the scent
of sweet pea.
Ten
week stock, Night scented stock and Brompton
stock are easily grown from seed flowering in
the same season. Wallflowers sown in summer
will be in flower by late winter. Their perfume
is more noticeable after a shower of rain.
The
tobacco plant, Nicotiana sylvestris, is an annual
that is sown in spring, flowers during summer
and autumn and dies before winter of the same
year. It quickly grows to 3-4 ft in height.
The candelabra of drooping, pure white, tubular
flowers are incredibly fragrant.
The
annual pinks such as, Dianthus 鈥楳agic
Charms鈥 only grows to a height of 10-12
inches making it ideal for bedding, edging borders
or as temporary gap fillers for the rockery.
The highly scented flowers are a blend of white,
cerise, soft pink and deep red.
 Most
of the scabious are without fragrance but Scabiosa
atropurpurea 鈥楢ce of spades鈥 has
fully double, dark red, scented flowers that
are ideal for cutting.
Some
of the new, dwarf, annual lupins such as Lupinus
elegans exude a sweet pea-like fragrance in
the evening. Sow the seed in a heated greenhouse
and plant them out in late May in a sunny border
or plant 3 or 4 in a large container for the
patio or either side of the front door.
If
you like the scent of coconut then grow the
new Nemesia 鈥楽hooting Stars鈥. It
is an easily grown annual that germinates quickly
when sown in a heated greenhouse or the kitchen
window sill. The fragrant, yellow and white
flowers are eye-catching. Space the bushy plants
9 inches apart to prevent them becoming congested.
For
something different try the upright flowering
annual Datura meteloides 鈥楨vening Fragrance鈥.
Growing to 40 inches in height with slate-blue
foliage it is a striking plant for use in a
container. The mass of large, open funnel shaped,
pure white flowers produce a charming light
perfume in the evening.
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