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Home > Home & Garden > Articles > Why do plants produce scent

Why do plants produce scent

01:00 Wed 30th May 2001 | Home & Garden

A.� It is basically another way of attracting pollen spreaders, and not just insects. Colour is the usual vehicle to draw these agents, but where that is lacking the plant uses smell and that is why white flowers have the strongest scent.

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Of course, not all plants smell sweet. There are some carnivorous plants that produce the stench of rotting meat to trick flies into becoming their next meal.

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Q.� Which plants produce the best fragrance

A.� That's very much a question of taste. Some of us want perfumes that completely fill our nostrils like a natural air freshener while others prefer hints of perfume wafting around on the breeze.

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Q.� Ok, so what has the strongest perfume

A.� Those are the white flowering ones that produce something called indole, much cherished by the perfume industry. The classics are jasmine, lilies, honeysuckle, and the mock orange perfumes of choisya and philadelphus. Roses, many of which have been bred to maximise their perfume obviously come into this category too.

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Q.� What about more subtle fragrances

A.� Many of the less heady perfumes are produced by spring-flowers like Lilly of the Valley, hyacinths and freesias.

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Q.� Too often these flowers don't last very long. How can we get scent that lasts longer

A.� It is not just flowers that produce smells, foliage is often aromatic too. The leaves of old-fashioned pelagoniums have a wonderful range of perfumes from citrus to pine. The curry plant is well named given its spicy smell when rubbed past and then there's caryopteris, artemisia and a whole range of herbs.

Q.� How can you make the most of fragrant plants in the garden

A.� If you've got a patio surround it with fragrant plants and then fill it with pots of them too. Shrubs like choisya and dwarf roses will do fine in containers mixed in with annuals like nicotiana (try the old-fashioned sylvestris), night scent stocks and sweet peas.

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Plant herbs like sage, lavender, rosemary and mint in containers at levels which allow you to run your hands through them to release their smells.

Train climbers like jasmine, honeysuckle and roses over pergolas near seats or so they run around and under open windows.

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Tom Gard

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