March/April  2003 Excerpt

Fragrant Spring Shrubs
Double your garden’s sensory appeal by planting spring-blooming shrubs with fragrant flowers.

By Mary Yee


The beauty of an early spring garden looms large in seemingly small details such as the tips of narrow, green crocus leaves poking up through the soil—or the fact that after a long, frozen winter you can actually push a trowel into the ground. In the reawakening landscape, the first fuzzy gray catkins to burst on a pussy willow branch are more enchanting than any summer rose or lily.

So it is at winter’s end that early-blooming shrubs can feed a gardener’s starved soul with hints of a new growing season.

Many spring-flowering shrubs provide a brief period of blossoms worthy of notice even when competing with the flashier spring bulbs. A number of them produce early flowers with the added attraction of delicious fragrance—the mysterious dimension in a garden that often stops visitors in their tracks—or sends them searching eagerly for the source if it isn’t readily apparent. You don’t need a grove of fragrant shrubs to achieve this purpose; a single well-chosen, well-placed specimen may be all you need to lift your spring garden above mere good looks and form.

To help you create that additional sensory experience in your garden, we’ve selected some early-flowering evergreen and deciduous shrubs that are, for the most part, highly attractive both in and out of flower; a few are for connoisseurs who especially prize sweet aromas.

Bloom times are given as a range of when each plant is in bloom in different areas of North America; blooming starts earlier in warm regions than in cooler regions. The degree of fragrance may also vary depending on climate and other growing conditions. It’s best to acquire the shrub of your choice when it’s in bloom so you can judge for yourself.



Mexican Orange Blossom

(Choisya ternata, Zones 8–10, 10–8.) Native to Mexico. Growing to eight feet, this compact evergreen shrub in the citrus family has dark green, palmate leaves that release a pungent aroma when crushed. Its small white flowers, which have an orangey fragrance, open in late spring or early summer, sometimes reblooming in late summer and in fall. Plant it in part shade to full sun and moist, well-drained, acidic soil. Where it’s not hardy, it can be grown in a container and wintered indoors. The cultivar ‘Sundance’ is more compact, growing to about five feet, and has bright yellow to yellow-green leaves; it does not flower reliably, however.
(photo by David Cavagnaro - click on image for larger version)

Fragrant Daphne

(Daphne odora, Zones 7–9, 9–7.) Also known as winter daphne. Native to China and Japan. This much prized evergreen shrub grows to four feet high and wide with a rounded habit. It has glossy dark green leaves and pinkish-purple flowers that bloom in terminal clusters from midwinter to early spring. Plant in part to near full shade in well-drained soil. A temperamental plant, it is not easy to grow but is worth a try for its delightful fragrance, which University of Georgia horticulturist Michael Dirr describes as “alluring.” Cultivars include ‘Alba’, which has creamy white flowers, and ‘Aureo-Marginata’ , which has leaves with yellowish margins.
(photo by Ken Meyer- click on image for larger version)



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