Flowers are the language of love, especially on Valentine’s Day, and by planting up borders and containers with heavily scented perennials and climbers you will be setting the scene for a relaxing, quiet haven to sit and enjoy a cool drink and a welcome breathing space from busy lives
Birds, bees and butterflies will also be attracted to the fragrant plants, adding to the overall feeling of tranquility.
Romantic flowers are usually found in soft shades of pink, lavender, yellow and white, although red tends to be the popular choice of colour in roses, which are recognised worldwide as the symbol of love.
The beautifully scented lavender is the symbol of devotion and will release its fragrance as you brush past it if planted at the edge of paths.
Add lovely pink flowering perennials such as Perlagoliums, with their amazingly fragrant foliage of rose or lemon, Gazania, Arctotis, Peonies, Diascia and Nemesia. Nicotiana is heavily scented and Helichrysum has delicious musky scented leaves and honey-scented flowers.
The Gardenia thunbergia is also strongly scented with pretty delicate white flowers.
Choose a fabulously fragranced Jasmine ( Jasmine multipartum) to scramble over a trellis or arbour, near the seating area so you can enjoy the perfume, or the Clematis braetata which has masses of white scented flowers.
