Brunfelsia australis

Maybe because I don't have a very extensive spring garden, I have never written about the scents of mid-spring before, though most other seasons' fragrances have been discussed! However, the perfumes of spring are probably the most welcome of all, announcing that we have entered the warmer months. Not that it really seems like that at the moment, with the cold weather and deluges we have been experiencing this past week. But I stepped out into my sodden garden between rain showers to discover what I could find.

The strongest aroma at the moment is emanating from the yesterday-today-tomorrow bush (Brunfelsia australis, ht 2.4 m, pictured above). This pretty, glossy-leaved shrub grows easily in Sydney's climate. Like many shrubs which do well here, it hails from Central and South America. It comes into bloom around September and continues into October. Sometimes it may rebloom a bit again in the warmer months after lots of rain. Its simple, highly scented flowers open violet in colour, then change to pale blue and then white. The variety of colours on the bush at the one time gives an attractive effect. There is a low-growing version called 'Sweet Petite' (ht 1 m).

Rondeletia amoena

Rondeletia amoena

Another perfumed evergreen shrub is the tough, old-fashioned Rondeletia amoena (ht to 3m), with large shiny leaves that look attractive all year round. It has rounded clusters of tiny pink perfumed flowers from August to November. Also hailing from Central America, it is a very tough, drought-tolerant plant for our gardens and is useful as a background shrub, grown as an informal hedge, or even shaped as a small tree by removing the lower branches. The scent can be a bit overpowering at close quarters!

Flowers of Michelia figo

Flowers of Michelia figo

The port wine magnolia (Michelia figo, now known botanically as Magnolia figo, ht 3-4 m) is an evergreen shrub from China that also grows well in the Sydney climate. It too is a useful hedge or screen plant with lushly green foliage and creamy, purple-flushed flowers in mid-late spring/early summer. The small, tulip-shaped blooms are not showy like those of its more flamboyant Magnolia relatives, but they are strongly scented, with a fragrance described variously as resembling banana, port wine or bubblegum! There are several cultivars of the plant that have larger flowers and that apparently grow faster than the species, including 'Lady of the Night' (ht 4 m) and 'Coco' (ht 4 m). Michelia figo has also been hybridised with Michelia doltsopa (which is a rather large tree) to produce Michelia x foggii cultivars that are small trees with fragrant flowers in late winter or spring.

Flowers of the Tahitian lime tree

Flowers of the Tahitian lime tree

Also not flashy but nicely perfumed, are all the creamy flowers on my various citrus trees at the moment - I have a lemon, a lemonade and a lime tree. The profusion of blooms is astonishing (maybe due to the record rainfall we have received this year) and they have a lovely fresh citrus-y smell, attracting bees from miles around.

Lobularia Snow Princess with spring annuals

Lobularia Snow Princess with spring annuals

On a much smaller scale, the perennial form of Lobularia that I grow, called 'Snow Princess', continues to bloom on, as it seems to do all year, filling the spring air with the aroma of honey. The annual form (Lobularia maritima) is also in flower now, and self-seeds from year to year to maintain its presence. A few clove-scented flowers of Tulbaghia simmleri remain in the garden - they have been in bloom since May, and are a great bulb for shaded spots.

I'd love to know what is perfuming your gardens right now!