National Fragrance Day!

This Week's Special Days: A Potpourri of Celebrations -Susan Wittg Albert

March 21: It's National Fragrance Day.


A Fragrance Garden

In my garden, fragrance gives me an enormous pleasure, making the difference between a pleasant garden experience and one that lingers in my mind and my heart. It might be the clean freshness of lavender on a hot summer day, or the heavy sweetness of Nicotiana on the evening air, or the crisp citrus tang of Southernwood rubbed between my fingers. If you.re planning to create a new space in your garden this year, think about creating a fragrance garden.or if you've run out of garden room, consider adding a few pots of fragrant herbs and flowers to your deck or sunny porch, preferably near a window, so that the magic of scent can fill your home.

Herbs for a Fragrance Garden: A Baker's Dozen

* Annuals and Tender Perennials
o Sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima)
o Sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus)
o Pineapple sage (Salvia elegans)
o Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
* Perennials
o Southernwood (Artemisia abrotanum)
o Dianthus (Dianthus caryophyllus)
o Day lily (Hemerocallis sp.)
o Lavender (Lavandula sp.)
o Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)
o Violet (Viola odorata)
* Vines and Shrubs
o Honeysuckle (Lonicera sp.)
o Passion Flower (Passiflora incarnata)
o Rose (Rosa sp.)

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.
—Margaret Atwood

"The Honisuckle that groweth wilde in every hedge, although it be very sweete, yet doe I not bring into my garden, but let it rest in his owne place, to serve their senses that travell by it, or have no garden."
—John Parkinson, A Garden of Pleasant Flowers, 1629

Read more about the fragrance gardening and using fragrance to brighten your life

* Fragrance in Bloom: The Scented Garden Throughout the Year, by Ann Lovejoy

* Awaken to Healing Fragrance: The Power of Essential Oil Therapy, by Elizabeth Anne Jones

* Creating Fairy Garden Fragrances (The Spirit of Aromatherapy), by Linda Gannon