It's said that gardeners make for great optimists.  They believe in a tomorrow.  It's in their nature. Why else would they do what they do if they didn't believe in a tomorrow.  With the current state of the weather every ounce of optimism is required, because even tomorrow isn't looking too hot. 

But.....this soon will pass and we will embrace the suns glow like an old friend.  With the feel of fresh cut grass under bare feet and the distinctive scent of dinner simmering on the barbeque drifting and entwining with the aroma of honeysuckle on a hazy mid- summer afternoon.


Sense of smell is a funny thing. Visual recognition has its merits but how many times have you seen someone you thought you knew but couldn't remember when, where or how you knew them.  Yet the smell of a jam sandwich can sit you right back in your seat in 'baby infants' and your first day at school.  Or how the aroma of some passing perfume can make you blush with the memory of a previous love.

Of all the senses to be aroused in the garden, smell is the most potent and alluring. It's the one that will always draw you on, entice and proposition you to stop and taste its aromatic deliciousness.

One such mistress is Dianthus Mrs Sinkins.  What a beautiful damsel she is.  Virginal, tastefully tattered white flowers emerge seductively at the end of silky slender silver stalks.  And the smell.  It has the sort of scent that made a brazen young lothario, once upon a time want to fall in love for real just so as to bestow the gift of a single petal on someone that truly mattered.

Of course that throws out the classic idea of romance with a rose between its teeth.  Mrs Sinkins might have been a bit of cult hit but Rose (Rosa) still tops the charts at least once a year.  Damasks, Albas, Rugosas, Gallics and Mosses are coveted the world over but the one for me is a blousy Bourbon by the name of 'Madame Isaac Pereire'.  The type that keeps giving throughout the summer, her opulent display of purplish pink flowers is irresistible.  That is of course presuming a certain English Rose I once knew isn't around. I've always had a soft spot for 'Gertrude Jekyll'. The powerful perfume this rose exudes is enthralling.

Roses though, however are high maintenance. They need a lot of care and attention to make sure they perform well in their neatly made beds.  On the other hand there are some plants which can be trodden on, ripped apart and still thrive.  They also work wonders in the kitchen.  Lemon thyme is one such remarkable example.  It looks like ordinary thyme, grows like ordinary thyme but smells and tastes lemony. An absolute must have and is best kept in a confined space close to the kitchen, i.e. in a pot at the back door.

What of the briefly aforementioned honeysuckle?  A curiosity arousing fragrance reminiscent of country walks at a distant cousin's farm, where hedgerows, readying themselves for heaving hordes of blackberries firstly exude the honeysuckles' fulsome fragrance.  Anyone would love a bit of that action in their garden.

No summer is complete without the sweet fragrant aroma of a flowering garden. It's only in the minds' eye at the moment. A flighty fantasy in torrid weather perhaps, but just a few more tomorrows to pass and we all will be living the dream.

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