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Medieval gardeners believed that the perfume of flowers was God's breath on earth. Suzy Bales, an unabashed flower lover who tends a large garden on an island off the north shore of Long Island, tells the story of how she has come to treasure scent above all else in the garden. Her evolution as a gardener is told in a readable and entertaining style, along with practical and inspiring suggestions on how to incorporate scented flowers and foliage into the garden. We think of gardens as being visual, edible, structural, or functional, and too often overlook the olfactory, which is an invisible but powerful factor in our enjoyment of any garden. Our sense of smell is linked to the parts of our brain where moods and emotions are triggered, and where memory is stored. No wonder we so love roses and lilies, and feel nostalgic at the first scent of lilacs. One of fragrance's great charms is its elusiveness. Bales explains that a flower's scent depends on the soil, time of day, temperature, and flower color (most strongly scented flowers are white, but, oddly, most white roses are scentless). Some, such as datura and moonflower, are pollinated by moths, and so release their intoxicating fragrances after the sun sets. While we tend to regard fragrance as a gift of high summer, each season has its star performers when it comes to scenting the garden. Bales suggests planting witch hazel, sarcococca, and winter honeysuckle, all of which provide fragrance during the coldest and shortest days of the year. Spring brings daphne, lily-of-the-valley, hyacinths, and scented narcissus. In summer there is a surfeit of scents, led by heliotrope, sweet peas, roses, and lilies--and autumn can be perfumed by more than burning leaves with the planting of nicotiana, sweet autumn clematis, and harlequin glorybower. Bales inspires all gardeners to bring this repertoire of fragrance into their own gardens, in every season. --Valerie Easton
Book Description
"If you cannot pass a flower without burying your face in it and you're frequently caught with pollen smeared on your nose (a hazard particularly associated with lilies), you belong to the exclusive club of gardeners for whom scent is deeply important. I'm convinced pollen on the nose is a beauty mark of sorts."--Suzy Bales The aromatherapy craze has made clear to millions of Americans what noted garden writer Suzy Bales has always known: scent has an immense influence on our moods and well-being. While most gardening books explain how to plant for color, A Garden of Fragrance explores a unique approach that mixes fragrances to create utterly enchanting gardens that smell as good as they look. Whether you want a sweetly romantic garden, and exotic, powerfully scented garden, or a garden that perfumes the evening air, here you'll find everything you need to create a glorious garden that pleases all the senses. A Garden of Fragrance explores the aromatic character of all your favorite plants:Seductresses are heavily perfumed flowers whose scent comes out to greet you before you even see them. They include roses, gardenias, hyacinths, lilacs, and lilies. At least one Seductress should always be in bloom in your garden. Come-Closers, such as snowdrops, pinks, and violets, are more subtle flowers that share their fragrance only with those willing to hold them close.Moonlighters dispense their perfume from early evening into the night, allowing for warm, heady evenings in the garden. Moonflowers, honeysuckle, and petunias are the garden's night owls.Shaggy Dogs, which include many herbs, hide aromas in their leaves. Line a path with these, and you'll be rewarded if you brush against them as you walk by.The eccentric Rogues include the love'em or hate'em varieties, the pungent nose twisters, the dual personalities, and the stinkers. Their beauty is best glimpsed from a distance. Suzy Bales shows you how to increase the aromatic impact of your garden no matter what the season, from spring's daffodils to summer's roses to fall's sweet autumn joy to winter's witch hazels. Ahe provides detailed advice on how to design, plant, and maintain a garden that's both visually appealing and romantically fragrant, including charts on essential oils, plants aromatic properties, and winning scent combinations. Whether you're a new gardener or are redesigning your existing garden, A Garden of Fragrance will help you develop a beautiful, scent-filled garden.
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