Specialty Gardening: Fragrant wish list, 1 by wallaby1

wallaby1 wrote:
Heavinscent you mentioned Rosa rugosa, I have the cultivar 'Hansa', it has the most vibrant flowers, is very tough and doesn't mind dryness. It will spread by underground runners, but mine hasn't gone far, it is surrounded by moisture absorbing plants, and is near a west wall, it can keep the soil moist, but it doesn't always get a lot of rain.

The stems grow quite tall, it doesn't need any severe pruning (it flowers off previous years wood), so just a 'tidy up', the leaves are bright green and lush, different to the normal 'hard, glossy type'. Stems do get covered in lots of fine prickles, good for a hedge to prevent intruders. Greenfly seem to like the leaves, but plenty of ladybirds will fix that, and mine hasn't suffered seriously from them.

The scent is something else, hard to explain, you just have to grow it to experience it!

Pic of mine with a virginia creeper behind, and phormium 'Pink Stripe' next to it. At its other side is an Euonymous japonicus variegata