Alan Titchmarsh, one of the UK's most renowned gardeners and a legend of BBC Gardeners' World, has named seven scented plants he would never be without in his own garden. He listed the plants in an extensive video on his YouTube channel, which he launched earlier this year. In the video, he gave the name of each plant, highlighted some of their most appealing features, offered gardening tips, and described their fragrances. Ranking them from seventh down to his number one, he carefully picked through them and came to a verdict on his favourite.
Seventh: English Lavender
Coming in at seventh on Alan's list was English lavender, a plant he described as being a "wonderful accompaniment" to roses. Providing guidance on how to manage them, he said: "Just as these are beginning to ripen in summer, you can go over with your shears, cut them all off, and make lavender bags out of them to stick among your smalls."
"But there is another reason why you do that, and that is by cutting lavender back quite lightly, but just beyond the flowers in late summer, you're giving them enough time to produce new shoots from the base that will flower again next year." Later, alluding to the increasingly hot and dry summers the UK has been having lately, Alan said: "It's really well adapted to cope with high temperatures and the kind of hot summers we've been having recently."
Sixth: Choisya – Mexican Orange Blossom
Coming in sixth was the famous Choisya, also known as Mexican Orange Blossom, of which Alan said there were two kinds, both of which he was seen holding in the video. He explained: "This is a double whammy of a shrub. In fact, there are two distinct kinds. There's the plain green kind, and there's the sort of lime green kind. I like both of them and I'm particularly fond of the ordinary plain green one. It has wonderful white blossom in May and again in September."
In terms of the shrub's overall fragrance, he was full of praise: "It's wonderfully fragrant, that blossom. Even the foliage is aromatic. Crush it and you'll get the aroma….It's quite fruity." Alan also spoke about how he had deployed it in his own garden and the aesthetics it produces as a result. He said: "What I've done with Choisya is replace a lot of box hedging. It grows more vigorously but I've clipped it in this great rolling sea. The leaves are shiny. It's pretty tough and in a really, really hard winter, right up north, it's a really good doer of a shrub."
Fifth: Perovskia – Russian Sage
Alan spent less time talking about Perovskia than he did other plants in his list, but was nevertheless full of praise for the plant. He explained how one of the good things about it is that the plant is self-supporting until it gets older, and that it had a nice fragrance. He said: "The great thing about this is that it's self-supporting, it doesn't need a stake, until it gets older and heavier and then starts to go over."
"There are dwarfer forms now which are about half the size. The fragrance, which you'll only get when you crush it, is a kind of hybrid between lavender and eucalyptus. If you feel a little bit bunged up, squeeze it."
Fourth: Salvia – Royal Bumble
Just missing out on a spot on the podium was Salvia, also known as 'Royal Bumble', which Alan praised for coming with a "good range of colours" and an "ability to flower form one end of the summer to the next". On their smell, Alan said: "Crush the foliage to the aroma, or if you don't like it, don't, but it's really quite powerful and the fragrance, the aroma, does vary from species to species."
As for how to plant them, Alan explained: "Again, another plant for a good British summer. Well drained soil, full sunshine. And you'll find they make plants about one and a half to two feet tall. Good fillers these for borders in between all kinds of other plants."
Third: Phlox paniculata
Describing these as border stalwarts, Alan described what he had in his hand as a herbaceous phlox. As to how to discern it from other plants, he said it was a phlox paniculata "with a panicle". He explained: "That's the shape of the flower head." Alan also added a word of warning about what phlox likes, and how to get the best out of it: "This is not a plant for poor dry soil. It likes sunshine, but it likes a bit of beef at the roots."
"It's very quick to wilt when the soil dries out. So, find it a spot where the soil can hold onto moisture, and then you'll get these gorgeous heads of flower, which are delectably sweetly scented. Absolutely lovely. [Aromas] come straight out into the open air."
Second: Lonicera periclymenum – Honeysuckle
Taking silver in Alan's rankings was the renowned honeysuckle plant. Whilst it has a potent smell, Alan praised it vehemently, as it could be grown in the shade or the sunshine. He said: "It can be quite an overpowering perfume after rain when the heat comes on it, filling the air. It's not just, 'Oh that's nice'. It's 'Oh my goodness, smell that honeysuckle'."
"It really is quite powerful. Imagine a shed that's been decorated with these glorious flowers. It's a lovely plant for sun or dappled shade. It's quite a good shade lover this." "Sometimes they can be a bit tricky and decide they don't like you and take a while to settle in. When they do settle in, they'll fill the air with fragrance. I love it, a wonderfully modest plant."
First: Rosa 'Duchess of Cornwall'
Coming in first, by a long way, was the rose, specifically the Duchess of Cornwall Rose, which Alan described as a "special rose". He said: "This one has a particularly glorious flower, shape, and colour. This is Duchess of Cornwall, named after the present Queen's former title."
"The most powerful of fragrances. When you're looking for a rose, choose one that has really good glossy leathery leaves as well because that way it will be capable of shrugging off mildew and black spot." "With Duchess of Cornwall, good foliage, beautiful flowers, with a glorious fragrance that carry on right the way through the year. I'd give her a home in my garden."
Alan's comments come as he returns to the UK's screens with Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh that airs at 9.30am on ITV until 11.30am.
