Daphne. Photo - photolibrary.com
Confined to home base this winter, I am enjoying wandering aroma-therapeutically!
When it comes to perfume I am spoilt for choice in winter, and I can’t resist picking a few fragrant stems to take back inside with me. They add a lovely
note to the smells of baking puddings, and slow-cooking stews!
I’m loving… 3 fragrances
1. Daphne: this is a favourite fragrance of mine, and because daphne is very prone to root rot and needs well-drained soil to survive
I prefer to grow it in a pot. But just a little sprig with perfume a whole room and it reminds me of my mother. We grow it at the back door, in morning
sun, and it seems to thrive (although I have a back up if it drops dead with root rot!).
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2. Brown Boronia (Boronia megastigma): I have never been able to keep this temperamental native alive for longer than a
year or two, but its fragrance is uplifting, its irresistible. Rather than pick it, I bring the pot indoors for short periods to saturate myself
with the lemony fragrance.
3. Wallflowers: I love mixed bunches of rich crimson-black Erysimum 'Vulcan', E. 'Fireking', a lovely sort of browny, toffee-apple
orange, bright magenta-pink E. 'Violet' and best of all, E. 'Blood Red'. With these four, you're guaranteed wonderful scent, which some wallflowers
no longer have, beautiful colours and tall, straight stems. I sow seeds in pots in early summer then when they are big enough (and space allows) I
plant them out in autumn to enjoy through winter.
Text: Sandra Ross
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