By Mitzi VanSant

This week I’ll continue to expound on plants that local gardener Kathy Svoboda has grown successfully here in Smithville.  We will learn about many of the fragrant plants and old roses that surround her house and small acreage.

Since we both love roses, I’ll begin there. The old, dark red Climber ‘Don Juan’ has good fragrance and is easily grown throughout the country. The climbing Bourbon ‘Zepherine Drouhin’, vibrant pink and nearly thornless, grows with support next to the house. Several of the English Roses have flourished, though some do have a little blackspot.  ‘Comte de Champagne’ is a strong yellow in bud, fading to pale yellow and forms a large shrub covered with fragrant cup-shaped blooms. ‘Trandescant’ (deep red), ‘Crown Princess Margaretta’ (apricot) and the climber ‘Malvern Hills’ (soft yellow) were very healthy in appearance, all with good repeat bloom.

Kathy was growing some of the plants that need sharp drainage to flourish in our hot and humid summers. Examples are the Russian Sage and Lamb’s Ear that I described in my last column. The lovely and fragrant lavenders (French and Spanish varieties are the best here) very definitely fall in this category. Her solution was to incorporate very fine gravel into the soil and then mulch with additional gravel around the base of the plants to provide a dry base for the foliage.

Toxic plant

Another fragrant but very toxic and somewhat tender plant is Brugsmania, or Angel’s Trumpet. The huge dependent trumpet shaped flowers come in white, pink, apricot and yellow. It will grow to five feet high and as wide in warm climates. Here it is often killed back to the ground in cold winters, returning each spring. Be sure to keep it away from animals and small children.

The native herb Artemesia annua, or Sweet Annie, grows to three feet in height and has very fragrant silvery green foliage. It is often used to create wreaths and other decorations and in flower arranging.  The self-sowing annual Nicotiana ‘Cranberry Island’ grows well for her and the blossoms bear a heavy fragrance most noticeable in the evening/night hours. She also grows Catmint (Nepeta faasinii) ‘Walker’s Low’, which my late cat Carmen loved to roll in. This perennial herb with very fragrant silvery green foliage is mostly evergreen here and billows along the ground producing lavender flowers over a very long season.

Root beer, anyone?

The appropriate named Root Beer Plant is a shade loving perennial or shrub, with white flowers over the spring and summer season. It is grown for the scent of its foliage and spreads by roots. It grows to five to six feet high and wide, but is another of those poisonous plants that must be carefully placed in the garden, if grown at all.

Many of my clients who come from the north, or at least more northern climates than Texas, want to grow lilacs in their gardens. I have thought it impossible because of the lack of winter chill, but Kathy grows two varieties with some success: ‘Josee’ (pink and reported to be a good rebloomer) and ‘Blue Skies’ (pale blue/lilac).

Both are more compact than the common French lilacs and work well as hedges or in shrub borders.

Quick growers

Almond Verbena (Aloysia vergata) is a deciduous shrub that grows quickly to 10 feet or more and produces very fragrant white flowers in spring and summer. Cut it back several times to encourage bushiness and rebloom. It is very similar in appearance to the Butterfly Bush, and is a magnet for bees and other pollinating insects.

Magnolia ‘Jane’ is a fast-growing, small tree or large shrub to 10-15 feet high and wide. It blooms in spring and the tulip shaped flowers are a rosy pink/purple and fragrant. Plant it in half sun or part shade, as the deciduous Magnolias are understory trees that are found on the edge of the forest, or in clearings within it.

Give it a try

This is certainly not a complete list of fragrant plants for the area, but contains many that are rarely grown here. If a plant is described as growing well in horticultural zones 8 or 9, give it a try. You may find you can grow more than those common trees, shrubs and perennials seen in every Central Texas garden.