How to easily create your own fragrant winter garden

_{The rich orange smell of this evergreen daphne brings a zesty brightness to a winter garden.}

The dark months of the year can be very soul sapping. Days when it barely seems to get light, howling gales and horizontal rain can deplete the most resilient of spirits. But if you grow your own scented winter garden, you’ll always have something to look at and sniff appreciatively even on the gloomiest days.

What is meant by a winter garden?

A winter garden is generally meant as an area which has plants that bring particular joy during the winter. Most gardens – public and private – are designed around vibrant spring and summer colour, so it can feel like there’s nothing of interest to grow for the winter. But, as you’ll find out here, there are lots of possibilities to bring winter joy to the smallest outdoor spaces.

As with all my garden advice, you can grow everything I suggest in containers with good quality compost, as well as planting in the ground. So, if you have a balcony, sunny door step or shady back yard, you too can enjoy a fragrant winter garden.

What’s the point of a winter garden?

When the outside world feels very challenging with the harsh weather of winter, it can be tempting to spend most of our time indoors. Even putting the bins out in winter can feel like a superhuman effort. But growing just one or two plants carefully chosen for their glorious efforts to shine on cold, dark days can give you a moment of joy, even if you’re looking at them through a window.

Most of the plants I’ve selected here have fragrant flowers in winter, but there are also plants with fragrant evergreen foliage. One of the enormous joys of growing these is you can snip wee sprigs and make a simmer pot to scent your house. All you need to do is immerse some fragrant leaves (from the scented foliage list below), pop them in a small saucepan, cover with water and simmer very gently for 20 minutes. The fragrance will gently weave its way around your house, bringing freshness and life to stuffy spaces. And then you can use the perfumed water to wash your floors—nothing is wasted.

What do you plant in a winter garden?

The best plants for a winter garden include anything that looks or smells great during the darkest months of the year. Although I’m mainly focusing on plants with fragrant flowers and foliage in winter here, there are lots of plants that offer stunning visual interest too. Particular favourites of mine include scarlet stemmed cornus alba ‘Sibirica’ that absolutely glows in low winter light and the ethereal beauty of silver birch which gleams so brilliantly it seems to add light to a winter garden.

When should you plant your winter garden?

My preferred time of year for planting is the autumn, mainly because the hot and dry days of summer have passed so you need to water less, but the soil is still warm, which allows the plants to develop their infant root systems more quickly and easily.

But, as most plants I recommend here will be bought in containers, you can plant them at any time of year, as long as you’ll have the time to keep them well watered while they get established.

Did you know I offer 1-1 garden advice?

Fragrant flowers for a winter garden

Evergreen plants with fragrant winter flowers

Osmanthus x burkwoodii

_{Small white flowers on this osmanthus pack a delicious apricot punch.}

With beautiful, oval shaped evergreen leaves, osmanthus x burkwoodii works hard all year round in your garden. But it’s in February/March it really shines with its spectacular warm apricot scented flowers.

Daphne bholua ‘Jacqueline Postill’

_{A classic choice for a winter garden, one daphne plant will perfume metres and metres of space, even on the coldest days.}

This winter flowering evergreen shrub will literally stop you in your tracks with its rich orange scent brightening the depths of winter. The first time I smelled this was near the entrance to Montacute House in Somerset, and I had to retrace my steps to find the source. Truly a showstopper for your winter garden.

Viburnum tinus ‘Eve Price’

_{This evergreen viburnum is a brilliant choice for a low maintenance winter garden, with an astonishingly long flowering season.}

A very tough and sturdy plant that could easily be used for fragrant, evergreen hedging. Viburnum tinus ‘Eve Price’ flowers for weeks on end, often starting in November right through to March. It really earns its place in a winter garden.

Sarcococca confusa

_{Super glossy leaves on this sweet box will brighten a shady corner all year round. And then you’ll experience the joy of its scented flowers in winter.}

Sometimes known as sweet box, this marvellous shrub will love a shady spot in your garden. Its wispy white flowers breathe a glorious warm jasmine scent during the winter months and the glossy leaves look great all year round.

Deciduous plants with fragrant winter flowers

Viburnum x Bodnantense ‘Dawn’

_{Flashes of very welcome colour on dark days with these viburnum flowers.}

Look at those rosy pink flowers. Aren’t they wonderful? These fragrant clusters start blooming periodically on bare stems from November onwards. And the deciduous leaves put on quite a show in autumn, turning fiery oranges and reds as the temperature drops.

Lonicera fragrantissima

_{Difficult to photograph, but a stunning plant for your winter garden with its honey scented flowers.}

Also known as winter flowering honeysuckle, this unassuming plant with apple green leaves really dazzles in winter. The tiny pale gold flowers breathe the most spectacular spicy honey scent into freezing air, and if you can plant it where any winter sun might fall on it, the fragrance will be even stronger.

Fragrant evergreen foliage for a winter garden

Eucalyptus

_{Eucalyptus earns its place in a garden all year round, but its iridescent foliage stands out especially in winter when everything else looks bare and twiggy.}

Now, eucalyptus can get pretty big, so if you’re not sure if you’ve got room for a fully grown one, you can keep it small by growing it in a large container, as in the picture. The opalescent foliage is dramatic all year round, and if you rub the leaves you’ll be able to smell the characteristic fresh, cool minty aroma. Eucalyptus has great foliage for bringing into the house and popping in a vase, and it makes brilliant simmer pots (see above) too.

Rosemary

_{Bees will be very happy if you grow a rosemary plant as they’ll feast on its lavender flowers which start emerging in late winter.}

Aromatic evergreen foliage, fantastic for cooking, and an absolute bee magnet in early spring—what’s not to love about rosemary? As long as it gets a fair bit of sun (it won’t love a dark courtyard), it’ll give you years of joy for very little effort.

Bay

_{Such a luxury to grow your own bay leaves, and it’s very low maintenance too.}

Another multi-purpose plant, that’ll save you some pennies in the supermarket too. Kiss goodbye to expensive papery dried bay for cooking and grow your own. The shiny, supple leaves have a spicy, peppery smell and taste, and are invaluable for any soup or casserole you might make in the winter.

Sage

_{Sage is a very robust and resilient fragrant evergreen herb that you can pick all through the winter.}

Sage comes in silvery green or silvery purple varieties, but they smell and taste similar. Strongly scented with a herby menthol aroma, it’s very useful in the kitchen. And if you keep a bundle on your desk, the smell can help keep you focused.

Fragrant bulbs in winter

Snowdrop

_{Brightening up the woods where I live, honey scented snowdrops are easy to grow in pots and containers too.}

Bringers of joy on the bleakest of days, snowdrops are often the first sign of winter relaxing its iron grip on the land. I know it’s a bit tricky as they grow so close to the ground, but if you give them a sniff, they have a delicate honey smell. Early bees love them too.

Crocus

_{What a joyful sight. A pot of golden crocus will lift your spirits on the dreariest winter days.}

Golden, orange, icy white or regal purple, crocus do a splendid job of brightening up your garden in cold weather. They often have a warm honey smell when they’ve opened in the sun a wee bit. Planting them in pots and popping them on a table will make it easier for you to appreciate those fragrant wafts.

Are you tempted to create your own winter garden?

Hopefully you’ll know why it’s really worth choosing a couple of fragrant winter flowering plants for your garden now. Or maybe one or two with scented evergreen foliage. And when winter rolls around next time, you’ll be so glad you did.

Some lovely reviews my fabulous garden clients have written