The Sweet Fragrances of Autumn

Fragrances fill my life with pleasure.  Nothing brings back old memories and nostalgia to me like a smell from my childhood.  Fall is one of the best times of the year for fragrance.  Houses are filled with the aroma of pumpkin, apple, and the spices that go with them.  Yards are filled with the perfume of flowers of many types.  

One of my favorite Autumn flowers is the Butterfly Ginger (hedychium.)  This sister of the canna just isn't grown in enough places.  It thrives all over the South and is so easy that it should be in every yard.  The gardenia-like fragrance permeates a yard like nothing else. They bloom from late summer all the way till frost.  Then they come back again next year and spread even more.  Such an easy pass-along plant that you can give plenty away by the second year.

However, my absolute favorite fragrance of the fall comes from the delectable Sweet Olive (osmanthus fragrans.)  This one is dear to my heart because it was a staple in my grandmother's yard and in my mother's yard.  My memory is stoked every time I get a whiff of the distinctive aroma of this shrub.  The shrub itself is a nice evergreen plant that gets the size of a small tree.  The flowers are barely noticeable.  But from mid-fall through spring the fragrance wafts through the cool air of any yard where the shrub is planted.  I think a hedge of this plant would be a delight.  Give your own children and grandchildren another aroma to bring them good memories in the future.

Fruit Loop Fragrance

The tropicalesque leaves in the above picture come from a peculiar plant from Southeast Asia - clerodendrun bungei.  This plant is also known as Kashmir Bouquet, Mexican hydrangea, and rose glory bower.  The stems and veins are an interesting purple contrast to the deep green leaves on this plant.

The flower buds form a cluster of purple atop the plant that reminds me of berries.  They usually start these buds sometime in mid-May.

The buds open up to form this large bloom head of lavender flowers that resembles hydrangeas and smells (I am told) like the old Kashmir Bouquet soap.  I personally think they smell just like Fruit Loops cereal - a very pleasant fragrance to me.  Most readers of this blog know that I love fragrant plants, so I have a soft spot for this much-maligned plant.

Maligned, you ask?  That's because of the invasive nature of this innocent-looking exotic.  Once planted, it will send out underground runners in all directions causing more of the plants to come up everywhere, sometimes more than 10 feet away from the original plant.  I knew this from the beginning and planted my original in a far corner of my yard where I actually want it to take over.  If you are unprepared for this habit, then plant this one in a container or not at all.  It enjoys filtered shade around bigger trees and is quite tolerant of drought - this year in Louisiana is proof of that!  The plants can get up to 6' tall, though mine have yet to get taller than about 4'.

One of the Best Smells in the World

Every year I put out at least one blog post on one of my favorite shrubs of all time.  It's the seldom praised Michelia figo, more commonly known as banana shrub or magnolia fuscata.  

In the spring (and some in the fall too) it forms hairy, bulbous buds that soon turn this creamy white and burst forth to release the most amazing and wondrous fragrance imaginable.  The fragrance is like Juicy Fruit gum, only better, and I have yet to ever meet a person who doesn't nearly swoon over it.

As you can see, the blooms aren't all that showy and don't really stand out.  You would never guess by looking that they put out such a heavenly fragrance.  My large shrub will fill nearly the whole yard with fragrance when the wind is not blowing.  It makes a walk in the yard pure delight.  You can take several blooms into your house and they will keep their odor and fill a room with it for several hours.

If the flowers aren't all that showy, the plant IS.  It makes a full, voluptuous shrub with shiny green leaves that are evergreen.  The plant can get over 12' tall down here in Louisiana and somewhat resembles a magnolia.  It appreciates part shade - the leaves will be more yellow in full sun.  Mine is thriving on the Northeast corner of my house next to this Formosa azalea.  It prefers loamy, slightly acid soil with plenty enough moisture.  This plant makes a wonderful part shade shrub to use as a background to more colorful plants.  It could also be used as a slow growing hedge.  It is unbelievable to me that this plant is not more widely known and grown.

Sweet Olive!

This diminutive shrub is not much to look at.  It does have a pleasant shape and is evergreen where I live, but there's nothing especially noteworthy about its looks.  It can make a nice hedge, but is a slow grower.  It will eventually get 15-20 feet tall.

The flowers are also hardly noteworthy.  You don't even see them unless you get up close and personal.  They're just not much to see.

What makes this plant so wonderfully worthy is that these small clusters of flowers will intoxicate you with their delectable fragrance.  The smell will waft through an entire yard.  People will burst through your door demanding to know where and what that sweet smell is coming from.  This fragrance is one of my favorite in the entire world.  My grandmother and my mom both had/have these in their yards and I remember the smell from earliest childhood.  This plant is somewhat tender to cold weather and might not make it well north of about zone 7b.  Otherwise, plant it in loamy soil in part shade or full sun.  It blooms fall through spring for me.  You've got to have this plant if you live where it can grow.  Imagine what a whole hedge of these would smell like!

Let's Go Tubing!

Tubing on the river is a common summer activity around this part of the South in the hot part of summer.  Around this same time, the tuberoses start blooming with their sweet-smelling spikes of bloom.

The blooms are set on long spikes of buds that open starting from the bottom buds.  The fragrance is very gardenia-like and wafting.  A stand of these can make a whole section of yard fragrant.  The blooms can crisp quickly in the blazing sun, so I tend to pick off the crisped blooms each day and keep the fresh ones on the spikes so as to keep the blooms tidy.  Cut off a whole spike to put in a vase for natural air freshener in your house.

I have way more bloom spikes this year, but they aren't as big and lush as last year.  I think this is because my little bed of tuberoses has become crowded and needs to be divided.  I can leave them in the ground year-round here and they will keep coming back.  I suppose they need protection in winter in zones colder than zone 8.  The variety I have is called "The Pearl."  Mine keep sending blooms up until frost, as you can see from the date in the above picture which was taken last November.  They like a sunny, dry spot.  I suggest they would make a nice additiion to a bulb bed where you might want some blooms later in the year after other plants have finished.

The Star of the Summer Show

The unquestioned star of the late summer show in my yard is Butterfly Ginger (hedychium coronarium.)  The snow-white bloom clusters on top of lush, strap-like foliage says "the tropics" like nothing else. 

The plant looks something like a corn stalk.  I like them growing close to some sort of support because they can get top heavy and flop over.  They get around 5' tall.  I think they would look great at the back of a tropical bed along with some cannas and banana trees.

The flowers put out a fragrance that is intoxicating and will fill the whole yard on a summer evening.  I have them stategically placed around my yard so as to really get good scent coverage.  This is one of my favorite fragrances of all time - it's very similar to a gardenia smell.

These plants spread very readily from the roots and eventually will form a large grove of stalks.  There will be plenty to share in just a few years.  They do not take drought very well and will not survive winters north of about zone 7b unless really protected.  Mine die to the ground each winter only to return better than ever in the spring.  I have them growing in everything from shade to full sun.  The ones in full sun need more water and don't look as happy as the ones that get at least some shade.  Every Louisiana yard should have some of these.

The Dr. Jekyll Side of Gertrude

Gertrude Jekyll is a David Austin rose that I've blogged about in the past.  It has a very Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde personality.  Lately, it's shown much more of its Dr. Jekyll side.  It's known for not being very disease resistant, but mine has shown less disease than my other DA roses.  It's also grown much more vigorously for me than my other DA's.  I would say this rose is definitely a climber in the South.  It easily reaches 12' tall on the rebar teepee I have it growing on.  The blooms are deep pink and have the most powerful fragrance of any rose I've ever smelled.  There is a huge flush of bloom in the spring, sporadic blooms in the summer, and another nice flush in the fall.  The canes are fairly flexible making it a perfect pillar candidate.  Watch out for the vicious thorns on this rose.  I'll finish up with a picture of Gertie at her peak last spring.

A Bloom I Can't Wait To Smell

 

Care to guess what this cone-like bud is?  It's the lovely Butterfly Ginger (hedychium.)  There is no late summer flower I love more than this one.  It will fill the whole yard with a delicate, gardenia-like fragrance on a summer evening.  I love it so much that I've spread these around the yard in strategic places to make sure I get good coverage.  They are extremely easy to grow, with new shoots coming up from the roots by the dozens.  They are related to cannas and will grow anywhere their cousins will.  Give them plenty of water or they will look sad.  One issue with them is that they get tall and top heavy causing floppiness unless you give them some support.  Everyone in the South needs this plant.  One whiff and you'll be hooked.  By the way, they are very reliable to come back for me, even after this particularly cold winter.  I'll post pictures of the flowers when they come out.

Dog Days Planning

This cool-season flower bed of mine had California poppies, toadflax, Telstar dianthus, and sweetpeas in it.  It was wonderful to see in March and April of last year.  During these dog days of summer, I'm trying to plan out my strategy for cool season annuals so I can have this again next year. 

This wall of sweetpeas was so successful that I will definitely plant more of them.  So much fragrance and beauty!  These need to be planted in late October / early November where I live.  They have to be some of my favorite flowers of all. 

I tried some nigella ("Love in a Mist") last fall and they turned out well.  They are easily grown from seed and mix well with other flowers.  They will definitely find a place to grow in this fall's garden.

Larkspur are another favorite of mine that grow very well from seed and look nice in a cool season bed.  Hummingbirds appreciate coming to these in the early spring too, as do the bees. 

Some of my other plans for fall planting include some Wave petunias, pansies, and violas for containers.  I like to have a few hanging plants around the house and these look gorgeous in the cool season.  Toadflax is another option that grows and blooms quickly in the cool season, plus I love their bright colors and they are easy to grow from seed.  Alyssum are a great favorite of mine because they fit so well at the front of a bed where their small size works well.  Plus, the honey-sweet fragrance of alyssum wafts tantalizingly on cool evenings.  California poppies are so simple to grow that I have to plant some of them.  Calendulas are another bright-colored annual to fill in some spots.  I've never had much success growing snapdragons from seed, but I love them so much that I want to get some seedlings from a nursery to plant in my beds.  A new plant I want to try this fall is nicotiana ("flowering tobacco.")  I hear it thrives in the cool season down here and has heady fragrance.  Anybody out there have some more suggestions for cool season annuals in the Deep South?

Some Things Make Me Want To Cry

Last year at this time, I had a wall of sweetpea's growing on one area of my chainlink fence.  After they finished, I planted some morning glories in the same place.  Because these morning glories were still going strong in late October and early November when sweetpeas should be planted, I didn't pull them out and plant some more sweetpeas in the spot.  Now I'm really regretting not having any sweetpeas as I see the bare area of fence and remember the beauty and fragrance that was there last year.  The following pictures from last year just make me wanna' cry!

This wall of sweetpeas put out enough fragrance to be smelled from 50 yards away if the wind was right.  Not to mention it was a show-stopper that made everyone who passed by ask about.  Don't even try planting these at any other time in Louisiana besides late Oct - early Nov.  They just can't take the heat that arrives in May. 

Paperwhites To the Rescue

Paperwhites are wonderful bulbs that do well in the Deep South.  They have an interesting fragrance that I don't particularly love.  However, at this time of year they are some of the only things in bloom - especially this year of the extra cold weather (for the South.)  I see them blooming all over abandoned yards and thriving on neglect.  The ones in this picture are some extra bulbs that I just threw into a pot I had lying around.  With no care at all they are cheerfully providing happy color in a sea of brown out in my yard.  Talk about just what the doctor ordered for this time of year.  Plant you some.

The Unpretentious Tuberose

My tuberoses started blooming back in July. I never expected them to keep blooming this long. They are still sending up these spikes of super fragrant blooms. The individual blooms look and smell like miniature gardenias.


This is the spike that's blooming now, but there's yet another one coming up close to it. The only thing that will stop them is the first frost. This flower will spread fragrance all over that section of my yard, especially after dark. If you live in the South, get you some! They have demanded no care at all from me.

The Sweet Fragrance of Juicy Fruit!

Imagine my surprise the other day when my oldest daughter, Rhonda, came and told me to come see the blooms on my Banana shrub (michelia figo.) I thought these only bloomed in the spring! For whatever reason, my particular plant has several blooms in early November this year and I sure appreciate them. I've said this before in long past posts, but banana shrub has one of the most unique and wonderful fragrances of any bloom on the planet. It smells just like Juicy Fruit gum to my nose. It's also such a beautiful plant - evergreen, glossy leaves on an upright and full plant. They like partial shade and acid soil, similar to azaleas. I don't think they are particularly hardy, so don't try them above zone 8 or possibly zone 7. Not a well-known plant but certainly one very worthy of being grown by Southern gardeners. They were far more popular in by-gone years and are considered an heirloom.

The Angel Trumpet

Here are a couple of pics of some Angel Trumpet (brugmansia) flowers on my plant. This is an easy plant to grow but it takes a little extra care to make it thrive. I've found that mine wants LOTS of water and fertilize in order to bloom and look its best. Brugs are quite easy to get cuttings from - all you have to do is cut a branch off and put it in water and it will shortly begin putting out roots. So they make a great pass-a-long shrub. Many varieties also put out wonderful fragrance, though my particular plant only has a slight smell, much to my chagrin. They die down to the ground when a freeze hits, but usually come back in zones 8 and higher.

A Few Summer "Bulbs"

My Joan Senior daylilies are starting to rebloom. This is a wonderful variety of daylily to grow. It has some fragrance, which is unusual for daylilies, and it reblooms. Not to mention that cream color that is so attractive.


I just recently planted some Bengal Tiger cannas. I love them for their striped foliage. I don't even care if they bloom or not. Also notice the red edging around the leaves.


This last is another spike of fragrant tuberose. I cannot tell you how well these have thrived in my Louisiana weather.

Fragrance Galore

MMmmmmmmm, smell the fragrance of my hedychiums!

August Beauty Living Up To Its Name

My August Beauty gardenia is certainly living up to its name. I love gardenias so much that having a variety that blooms more often than just in May is a dream come true. This variety makes perfect white blooms on a fairly large shrub. The late summer blooms aren't quite as large as the ones in May, but they are certainly better than none. They still have that delicious fragrance that I love so well. This is the gardenia variety that I recommend to everyone who asks me which type to plant.

The Wonderful Butterfly Ginger

I just got home from offshore yesterday to discover that my butterfly gingers are in full bloom. These are some of the most wonderful flowers to be had in mid-summer. Their fragrance fills my entire back yard in the evening. It smells remarkably like a gardenia. Every Southerner should have a clump of these growing just to sense the fragrance on the summer evening breeze.

Hedychiums (their real name) are very easy to grow. Put them in partial shade with adequate moisture and watch them flourish. They send up numerous suckers that can be transplanted easily all over the yard. I recommend putting some stakes around them to keep them from flopping over after getting tall. They don't do well north of hardiness zone 8 unless you dig them up in the winter. There are other colors besides white, but the white ones smell the best. The plants actually look something like a canna, but with narrower leaves. Give them a try and you will NOT regret it.

The Lovely Tuberose

Polianthes tuberosa is the Latin name of this lovely flower that comes from a bulb. It is a relatively little-known summer bulb that produces these lovely spikes of flower in mid-summer. What is especially attractive about these flowers is the heady, gardenia-like fragrance that they put out. Last year while ordering some bulbs, I had to order a few extras in order to make it to a minimum order from a certain company. On a whim, I ordered these. When they came in, I stuck them in a dry corner of my yard, watered them in, and forgot about them. The three bulbs put out delightfully fragrant flower stalks around July and August. I loved them and expected them to be only a temporary pleasure for just that year. Much to my surprise, this year I have about 12 new plants and they are all healthy. They must like where I have them! The type I have is a double variety called "The Pearl." I hear that the single flowered type is even more fragrant than this one - but that's hard to imagine! For any fragrant garden in the South, give this a try, especially considering what time of year they bloom. Also, these would look perfect in a moon garden. They can also be grown in the North if dug up for the winter to protect from freeze.

Moonflower

Moonflowers are so romantic looking. They come out in the evening and also have a charming fragrance. They look wonderful climbing a chain-link fence and are very easy to grow. Just put some seeds in the ground once there is no danger of a freeze, water, and watch them grow. They are in the morning glory family, but bloom in the evening. Because of this, they make nice companion vines to morning glories. Mine would be doing better this year, but this drought we are having is taking a toll on the moonflowers. They really need full sun to thrive, so don't try them under a tree.