The Aromatherapy Garden - Kathi Keville
Indice
Each time you inhale, tiny, aromatic molecules hitchhike a ride. Smell a rose or basil leaf, and the compounds you breathe are first greeted high in the nose by the olfactory epithelium: two small receptors that are about the size of dimes. These receptors use tiny cilia filaments to catch and identify molecules, seemingly by their shape. The information is sent to olfactory bulbs located at the base of the brain, which interpret it and send a report to the limbic system. That is where different scents are interpreted and sent to the brain, to analyze and coordinate with other senses. The limbic system also ties our sense of smell to emotions and memory. It distinguishes between aromas that draw us in and odors that fend us off. It determines when there is an emergency, such as smelling something burning. All of this happens in less than a second, making our perception and reaction to a scent instantaneous. You immediately identify the aroma as rose or basil, and think either bouquet or pesto.
Your reaction to aroma is largely based on past experiences with the scent, how a particular scent acts on your brain, and probably genetic make-up. If you are like most people, you prefer familiar fragrances that spark good memories. Sometimes past association gets in the way of fully appreciating aroma. When students at Warwick University in England took a test while smelling a certain scent and were later told they had performed poorly, they felt depressed the next time they encountered the same aroma. Many people are attracted to lemon’s clean, sharp scent, but it can also be associated with furniture polish or lemon-scented dishwashing soap. Lemon grass, citronella, and lemon-scented eucalyptus can be reminiscent of pungent insect repellent.
Plants can change your mood
Aromas impact our emotions in different ways. Calming scents help our bodies deal with stress and depression. Other aromas stimulate the mind to keep us awake or to help us work more efficiently. Most scents stir the memory, but some do a better job than others. Generally, fragrances that we find pleasant make us feel good and assist us in functioning better emotionally.
Medical science is looking into the many ways people have traditionally used fragrant plants. It’s helping scientists uncover the untapped potential of aromas. Research- ers are studying plants with rich aromather- apy lore, hoping to put our sense of smell to work helping us heal (as well as prevent) at least some emotional and physical diseases. As a result, we now have a selection of aromatic plants with therapeutic uses that are backed by both science and history. Aromatherapists add a number of additional fragrant plants to their pharmacy—plants that have not been scientifically investigated but have many traditional uses.
The Fragrance Research Fund, a nonprofit coalition of fragrance industry companies, began collaborating with Yale University’s psychophysiology department in 1982 to investigate ways in which aroma affects personality and behavior. One pro- gram followed more than two thousand subjects over twenty years. A long list of dis- orders is being researched, including fatigue, migraine headaches, pain, food cravings, insomnia, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, sexual dysfunction, and memory loss. Fragrance is certainly not as potent as its pharmaceutical counterparts, but it is non- addicting, seems to have no side effects, and can be used safely with drugs. The typical prescription for aromatherapy is simply to take a sniff every few minutes.
Relaxing, stress-relieving scents
Chamomile, lavender, lemon, marjoram, orange blossom, and other citrus scents have been shown to enhance relaxation, encourage sleep, reduce depression and anxiety, and lower the body’s response to pain. It takes just a few whiffs of any one of these scents to calm the body physically and mentally. Spikenard and valerian increase the calming, meditative theta brain waves and deeply relaxing delta waves, while decreasing the more stimulating beta waves. Most lemon-scented plants, such as lemon grass, and lemon itself, help the nervous system overcome stress, nervous exhaustion, and especially sleep disorders. The eleventhcentury Islamic healer Avicenna recommended lemon balm to lift a bad mood.
A relaxed, happiness response is produced in the brain by clove-like scents. This may be one reason why clove-scented roses, clove pink, wallflower, and especially stocks became such well-loved garden flowers. Basil also has clove buried in its scent. The aromatic compound eugenol gives these plants their clove-like scent. University of Arizona psychologist Gary Schwartz, PhD, has had hundreds of people participate in studies on scent. He showed how clove produces relaxation and reduces stress, mental fatigue, and nervousness, as well as memory loss. The scent does this by moderating brain neurotransmitters and reducing adrenal cortisol levels that rise when we are stressed.
Herb-like scents that are identified by perfumers as “green odors” help protect the body from the negative impact of stress. The green scents of fennel, oregano, and marjoram appear to improve feelings of general well-being by adjusting neurotransmitter activity. Many green scents, such as German chamomile, gardenia, lemon grass, rose, and sweet flag have been shown to be calming because they enhance a brain chemical called GABA that encourages relaxation and sleep, sometimes more than sleeping pills. They are thought to work through the hypothalamus and pituitary glands, which signal regulatory processes throughout the body to keep it in balance. Ruhr University researchers in Germany say that aromatherapy sprays may offer a new class of GABA modulators and “a scientific basis for aromatherapy.” Sniffing jasmine may be comparable to taking sedative drugs.
Even cosmetic companies are creating aromatherapy perfumes and body care products. Research at Shiseido, the world’s third-largest cosmetic company, says that stress adversely affects the complexion, but an aromatherapy facial can relax brain waves to the same extent as meditation.
Multiple research studies indicate that the scents of rose, patchouli, and orange blossom encourage relaxation and help with long-term pain and physical and emotional stress, as well as problems from the resulting high levels of cortisol and adrenaline. Orange blossom, lavender, and rosemary lower cortisol levels. Rose and patchouli seem to moderate adrenaline output and slow sympathetic nerve activity. Rose-scented geranium and lavender balance emotions by producing either relaxation or alertness. It is suspected that all of these scents help regulate the brain’s neurotransmitters.
Nurses in a 2014 study from Australia’s Griffith University found that the high stress and anxiety of working in the emergency room decreased after an aromatherapy spray containing lavender, lime, patchouli, rose, ylang ylang, and bergamot was misted over them and briefly massaged into their shoulders. They experienced an “immediate and dramatic” difference. Stress indicators, such as blood pressure and cortisol levels, dropped when volunteers in a 2012 study at Eulji University’s College of Nursing in Korea repeatedly inhaled a blend of lavender, marjoram, orange blossom, and ylang ylang over twenty-four hours.
The relaxing and comforting scents of India’s vetiver and daphne (which the Chinese called the sleeping scent) have yet to be examined by science, but both have long historical use. Research may also find potential in primrose, orris root, and violets, which English herbalists once commonly used to treat nervous disorders such as anxiety and insomnia. Even dill seeds were tucked into potpourri pillows to encourage fussy babies to sleep.
Antidepressant, feel-good scents
According to Dr. Jeanette Haviland-Jones of Rutgers University, fragrant flowers have an immediate positive effect on our emotional well-being, with the ability to “trigger satisfaction, happiness, emotional bonds with others, and alleviate depression and anxiety.” She calls peonies, roses, and other fragrant flowers fabulous mood-boosters. Scented blooms even increase innovative thinking and productivity in the workplace.
Stimulants and memory scents
Aromatherapy studies from Toho University School of Medicine in Tokyo determined that basil, clove, jasmine, and peppermint are very stimulating. Next in line are lemon grass, patchouli, rose, and sage. These scents prevent the sharp drop in concentration that typically occurs after thirty minutes of concentrated work. They are not as strong as drinking coffee, but also don’t overstimulate adrenal glands.
The uplifting fragrances of basil, jasmine, peppermint, and rosemary appear to stimulate the brain’s beta waves that focus mental activity, awareness, and alertness, and simply make a person feel good. They reduce stress and slow breathing by blocking stress-related nerve responses, but without depressing the nervous system. Mae Fah Luang University in Thailand and several other institutions found that air traffic controllers were more alert and computer operators made fewer errors and worked faster when workrooms were scented with either peppermint or eucalyptus.
The brain is imprinted with hundreds of specific scents that are attached to our personal memories. Events that are associated with our sense of smell are retained far longer and come back much quicker than memories that are connected to either sight or hearing. You probably have had at least one déja vu experience after taking a whiff of some familiar plant that whisked you back in time. You may vaguely remember your grandmother’s house without prompting, but smell lilacs that she grew in her garden, and the memories come flooding back. Since memory is so tied to our sense of smell, past experiences also greatly influence whether we like or dislike a particular scent.
Psychologists call our association of smell with memory the Proust phenomenon, from Marcel Proust’s novel Remembrance of Things Past. When the French novelist dipped a madeleine cookie in his lemon-blossom tea, the aroma brought back a flood of childhood memories, filling him with inexplicable happiness. Researchers hope to use this association to treat memory problems, even dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Strong, sharp scents such as bay laurel, jasmine, rosemary, and sage sharpen memory. Sage seems to slow short-term memory loss by blocking a brain messenger associated with memory loss. Sweet flag helps with learning and recalling facts by improving the functions of the central nervous system. Peppermint and lily-of-the-valley improve sustained concentration. In a 1992 study at the Bishop’s University Department of Psychology in Lennoxville, Canada, volunteers memorized a list of words more easily if they smelled jasmine. When a study at Tottori University in Yonago, Japan, asked elderly individuals to sniff rosemary and lemon every morning and lavender and orange in the evening for one month, they had less memory loss. In aromatherapy lore, juniper counters mental fatigue, physical debility, and insomnia. The ancient Greeks found hyacinth and thyme to be invigorating and to improve memory. Europeans said that lilacs make you reminiscent. To help remember some important fact, sniff one of these plants while you memorize it. When the time comes to recall that information, smell that scent again.
The passion behind scent
The sense of smell is not the same in both sexes. Women will usually recognize a scent more readily than men, especially food aromas. They take more time to consider scents that they prefer and can readily describe them. Men, on the other hand, do not pick out scents as easily and have little to say about them.
Aroma can definitely alter an attraction to another person. Men see women differently if the males smell a perfume they like. For one thing, they will estimate a women’s weight around four to twelve pounds lighter. Researchers say that the reaction of both sexes to scent is probably hormonal, since the sense of smell declines in women taking testosterone shots.
Fragrant aphrodisiacs
Men and women are attracted to different scents. Studies show that what turns on women are licorice and cucumber scents, followed by lavender. Men are also responsive to licorice and lavender, and in much higher numbers than women. Licoricescented plants in the fragrance garden are anise hyssop and fennel, which are added to some perfumes and colognes in small amounts. It is no surprise that chocolate is also on the list for women, bringing to mind the chocolate-scented clematis, geranium, and peppermint plants. By the way, what women do not care for is the scent of cherry.
Men found pumpkin pie spice to be the most stimulating aroma of all. Its overriding scent is cinnamon, a well-known aphrodisiac historically. The strongest cinnamon scents in the fragrance garden are found in cinnamon basil and sweet flag, both aphrodisiac fragrances that are used in perfume. Garden plants that hint at cinnamon are primrose, some scented geraniums, and the whiteflowering wisteria cultivar ‘Alba’. Men like their cinnamon, licorice, lavender, and cola scents combined with the smell of doughnuts, but it’s not entirely clear how one would match that in the garden! Pumpkin pie spice also contains clove, which was discussed earlier as a known relaxant, and is a popular scent in men’s colognes.
Older men and women of any age favor vanilla scents. Women particularly find the vanilla-like scent of baby powder appealing. Vanilla-scented plants are clematis, dried sweet woodruff, oleander, and the softly fragranced, modern-day wallflower. Wisteria flowers also carry a note of vanilla. Women are generally more receptive to men’s advances if there are aromatic flowers nearby, say University of South Brittany psychologists. They recommend highly scented flowers, such as roses and lily-of-the-valley. Flowers only need to be in the room and not presented as a gift.
Plant-inspired perfume
It is no secret, with perfume brand names such as Tabu, My Sin, Opium, Perhaps, Shocking de Schiaparelli, Poison, and Sexual, that personal fragrance has long been all about sex appeal. Like most perfume, these well-known scents are based on plants that have age-old reputations as aphrodisiacs. Jasmine, labdanum, orange blossom, patchouli, rose, sweet flag, tuberose, and vetiver were originally made into exotic, solid perfumes that predated the modern alcohol-based products. Coriandre perfume by Jean Couturier for Women is based on the spicy coriander seed, which was an aphrodisiac mentioned in The Arabian Nights. Cardamom is another well-known aphrodisiac spice that finds its way into modern perfume. It was a key ingredient in ancient Egypt’s once-famous kyphi perfume, as well as another traditional fragrance from India in which it is blended with coriander, jasmine, basil, and cloves. Many perfumes have been inspired by lily-of-the-valley, or muguet in French, including Christian Dior’s Diorissimo. Gardenia is the foundation for at least fifty perfumes. Popular for nearly one hundred years, My Sin and Arpege are a few of the many perfumes based on jasmine.
Today, in addition to all the traditional plants used for fragrance, fruity-violet mignonette, daffodils, and a few strongly scented bee balm species are also cultivated for the perfume industry. A small hint of a potent scent (such as clary sage, curry plant, lemon marigold, or santolina) give high-end perfumes a fragrant boost. Among contemporary popular scents, lavender is the star of Chanel Jersey; orange blossom is integral to Dolce & Gabbana Velvet Sublime and Elie Saab Le Parfum; and Roberto Cavalli Paradiso combines notes of bergamot, jasmine, and cypress.
Cologne is a lighter version of perfume. It often contains at least one aphrodisiac aroma, but it tends to be less floral than perfume and more herbal, spicy, or woodsy. It often contains cloves, cedarwood, or juniper. The original eau de cologne from the seventeenth century was orange blossoms, bergamot, lavender, lemon balm, and rosemary. The tuberous earthnut sweet pea is sometimes used in cologne. Tobacco gives cologne a dry, masculine scent with a heavy base note, for its musty appeal.
Different roles for fragrant plants
Aromatic flowers and leaves play different roles. Flowers broadcast copious amounts of fragrance for a just a few weeks a year, attracting pollinating creatures. Leaves generally keep their scent to themselves since they have no need for pollination; strong aroma could distract pollinators and waste precious energy. As a result, we must rub or crush a leaf to release its scent. That aroma is more pungent and “green” than floral, since it serves to keep away destructive insects and infection. Sharp-smelling leaves, such as rosemary, thyme, eucalyptus, and tea tree, are also some of the most antiseptic— not only for plants, but also for people.
Plants use scent to keep potential predators from eating them—predators that include us. We consume aromatic herbs only in tiny amounts, because their scent and flavor are so potent. Animals do not find fragrant plants such as rosemary, sage, and thyme tasty. My fragrance garden does not have to be fenced, even though deer frequent it. The aromas that are exuded into the soil from the roots of rue, wormwood, and yarrow deter neighboring plants from getting too close.
When Cornell University researchers artificially increased the scent of certain flowers, bees were unimpressed, but destructive ants were deterred by the strong scent. Flowers do not always benefit from pumped-up fragrance. Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, reported that flowers with increased scent put out the welcome mat to beetles—however, honeybees were repelled, although seemingly not by the stronger fragrance, but by the abundance of beetles!
It is amazing to consider, but plants can smell. Their sense of smell is based on hormones rather than via a nose and brain neurons. They detect pheromones from their fruit to know when it is ripe. They also put out distress signals when injured or attacked. Wild tobacco that is infested by caterpillars releases a leaf scent to alert parasitic wasps that eat the caterpillars. The University of Florida and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) found that citrus trees infected by the deadly greening disease produce a scent that attracts parasites that spread the disease, but also a wasp that is their natural enemy. Lemon tree roots exude essential oils if attacked underground. Wounded sagebrush increases its potent scent more than six times to notify other sagebrush in the area. Even tobacco plants growing downwind from the sagebrush get the message to increase their defenses—and suffer less insect damage as a result.
The aromatic compounds that give pine trees their well-known smell also play a significant role in reducing ground temperatures in boreal forests. The compounds react with oxygen to become aerosol vapor, rising and encouraging clouds to form in the forest canopy. The vapor-filled clouds reflect the sun’s heat to cool the air below. Some scientists say that the loss of aromatic trees worldwide may be helping to warm the planet and contributing to global warming
Attracting polliators
A fragrance garden offers far more than pretty smells; it also draws an array of polli- nators. Insects are nature’s aromatherapists. Many of them rely on a keen sense of smell to locate the nectar and pollen that flowers advertise through fragrance. Insects and flowers have developed a mutual depen- dency and adapted accordingly.
Plant researchers have long said that pollinators find color more attractive than scent. However, it turns out that olfactory cues help pollinators choose the best flowers. When many flowers go into bloom at the same time, those that are most highly scented win the battle for pollinators. The Centre for Research on Ecology and Forestry Applications found that flowers in early spring in Barcelona, Spain, had much stronger, herby scents that bees love. In the summer, when far fewer flowers are competing with each other, the fragrance was less intense. This competition to attract pollinators may be why plants developed so many different scents.
Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds demand a high-energy diet to sustain themselves and their brood. Pollen is rich in protein and flower nectar is primarily sugar water, but it does contain some amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. Most pollinators fly, enabling them to distribute pollen over a wide area. This promotes genetic diversity for the plants they visit. It’s a big job: each flower requires about fifteen visits before it is fully fertilized. To ensure fertilization, flowers may rely on more than one type of pollinator.
Species that have strong daytime scents are pollinated mostly by bees and butterflies. Those that release fragrance at night are typically pollinated by moths and bats. Plants that are pollinated by bees and flies smell sweet, while those pollinated by beetles have strong musty, spicy, or fruity odors. Plants that rely on wind pollination, such as lemon grass, juniper, and wormwood, have no need to be fragrant or flashy, so they have small, greenish flowers without sepals or petals.
Different plant species have developed ways to recruit pollinators and keep them faithful, as well as ways to keep away creatures that will rob the plants of pollen and nectar. Plants often play tricks to smell or look especially attractive to an insect. Some clever flowers, especially those catering to butterflies, smell like pheromones that insects use to attract the opposite sex. Flowers signal that they are prime for pollination by increasing their scent when their potential pollinators are active. Once pollinated, they gradually lose both scent and attractiveness.
Honeybees and wild bees
Most flowers are pollinated by bees, which have specialized, furry legs to hold pollen. Honeybees are attracted to yellow, blue, and purple flowers, although they are more partial to strong, sweet scents that indicate the presence of pollen and nectar. Fragrance helps them find the correct plants. Similar to people, bees recognize aromas faster and remember them much longer than they do visual cues, according to research reported in Functional Ecology. We humans cannot see them, but low ultraviolet light nectar-guides on angelica, bee balm, lamb’s ears, and sweet pea attract bees and help them quickly locate their target.Yarrow and tansy have a similar zone across their floral discs.
Wild bees have always been a vital part of the ecosystem. The job of plant survival fell on their wings before beekeepers kept European honeybees. Native bees prefer to pick up pollen and nectar from the native plants in their area, but they visit domesticated plants as well. Many wild bees are small with short tongues, so they prefer packed clusters of tiny flowers, such as chamomile. Ground-nesting bees are among the first to emerge to visit violets and other early spring bloomers.
Like honeybees, bumblebees form colonies with a queen, although there are fewer than fifty in a nest. Watching bumblebees maneuver into large clary sage flowers can be quite entertaining. They will also visit anise hyssop, bay laurel, clematis, honeysuckle, lamb’s ears, phlox, rockrose, and wisteria. Sometimes they will pollinate smaller lavender, rosemary, and thyme flowers.
Relying on bees for pollination has become an increasing problem for many plants. The seasonal behavior of some species has been changing and natural foraging areas moving. Wild bees are beginning to emerge at different times in the year when flowering plants are not abundant. The spread of infectious colony collapse disorder has also caused a sharp drop in European honeybees. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2014 report warned that bees and other pollinators faced the risk of extinction because of global warming. In 2013, the European Union announced plans to restrict the use of some pesticides in the hope of slowing the decline of bee populations.
Butterfly and moth pollinators
Butterflies are particularly active during sunny days, visiting a variety of flowers. They seek out long flowers and extract the nectar with long proboscises. They have excellent vision and, unlike bees, can see red flowers. They also go for bright orange, yellow, pink, and sometimes blue. However, butterflies do not have a keen sense of smell. They rely on taste receptors on their feet to identify a host plant. Highly perched on long, thin legs, they are not able to pick up or carry as much pollen as a bee, but they still do their fair share. Flat-topped flower clusters, such as those on yarrow plants, make the easiest landing pads for large butterflies. Protective plants such as fennel and violets are used for laying eggs.
The western tiger swallowtail butterflies visit my garden to pollinate the bay laurel, dill, fennel, native honeysuckle, lavender, mint, lilac, mock orange, phlox, and wallflower. Skipper butterflies are tiny enough to pollinate the small flowers of catnip, lavender, and oregano. Phlox and rue attract the beautiful giant swallowtails, and mint and mock orange lure wood nymph butterflies. Painted ladies and sulfurs are a few of the butterflies that also feast on the nectar of phlox. Milbert’s tortoiseshell butterfly visits lilacs and wallflowers and sara orangetips pollinate violets, while Baltimore butterflies flock to wallflowers.
Moths, on the other hand, are extremely sensitive to odors. They pick up honeysuckle’s fragrance from half a mile away. Most are nocturnal, so the flowers they pollinate wait until dusk to emit strong scents that will carry in the night air without the sun’s heat to evaporate the aroma—think flowering tobacco, gardenia, Easter lily, and night- blooming jasmine. Moths and long-tongued bees that can reach into the tubular flowers of primrose and phlox help with pollination.
Other pollinators
Other pollinators visit the fragrance garden. Hummingbirds are so sensitive to scent that they were taught to differentiate between smells at the Centro di Studio per la Faunis- tica ed Ecologia Tropicali del C.N.R in Santa Teresa, Brazil. For example, they could tell the difference between jasmine and lavender.
Hummingbirds are drawn to the deep red flowers of bee balm, flowering tobacco, and pineapple sage. They also go for orange, yellow, and deep pink blooms, as well as many purple and some blue-purple flowers, such as anise hyssop, hummingbird sage, Spanish sage, and wisteria. Tubular, nodding flowers with long styles and filaments—such as honeysuckle, red-flowering sage, bee balm, and some lilies—accommodate the hummingbirds’ long beaks, which collect pollen as the birds drink. These flowers do not need a landing area, because hummingbirds prefer to hover while feeding.
Roman chamomile is pollinated by flies, as well as by little beetles. Small wasps pollinate German chamomile and tansy. Flies gravitate toward the white and cream-colored flowers of angelica, daphne, fennel, lily-of-the-valley, peppermint, rockrose, sweet woodruff, thyme, wallflowers, tansy, and some green flowers. Flies with short tongues prefer simple, bowl-shaped flowers. Hover flies visit so many wild plants that they have been considered the next important group of pollinators after wild bees. Some even have a proboscis, to siphon nectar out of long, narrow flowers. Pollinating flies can mimic bees, but look closely and you will see only one pair of wings instead of two, as well as larger eyes, shorter antennae, and skinnier legs than bees. The larvae of nearly half the pollinating flies are laid on the plant. This helps with pest control, because the larvae prey on other insects.
How to attract plenty of pollinators, but not too many beetles, is an ongoing floral dilemma. Beetles are clumsy in flight, so require an easy entrance to the flowers. They are also messy pollinators, often chewing the plant and leaving droppings. Flowers such as Mexican marigold and rockrose have adapted ways to provide enough food for hungry, pollinating beetles, while avoiding being destroyed in the process.
Millions of years ago, when the first flowering plants began to bloom, some wasps made a switch from hunting prey to gathering pollen for their brood. Wasps are generally less efficient pollinators than bees (which descended from wasps) and lack the body hairs to trap pollen, so are unable to carry it from flower to flower. Even so, some hard-working wasps bring their young nectar and pollen.
Using aroma to deter bad bugs
A simple, all-purpose insect spray for plants. This employs the naturally repellent qualities of plant aromas.
| Approximately 1 cup fresh peppermint, thyme, and wormwood
leaves 2 whole, unpeeled garlic cloves 2 cups water blender spray bottle |
|
| optional
1 teaspoon liquid castile soap or dishwashing liquid 2 tablespoons regular strength vinegar (any kind) |
 |
The fragrant garden is fairly pest-free. Most insects in my garden are pollinators, rather than their destructive relatives. The aroma creates a built-in defense against predators that cannot pick up the scent they want through the aromatic shield. Insects rely on their acute sense of smell to locate plants to eat, with many of them flying miles to track down a meal. Night-flying moths that lay caterpillar and cutworm eggs on garden plants purposely fly upwind to detect plants.
My first garden a few decades ago was in a tightly populated beach community that still had old victory garden plots from World War II, when everyone was encouraged to grow food. My neighborhood replanted them. My refurbished victory garden held only a few vegetables that were surrounded by forty-some aromatic herbs. It was the only garden for blocks without predatory bugs— that is, my garden and the one directly on the other side of the fence. My first garden tours were to show curious neighbors the benefits of having an aromatic garden.
If your garden is invaded, peppermint, thyme, and wormwood are star players against garden pests. They remove white flies from the greenhouse. Along with basil and dill, they deter the dreaded tomato hornworm. Wormwood can almost single-handedly defend the entire garden, discouraging carrot fly, squash bug, and maggot. Along with southernwood, it also works against the cabbage looper. Peppermint deters both the ants that climb my roses and the aphids they deposit on the shrubs. Other plants to battle aphids include basil, camphor, cilantro, eucalyptus, fennel, and tansy. Use French marigold, rosemary, and rue for beetles, and tansy for Japanese and cucumber beetles and squash bugs. Catnip, cilantro, and tansy are specific for potato beetles. To deter spider mites, try cilantro, cumin, and oregano. Fennel and rosemary can be ground into a powder to sprinkle anywhere there are slugs or snails.
A plant’s essential oils protect it in other ways besides just odors and aromas. Essential oils also destroy bacterial, fungal, and viral infections responsible for plant diseases. These antibiotic oils are the same ones used in aromatherapy to fight infections and heal wounds in both people and animals. Some particularly potent examples are the highly antibacterial and antifungal lavender, oregano, and rosemary. It’s effective to use these aromatic plants in any combination to make a spray for infected plants or to create a powder to sprinkle around a plant’s base. Simply planting them in your garden can deter pests from vegetables. French marigold roots exude an aromatic substance that repels destructive nematodes in the soil, helping prevent injury to garden plant roots.
Of course, the best way to keep your garden free of harmful bugs is to have healthy plants. Preventive health care works the same in your garden as it does for people, making the plants more resistant to disease and pests. Insects generally avoid strong plants and go after the ones that are ailing. If you see problems in the garden, look first at the infested or infected plant itself for health problems. Pamper those plants with bug spray, compost “tea” (compost steeped in water), and sufficient water to make them more resilient.
A simple, all-purpose insect spray for plants. This employs the naturally repellent qualities of plant aromas.
| Approximately 1 cup fresh peppermint, thyme, and wormwood
leaves 2 whole, unpeeled garlic cloves 2 cups water blender spray bottle |
|
| optional
1 teaspoon liquid castile soap or dishwashing liquid 2 tablespoons regular strength vinegar (any kind) |
|
Planning for scent
A garden that is filled with fragrant plants creates a complex aromatic blend that becomes the garden’s own signature perfume. Scent is as much a part of the design as visual appeal. Fragrances can be contrasted or mixed much like colors. In a garden, the nose is attracted by a scent and lingers on it, then a breeze picks up another fragrance or you brush against a different plant that delightfully distracts you with another aroma. At other times, it seems like the entire garden chimes in to create a symphony of fragrance.
Mixing and matching
Fragrant plants that are grown closely together merge into a potpourri of scent to delightfully overload the senses. However, try to place strongly aromatic plants that have similar fragrances and bloom around the same time in different areas of the garden. That way, the scent of plants like jasmine, honeysuckle, and tuberose can be appreciated individually.
Strongly fragrant flowers
The most potent garden aromas come from flowers that call out to pollinators to pick up their scent. These flowers broadcast intense fragrance throughout the garden and beyond. You can create a succession of blooms that drench the garden in scent for months; to do so, plant wintersweet and daphne for their winter flowers, and violet, freesia, and lilac to follow. Early summer bloomers are jasmine, lilies, tuberose, and flowering tobacco. Late summer brings trumpet flowers, which are followed by lemon and orange trees. Clematis and honeysuckle flower in spring, summer, or fall, depending upon the species, to fill in any aromatic gaps. It makes a heady combination, but these plants could be planted together in the same spot to create an aphrodisiac-themed garden.
Blooms with a less-intense scent
Many flowers are not so overbearing, but still create an aura of fragrance around them. They blend together, but the blend is subtle and the predominant scent shifts as you move from plant to plant. Even when these plants are in the same area of the garden, it is still possible to detect the distinct aroma of each. To have a succession of light fragrance, begin with the well-matched scented blooms of daffodil, hyacinth, and lily-of-thevalley in early spring. Next come the sweet peas, phlox, stocks, and wallflowers of midspring; this is a traditional combination in the cottage-style garden. Carnation and gardenia bloom in early summer. The midsummer scent of clary sage and Mexican marigold in late summer join this mix, although their topmost leaves smell stronger than their flowers. Just lightly brushing against these plants on a hot day releases their aromas.
Fragrant leaves
Themes in the fragrance garden
Sub-themes can be tucked into sections of your fragrant plot, or your entire garden may be made up of various fragrance themes. See the reference section of this book for a list of public fragrance-related theme gardens you can visit for inspiration.
A culinary treat of smells and tastes
The kitchen herb garden is harvested often, so it needs to be as practical to use as it is aromatic. Make the plants accessible with narrow beds or place stepping-stones to enter the garden without disturbing plant roots. You may want it close to your kitchen for easy access to fresh herbs, and to have spaces to set a harvest basket. The most important plants for a culinary garden are basil, bay laurel, coriander, dill, fennel, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage, and thyme. For more adventure-some dining, include lavender and at least one of the scented geraniums. These plants can be used fresh, or dry them for wintertime culinary delights.
Scented tea garden
Traditional Japanese and English tea gardens were designed for serving black tea, but why not have an herbal tea garden? It creates the perfect aromatic setting to entertain a friend or enjoy a good cup of tea made from herbs grown in your own garden. A tea garden does require a seat and a small table. Situate this garden close to your kitchen or a garden kitchen for convenience. Plant it with bee balm, lemon balm, lemon verbena, lemon grass, peppermint, rose, and wintergreen. You might also add jasmine, lavender, rose, and violet for their flowers, and a lemon tree for the fruit’s peel. All of these plants make delicious, flavorful teas, as do combinations of them, so feel free to experiment with making your own garden blends. Equal parts works with most. I name my favorite aromatic tea blends—for example, “Naturally Glad” contains anise hyssop, lemon balm, lemon grass, peppermint, and rose petals.
Aromatherapy healing garden
This themed fragrance garden contains plants that are used therapeutically in aromatherapy. The scents alone have beneficial effects on one’s mood. Plants whose leaf scents are thought to create positive feelings include bay, coriander, clary sage, curry plant, juniper, lemon balm, lemon verbena, lemon grass, palmarosa, patchouli, scented geranium, and rosemary. Flower scents with such effects include jasmine, lavender, and rose. Seeds are also used, including angelica, dill, and fennel. Even roots get into the act, such as those of spikenard and vetiver, as well as the rhizomes of valerian. All of these plants are distilled into a selection of essential oils that are sold in natural food stores and online to make aromatherapy products. However, the good news is you do not need bottled essential oils if you have a fragrance garden—since you can experience aromatherapy firsthand.
Braille garden of smell and touch
I often visited the Braille Garden at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden in Arcadia, California, with my mother Naomi Keville, who was blind, but had a wonderful sense of smell. We volunteered in their extensive herb garden, but our favorite destination was the stone terrace garden that had signs in braille to identify the fragrant plants. The tall terrace was the perfect height to sniff the plants. The best plants for this garden are those that grow close to the ground and have leaves that easily release their scent when they are pressed between the fingers. Some of my mother’s favorites were bee balm, lavender, lemon balm, lemon verbena, marjoram, oregano, scented geraniums, and all of the mints. There are several public gardens around the United States that have similar terraces designed for the visually impaired.
A child’s fragrance garden
Fragrance gardens for children should inspire wonder and imagination through scent, color, touch, and form. A multicolored pathway and some whimsical artwork, such as a colorful wind flag or spinner, will add a fun touch to the child’s garden. Children like to see different heights and small pots in various shapes and colors in a garden. A reflective pool with goldfish can be created from a large pot. If there is enough space, consider adding a garden swing.
Lamb’s ears is often a child’s favorite fragrant plant. It has a very light scent, but is extremely soft to the touch. Children are equally delighted to learn its name. They also like any of the sages that have fuzzy leaves. Pansy’s face-like flower and sweet pea’s shape and colors also delight. Children love the small, daisy-like flowers of chamomile, as well as Corsican mint’s tiny leaves. Tell them lily-of-the-valley’s nickname from days gone by: “fairy bells.” Peppermint, spearmint, lemon balm, and chocolate mint are all favorites because they smell like candy. Children could also be encouraged to grow their own garden or to try an herb tea. A recipe of equal parts chamomile, lemon balm, and peppermint makes a tasty children’s tea that is very calming (either warm or iced). Don’t forget to include plants that attract butterflies.
Moon garden: a reflective paradise
