Frost and fragrance

Positioned within sniffing distance, scented autumn and winter plants add a warm glow to cold days. From modest to massive, there are options for all plots

- Hazel Sillver

DURING the crisp, cold months of autumn and winter, it is not only the sight of flowers that can lift our spirits – but also their smell. As we shiver our way from the car to the front door, inhaling the fragrance of plants like viburnum, daphne, witch hazel or snowdrops makes winter seem suddenly less brutal.

While most people are familiar with the classic spring and summer scents of a garden – lilac, rose and lilies, for instance – the perfumes of autumn and winter are less celebrated. But they definitely earn their place. When most plants are fast asleep under the frozen ground, the white starry flowers of the winter honeysuckle are exuding their ambrosial perfume, and the bright-yellow blooms of mahonia fill the air with a scent reminiscent of lily of the valley.

Large or small 

These winter fragrance stars should be planted now to allow their roots to establish. If you have room to spare, consider evergreen Camellia sasanqua ‘Narumigata’, whose pink autumn blooms have a delicate tea scent, or opt for a large winter-flowering shrub that can be trained into a small tree – good options are Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’ or the intensely fragrant witch hazel Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Aurora’.

At the other end of the scale in terms of size, snowdrops in sufficient numbers will fill the air with a delicious honey-like aroma. Choose from Galanthus nivalis (the common snowdrop), the greater snowdrop (Galanthus elwesii) or the variety ‘Peardrop’. Also needing little space is