Ypsilandra thibetica
I think it’s very fitting for me to be doing a post on scent in the garden, for my 100th post. After all, for me, it’s the highlight of my garden, and what governs my choices.
I’m joining in with Wellywoman’s meme on scent in the garden. I know I’m late with this – hope I’m not too late.
I must start with the hard to pronounce, and even harder to spell, Ypsilandra thibetica. The simple fact though, is that this looks and smells gorgeous! This perennial was introduced to me by a fellow blogger last year, and when Chloris described its violet tinged and violet scented flowers, I had to have it for my Scented Shrub border. I tracked it down at a nearby nursery, soon after, and since then, its clump of strappy, light green leaves has happily sat there, doing not much, till a few weeks ago when the flower buds started to form. You can imagine how excited I’ve been to experience its first flowering – at least for me. The white flower spikes, tinged with lilac, are like chunky bottle brushes! And it does have a lovely violet scent – although I do have to get down on my hands and knees to appreciate it! I hadn’t appreciated how good it would look nestled among the purple crocuses hidden from view when the Ypsilandra was planted.
Elsewhere, last month’s contributions are STILL going strong.
Mahonia japonica
Lonicera fragrantissima
Sarcococca humilis
Chimonanthus praecox
Coronilla glauca “Citrina”
I did fear there may not be much else new to show you.
Abeliophyllum distichum is just about flowering but the very tiny white flowers are very sparse and didn’t take kindly to photographing.
I realised the Daphne laureola had started flowering.
The flowers are hard to spot, nestled under the plant’s dark, evergreen leaves, but they are worth looking for, with their lovely, lime-green flowers, with a delicate sweet scent.
The mini narcissus that had graced my eggcup, are looking lovely, spreading themselves about in the Woodland garden.
These ones here, are, I think, “February Gold”.
The ones that “Kingsley”‘s presiding over, are unknown, coming from a floral display and planted out.
But look what I almost missed!
Look closely and you can just make out the remnants of Azara microphylla’s tiny yellow blooms. This was only planted last year, to replace one I lost, and hadn’t shown any signs of flowering – or so I thought! They were too small, too few and too low down to appreciate the vanilla “cake-like” perfume I happily remember from its predecessor.
And then, the most pleasant surprise!
I planted Viola odorata as part of a decorative herb border, many years ago, and thought I had lost them. I thought they had been swamped out by a weedlike variety with no scent, but look what just popped up! Definitely Viola odorata – Mmm….!
I’ve enjoyed my 100 posts and have read and “met” many lovely people in the process! Thank you all!
How’s your garden smelling?
Congratulations on your century 🙂 Lovely plants and a great post. Ypsilandra is going to be big I think. It is easy, charming and smells great.
Thank you! Does that mean I’m a trendsetter?!! 😉
I think it must do 🙂
Congratulations on your 100th post and a lovely one to celebrate with too. 🙂
Thank you, Julie! It’s been fun!
Lovely post, there is nothing better than scented plants, they add so much to a garden 🙂
Thank you! I agree with you – scent is such an important factor in the garden!
Congratulations on your 100th post. I am glad you are enjoying your Ypsilandra, I think it is a beautiful plant.
My WordPress reader has’ nt been showing your posts. It annoyingly drops blogs I follow from time to time, I thought it was a bit odd that you were keeping silent about the scent in your garden this month.
Thank you, Chloris, and thank you for introducing me to it! It is so lovely.
Sorry to hear your reader poses you problems occasionally. I have had it happen to me too. But I must confess to being much later than I should have been in posting. I was aiming for the start of the week. So much to do at the moment!
Congratulations on your 100th post! Thanks for joining in and no, not too late at all. We’re all very busy so I wouldn’t want it to become chore for people. 🙂 I can’t always guarantee I’ll be able to write a post for the middle of the month. I love Ypsilandra thibetica. It sounds fabulous. Another to add to my list. 😉 It is fun to see what others are growing. Your garden looks like it’s packed with scent.
Thank you, Louise! Yes, it’s smelling quite good just now, although a lot are going over now. However, there are plenty of buds just bursting to take their places. My wish list just keeps growing too!
Yup – I think I will need to add it my list too! Congratulations on your 100th post – they soon add up, don’t they? I posted daily for the first 2 years then took the conscious decision to post less, which was hard – I love writing mine and reading others, but it can easily overtake one’s life. Look forward to sharing many more rambles and walks down the long garden path 🙂
Thank you so much, Cathy! I didn’t know what to expect when I started out – I certainly didn’t expect it to “blossom” the way it did! (Sorry about that!) I love being able to share my garden, and to learn and gain so much inspiration from all my fellow bloggers. It certainly has become a big part of my life now. I’m certainly going to carry on enjoying our rambles and walks! 🙂