A LITTLE warmth has spurred the garden on nicely and changes can he noticed day by day. The first daffodils have faded to be replaced by a quickening succession of other flowers which can for a time distract from the growing impertinence of weeds. . .
While it is only right to dwell on the good things, to savour scents and sights of emerging leaves and blossom, we must also concentrate on the mundane - and what garden is without its crop of unwanted seedlings?
The task of trowelling can he so much more pleasant where an alluring scent invites the gardener to linger. The rich vanilla aroma of the evergreen Azara microphylla surprises the unwary, such is its intensity, because at a distance there is no visible explanation, no enormous flowers, nothing more than a yellow haze among the small, glossy, oval leaves. The flowers are so tiny and unobtrusive that one might ignore them completely, were it not for the magnetic smell.
In contrast the pungent aroma, earthy and foxy, of the Crown Imperial Fritillaries reminds us that the garden is not all sweetness. It is a welcome change and the waves which assail the nostrils from February onwards emanate from the foliage, which always surprises with the vigour and rate of growth.
Sturdy stands of healthy, glossy green rise three feet and more, surprising those who are unfamiliar with this stately and truly imperial plant of spring. Now, the hanging orange or yellow flowers are about to open, bringing an exotic and luxuriant change from daffodils and tulips, turning the mind from minor annoyances such as celandines.
In the weed world celandines are not the most annoying at first encounter: one can he taken in by the buttercup blooms. In a woodland, a thick carpet of bright shiny yellow can he enchanting - but in the average garden it can become a menacing nuisance. It creeps outwards, staying close to the ground, invading the roots of precious plants and covering struggling young shoots with its healthy broad spread of rounded leaves. The trouble is, it does not immediately resemble a weed in the eyes of the uninitiated and many a beginner may be inclined to indulge it at first
It comes out easily enough, hut invariably little bulbids break away from the root, escaping the trowel to set up a new colony and the gardener must be vigilant in coping with it.
AND while we root out the weeds, the scent of another valued evergreen shrub beckons from the background. Hardy, wind resistant and reliable Osmanthus deiavayi from China deserves to be better known. It flowers when small, so its attraction can be immediate. In time it has a commanding presence and my plant of 25 years is now at least 12 feet high, covered in small white flowers which beckon from a distance. It is not showy in the way that a magnolia is hut it has scent and more scent and is useful for cutting. In a small space it could eventually get too big - but why not enjoy it for a dozen or so years and then part with it if absolutely necessary. I have seen it trained on a wall where the gardener wishes to restrict its spread. An annual pruning after flowering kept it somewhat within hounds. It is dense and bushy and provides a good dark green presence during winter, a valuable shrub for the backbone of the garden