Designing a Small but Elegant Flowering Aroma Garden

I grew up surrounded by flowers and beautiful gardens in our country-feeling acre of land near Portland, Oregon.

My mother was an avid horticulturist, specializing in camellias. She loved all plants and created a marvelous garden that I will always remember.

We had a huge greenhouse containing her favorite specimen camellias and a smaller conservatory where my mother taught me the art of rooting, grafting and propagating plants at the early age of four. The conservatory was a magical place for me. It was there that the love of gardening and growing things became deeply rooted in my soul.

I have just recently moved and am looking forward to planting yet another flower garden. Designing a new garden is one of my favorite things to do and this will be my thirteenth one. Maybe there have been others. I've lost track.

Previously, all of my gardens have been quite large with many varieties of plants, flowers, garden structures, ponds, fountains, 'garden rooms' and many other things. This time I welcome a small but elegant flowering, scented garden. I have the ideal location for this garden just outside my kitchen window where I can enjoy it while indoors as well as when I am outside.

One of my favorite flowers has always been the rose. My idea is to have a garden full of roses, daisies, nicotiana, lavender and peonies. I also want to include several flowering vines that will climb on arches and trellises throughout the garden. A small, winding gravel path will weave throughout the planting.

A few favorite climbing plants I will include are climbing roses, jasmine, clematis, trumpet vine, honeysuckle, and passion vine. All will bloom profusely and produce wonderful fragrances as I wander along the winding path.

Because this garden will include many plants at the lighter end of the spectrum (whites, light pinks and yellows) it will also be a night garden, that will glow in the moonlight. The scented plants will produce a headier aroma at night, giving the garden visitor an even more pleasurable experience.

Of course, no garden is complete without a birdbath and a cozy bench to sit and reflect and marvel at the beauty of nature. I can hardly wait to get started and it's only the first part of February--I hope Spring will arrive early this year!

Source: Doreen Bradley Satter