Many visitors to our gardens at Elizabeth Park have one priority and that is the search for enjoyable scent. Whether it be fragrant flowers or aromatic foliage, the expectation is high. Truly, the different ways our nostrils are tantalised can add a dimension which is not only of the present.
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Have you ever had one of those moments: you know, which takes you back in time? They call it nostalgia. Often it is a certain smell which excites memories, often good, sometimes not so much. Some years ago, perhaps more than some, anyway as a young chap with more than a passing interest or fancy in a certain young lady, I travelled from Sydney to Lithgow to visit her family and get more acquainted. Turned out she was engaged to the local disc jockey for the radio.
She herself worked as a hairdresser in a main street shop. To this day I can’t walk past a lady’s hair salon without feeling discouraged, disappointed and out-matched. How does a gardener compete with the garrulous nature of a disc jock? For sure the hairdresser vapours can leave you gasping for air, as indeed I was at the time.
The Norwegian writer Jo Nesbo said, “The human brain can reproduce images of everything seen or heard, but can’t do the same for basic smell.” We have to revisit the source of the scent for it to work on us.
Nostalgia still plays a role. Happily the mint in the Sensory garden can excite a joyful memory of walks in various parks and gardens. Try the peppermint to perk up your day. It is at the base of the wall garden.
Port wine magnolia (michelia figo) doesn’t appear to have any scent until sunset, but then beware you don’t get intoxicated over the limit. Osmanthus fragrans can be the same with fickle aromas at dusk. My fiance’ (yes, I moved on), had an aunt at Kingsgrove with a garden full of perfumed plants. Gardenia augusta stands out as a favourite.
At Elizabeth Park we have star jasmine (trachelospermum) used as a groundcover. It has a superb scent. Of course some people get hayfever from scented plants and they have my sympathies.
Our red David Austen Roses are called William Shakespeare and have a beautiful aroma. In a playful mood we can imagine Romeo appealing to Juliet on yonder bower. Could it be that Juliet was by happenchance watering her scented roses in a balcony pot?
Was the rose perfume 90 percent of what set Romeo on his reckless pursuit to win Juliet’s heart? Could be? The art of perfumery was well used in Elizabethan times as their amenities and drainage ditches were inclined to offend.
At any rate fragrance is an exciting subject.
