Heaven Scent Indigenous Plants

- Alice Notten

The foundation of a fragrant garden is plants with aromatic foliage – plants that release their fragrance when touched. Plant them where you are most likely to have a close encounter with them, such as beside paths, steps and gateways, between paving stones, or in easy reach beside a bench, in raised beds or in window boxes.

Next time you are shopping for plants, rub their leaves and have a sniff. Pick out those with scents that you like. There are many to choose from:

Pelargoniums come in an astonishing range of scents, and to complement this they are easy to grow and have decorative flowers and foliage. Add them to sunny beds and borders, and give them well composted soil and moderate water. They are also excellent container plants. There are the rose geranium (Pelargonium capitatum), lemon geranium (P. citronellum), nutmeg geranium (P. ‘Fragrans’) and camphor geranium (P. exstipulatum). There’s also peppermint geranium (P. tomentosum), which has big velvety leaves and prefers a spot in the shade.