The brunfelsia are blooming now and all’s right with the world — or at least the garden.
It’s wonderful to smell a garden before you actually see it, and that’s exactly what happens when you plant Brunfelsia americana, aka lady of the night. When the shrub is in bloom, its intoxicating fragrance draws you instinctively into its wonderful realm. The heady perfume is strongest at dusk and into the evening, inviting visitors to enter the garden at its golden hour.
Olfaction is the oldest and considered the strongest of our senses; its many functions include detecting danger and pheromones as well as imparting sensual pleasure and enhancing our sense of taste. It is one of the most important means by which our environment communicates with us. It can alert us to danger as well: biking or walking down the bike path, I can smell the sickly saccharine application of pesticides long before I reach the hedges to which they are being applied. There really should be warning signs on the Lake Trail to alert when these toxic chemicals are being used, as inhaling these in even small doses can be damaging to the health of children and pets.
But getting back to the good stuff, adding fragrance to your g/arden or landscape is fun, interesting, and infinitely rewarding. In my book, fragrance is one of the most important elements of any garden, adding a whole new dimension to the beauty of a landscape. Back in Pennsylvania, we always planted arrowwood (Viburnum carlesii) by the gate and the front door. When it flowered in early spring, its sweet scent was the glorious harbinger of all the wonderful fragrance to come. And who could resist the wonderful aroma of lilacs, lavender and roses?
Here in Florida, we have so many fabulously fragrant native and Florida-friendly plants to add to our gardens, all of which are easy, low-maintenance, and best of all, many of them bloom year-round. With the right plants, you can have the intangible joy of glorious scents wafting from your gardens for months at a time.
Let’s get back to the brunfelsia, as that’s having its own party right now. The fragrance is a delicious mixture of cloves and cinnamon, reminiscent of gardenia but not quite as sweet or overpowering. It definitely calls you into the garden to discover its source. The clusters of large tubular flowers open bright white and gradually soften to a creamy yellow; they provide nectar for a variety of pollinators, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Native to the Caribbean and South America, Brunfelsia americana is Florida-friendly and a wonderful addition to any garden. With an upright, vase shape and deep evergreen foliage, it will grow to 5 feet in light shade or full sun. It is not particular as to soil and is maintenance-free once established.
Bay rum (Pimenta racemosa) is another wonderfully fragrant Florida-friendly evergreen tree. The fruit, bark and leaves produce aromatic essential oils used as cooking spices and for medicinal purposes. When crushed or torn, the leaves produce an incredible clove/rum fragrance that makes you almost want to eat them. Clusters of small, fuzzy white flowers in spring and summer are followed by black fruits that will bring in numerous birds. It is easily grown in sun or part shade and will reach an ultimate height of 40 feet, with stunning glossy green foliage. Make this a beautiful and fragrant addition to your landscape.
Our native maypop passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) is intensely fragrant with extravagantly showy flowers. As the larval host plant for the julia, Gulf fritillary, variegated fritillary, and the Zebra longwing, Florida’s state butterfly, it also provides nectar for a host of pollinators and other butterflies. This is an aggressive vine, excellent on arbors, trellises, or fences and is highly salt- and drought-tolerant. Plant this along with our native corky stem passionflower (Passiflora suberosa) and you’ll have an endless supply of glorious Zebra longwings!
Another source of delightful fragrance is sweet almond bush, Aloysia virgata. The bright white flower spikes will perfume every inch of your garden while attracting a plethora of important pollinators and butterflies, including hairstreaks, crescents, blues and the rare blue Atala. This fast-growing shrub will reach 6-8 feet in record time, but needs full sun for optimal flowering. Place it against a garden wall or next to an entryway or walkway where the fragrance can be fully appreciated by friends and visitors.
Marlberry (Ardisia escallonioides) has wonderfully fragrant clusters of creamy white flowers and grows beautifully in shady areas. The dense foliage also makes this a great plant for a hedge or screen, and the small round purple berries provide food for birds and wildlife. This is one of the very best of Florida’s native small trees.
Cinnamon bark (Canella winterana) is a terrific evergreen tree growing 15 to 20 feet. Beautiful clusters of fragrant reddish pink flowers bloom in late spring, initially as functional females, and after 24 hours they synchronously switch to functional males, helping to ensure cross-pollination. This is the nectar plant for Schaus’ swallowtail and other butterflies; hummingbirds will also visit the flowers. Red berries ripen in winter and are important food for birds and wildlife.
The lovely deep green foliage is highly aromatic, giving off a wonderful cinnamon fragrance when crushed. The bark also smells like cinnamon when rubbed or bruised. Medicinal uses include tonics made from boiling the leaves and bark to treat gastrointestinal issues. Listed as endangered in the state of Florida, this is a tree well worth adding to your landscape.
Finally, Simpson’s stopper (Myrcianthes fragrans) is one of our best, most versatile native trees, with masses of small wonderfully fragrant fuzzy white flowers. These are most abundant in spring but continue sporadically throughout the year. When blooming is profuse, the soft, sweet fragrance permeates the garden. Bright red berries that follow are eaten by mockingbirds, blue jays, buntings, cardinals, and small mammals.
Simpson’s stopper can be used as a specimen tree or integrated into a thick hedge, performing well in sun or part-shade. The lovely exfoliating bark provides year-round interest. As a member of the eucalyptus family, the leaves have a spicy fragrance when crushed, reminiscent of nutmeg. This is just a great all-around plant for your landscape.
Let’s all enjoy the natural fragrances of our native and Florida-friendly plants and avoid the toxic, noxious smell of chemicals continually pressed upon us by “environmental” pesticide companies. Imidicloprid, sold under the name “Merit,” is the chemical of choice for killing whitefly on ficus hedges. This broad spectrum, systemic insecticide belongs to a class of chemicals called neonicotinoids, neonics for sort.
By attacking the central nervous system, they kill every insect that touches the foliage of treated plants. Neonics are also extremely toxic to birds, bees, butterflies, and fish, and as neurotoxins, they are linked to autism, Alzheimer’s, ALS and Parkinson’s in humans. Seems like a rather high price to pay for an easily replaced hedge.
