Question: Four years ago, we moved to a new home. Over the past few years, I’ve planted two of my favorite plants: lilacs and peonies. They have bloomed well, but the flowers have absolutely no fragrance. If anything, the lilac has an almost offensive scent. Does this have something to do with our soil or my watering or fertilization habits? Any suggestions?
Answer: You’ve discovered a sad truth, and it’s one that is a hot topic among nursery growers and gardeners in this country and abroad. In many cases, in their quest to breed for disease resistance, large flower size, repeat blooming and growth habit, modern plant breeding has left fragrance out of the equation. The genes that control fragrance often get lost in the shuffle and are ignored in favor of breeding in some “bigger and betterâ€� trait.
There are some stunningly beautiful new lilac and peony cultivars with huge blooms, sturdy growth and incredible tolerance to fungal diseases — but sadly, many of them lack the sweet fragrance of most old-fashioned lilacs and peonies.
These two plant groups aren’t the only ones that have suffered. There may be more non-fragrant roses these days than those with a heady fragrance that can be enjoyed from quite a distance. Some phlox cultivars lack fragrance, as do numerous varieties of the queen of the fragrant garden, the Oriental lily. Again, scent has been accidentally bred out when selecting for other traits.
That being said, some breeders are working to put fragrance back into the garden. They are aiming for a lovely fragrance in addition to disease tolerance, massive flowers, excellent growth habit and all the other positive traits gardeners look for. In other words, they are looking for home runs.
The lack of scent in your peonies and lilacs has a lot more to do with the varieties you selected than your soil or maintenance habits. If you want a garden filled with fragrant peonies and lilacs, you’ll have to go back to the drawing board and seek out varieties known for their fragrance. In some cases, this may mean turning back to old, heirloom peonies like “Duchesse de Nemours,â€� “Hermoineâ€� and “Mrs. Franklin D. Rooseveltâ€� (all available from Old House Gardens, www.oldhousegardens.com, and other local and online retailers), or heavily fragranced lilacs such as “Edith Cavell,â€� “Yankee Doodleâ€� and “President Lincolnâ€� (available from Fox Hill Lilac Nursery, www.lilacs.com, and other local and online retailers).
Add a handful of these and other fragrant varieties to your garden, but remember to be on the lookout for new introductions in the coming years that focus on disease tolerance and bloom size without forgetting the fragrance.
Horticulturist Jessica Walliser co-hosts “The Organic Gardeners� at 7 a.m. Sundays on KDKA Radio. She is the author of several gardening books, including “Attracting Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden: A Natural Approach to Pest Control� and “Good Bug, Bad Bug.� Her website is www.jessicawalliser.com.
Send your gardening or landscaping questions to tribliving@tribweb.com or The Good Earth, 503 Martindale St., 3rd Floor, D.L. Clark Building, Pittsburgh, PA 15212.
Speak Your Mind