IN THE GARDEN
PORTRAIT © JOE HIGHAM ALL IMAGES © HOWARD RICE
T he appeal of a garden can vary greatly between one person and another. Keen horticulturists often tend to be interested in individual plants, artists in the visual appeal and casual visitors might be drawn to calming atmospheres. But a good garden relies on much more than an individual aspect; when combined, the senses of sight, touch, sound, taste and smell draw much more meaning from an outdoor space. It’s hard for me to spend time in a garden without observing its individual shapes, forms and colours, as well as the combined result; running my hands through tactile swathes of grasses, listening to the gentle rustling of leaves in a breeze, taking a sneaky taste of freshly picked peas or sticking my nose into a bloom for a hit of fragrance. For many, scent is key to adding value to gardens – while appealing to our senses, it also attracts a range of pollinating insects. Why do some flowers produce scent? Floral scent is a tool used by plants to attract insects to ensure pollination and the production of seeds. Roses are perhaps the most familiar scented flower, with many
varieties producing appealing fragrances, including fruity, tea, myrrh and musk, but a range of trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals and climbers also produce scented flowers. Some plants have adapted to ensure their appeal is greatest when a specific pollinator is likely to be present – one of the most well-known examples being Darwin’s orchid ( Angraecum sesquipedale ), with flowers that only release a scent at night to attract a particular hawkmoth ( Xanthopan morganii var. praedicta ) to pollinate the flower while feeding on its nectar. Some plants, such as our celebrated titan arum ( Amorphophallus titanum ), smell particularly unpleasant to us, but desirable to pollinating gnats and flies. However, not all flowers rely on scent for reproduction. Some, such as grasses and many trees, are wind-pollinated, so don’t invest energy into making scent. Others attract pollinators using colour, shape or nectar guides instead. In some cultivated plants, human breeding for traits like bigger blooms has reduced or eliminated scent – especially in certain modern roses and lilies. Many plants, especially those from the Mediterranean, even have scented leaves
Gardening jobs for July
1 Continue deadheading perennials and roses, but also tender perennials such as dahlias and annuals, to encourage flowering. 2 Keep container plants and new plantings watered using water from a water butt or grey water, but don’t worry about your lawn, it will recover over time. 3 Cut back and feed hardy geraniums after the first flush of flower – this will help to encourage another flush of flower to appear later in summer. 4 Keep harvesting early vegetable crops to enjoy yourself, but also to encourage further cropping.
PUTTING ON A SHOW Nicotiana sylvestris – flowering tobacco – (above) is a plant that not only produces pretty flowers, but lots of fragrance in the evening too
74 JULY 2025 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK
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