Take a deep breath

As the evocative aromas of summer fill the garden, Monty explores the role scent plays in our lives, gardens and memories

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A few years ago I was in Greece with friends visiting a garden that I'd been working on. It was spring, and the wisteria in the garden was in full flower and at its very best. As we walked into the garden the others all stopped, instantly captured by a beautiful perfume - they were all bathing in the fragrance of the wisteria. I breathed in deeply too and smelled absolutely nothing.

That was the moment I realised I'd never once smelled wisteria, and that I can't smell it at all - which made me wonder about the role of scent more generally.

With this realisation it dawned on me that in all my gardening life, I have never planted a single plant for virtue of its fragrance. There are plants I know I can smell, like jasmine and sweet peas, but I have wondered if I can smell the full aroma, or just a part of it.

I also know there are scents, usually strong ones, that I enjoy - like newly mown grass and the wonderful fragrance of dry ground after it has rained, and the leafy smell you get when you pick up soil from woodland.