Download Captivating scents: fresh floral fœtid Scent trail

Scent trail map
Captivating events
5 Exotic
Scents
Shop 6 Abhorrent
Arbour
wc Glasshouses
Café
wc
Poisonous
Plants Bed
Education
Department
History Beds
Sweet Pea
Avenue
Healing
Scents
1
2
Cool
Fernery
Monocotyledon
Order Beds
Statue of
Sir Hans
Sloane
World
Woodland
Garden
The Garden of
Medicinal Plants
Pond
Rockery
Dicotyledon
Order Beds
Atlantic Islands
Border
Thursday Supper Talks
Our thought-provoking lecture series during July and August will feature a
broad range of experts discussing various aspects of scent. Tickets are £17.
There is also the opportunity to enjoy supper at the Tangerine Dream Café
at £19. (Pre-booking required. Book by calling the Café on 020 7349 6464)
7 Jul
14 Jul
21 Jul
28 Jul
4 Aug
11 Aug
18 Aug
25 Aug
Captivating
scents
fresh floral fœtid
A Century of Scents with Lizzie Ostrum
Dangers & Delights... with Dr Mark Jenner
The Wonderful World of Rose Fragrances with David Austin Roses
The Fantastical World of Vegetal Scent with Richard Mabey
Scented Decadence with author Dr Christine Bradstreet
Intoxicating Scent Soirée (to be announced)
A Society Guided by Scent with University College London
Intoxicating Scent Soirée (to be announced)
Walks, Talks & Workshops
History Beds
British
Native Plants
Amphitheatre
3
Fortune’s
Tank Pond
Garden of
Edible Plants
Scents of
Garden of the Night
Useful Plants
4
23 Jun
29 Jul
6 Sep
27 Oct
From Flower to Flacon with Liz Earle
ROSA ROSA: A Day with the Queen of Flowers with Lizzie Ostrum
Grow Your Own Scented Garden with florist Rachel Petheram
Perfumery with The Organic Pharmacy
Prebooking is required. For more information & to book:
call 020 7349 6458/6471 or email [email protected]
For the full 2016 programme of Walks, Talks & Workshops, Family Activity Days
or to support the Garden through becoming a Friend, please see the website.
Chelsea Physic Garden
66 Royal Hospital Road London SW3 4HS
Tel. 020 7352 5646 www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk
Charity no. 286513. Registered in England. Printed on FSC certified stock using vegetable inks.
25 Mar–31 Oct 2016
Scent trail & map
Captivating scents:
Scent trail
T
The Garden is bursting at the seams with scented
plants throughout the seasons. This summer, our
new trail highlights some of these species along
with a range of specialist displays, including the
intoxicating Sweet Pea Avenue and the Abhorrent
Arbour. Follow the trail via the map overleaf and
keep your nose trained for a cornucopia of scents.
fresh floral fœtid
he power of scents is often underappreciated. How often has a
particular smell whisked you back to a moment, person or place
in your life? Smells are not only evocative but give us information
as to whether something is edible or off, alluring or repulsive. They are
extremely divisive, too. A delicious odour to some is repellent to others.
Humans have valued scent since the earliest civilisations. The people of
Mesopotamia were the first to ‘capture’ scent for their own means using
plant oils in religious ceremonies or for perfume.
The means of capturing scents, as you will discover on this trail, have
evolved radically over the last 5,000 years, but why do plants create them
in the first place? The answers to this are many-fold. Some floral
or foetid scents lure in pollinators such as bees or flies respectively,
while other smells drive away predators. Whatever the evolutionary
reasons for these odours, humans strive to capture the best for our
own uses. This has led to the development of an enormous
worldwide industry growing plants for their scentyielding flowers, seeds, leaves or bark. Follow
the trail and discover the secrets of scents…
© Jonathan Buckley
Sweet Pea Avenue
This display of over twenty
sweet pea cultivars highlights
both their breeding history and
the most fragrant forms. The
beds dedicated to Philip Miller’s
plant introductions are a fitting
location as he was among the
first British gardeners to grown
them.
1. Heliotrope ‘Marine’
Commonly known as Cherry Pie
this tender perennial heliotrope
emanates a unique scent with
musky, sweet and sour cherry
notes. It’s both a popular
bedding plant and source of
a scent compound used in
perfumery.
Healing Scents
Several woody species in
this Australian planting carry
essential oils in their foliage.
Along with their pleasant scent
these oils are often antibacterial
and antimicrobial meaning they
have potential healing benefits.
2. Houttuynia cordata
This Asia woodlander has a
unique sharp, acrid, acidic
scent to its foliage. Many find
it abhorrent, however it is a
popular wild-foraged plant in its
native region where its leaves
are gathered and eaten in spring.
Perfumery Amphitheatre
The plants grown on the
Amphitheatre yield the oils
responsible for the majority
of perfumes and aftershaves
available on the high street.
Display panels nearby indicate
which plants are used to create
popular perfume products such
as Poison and Eternity.
3. Philadelphus and Ribes
These two scented plants
divide opinion. Despite Ribes
leaves being used in perfumery
some find their scent repulsive.
Philadelphus is equally divisive
– some find it sweet and light
while others think it smells
unpleasant and cat-like!
a. Iris foetidissima
The stinking iris, as it
is commonly known,
eminates a fœtid
bovril-like smell
from its foliage.
a.
b. Lavandula sp.
The icon of plant
scents.
c. Piper nigrum
Both foliage and fruit
of black pepper carry
a sharp piquant scent.
d. Eucalyptus nicolaii
The leaves of
eucalyptus carry a
delicate scent with a
medicinal quality.
All photography
© Jonathan Buckley
b.
Scents of the Night
This area comes to life at dusk
as many of the species grown
here begin releasing scent as
light levels drop. Book in for
one of our evening lectures or
dinner at Tangerine Dream and
experience the exotic scents
of the night…
5. Scented leaves
Among the pelargonium
collection is a range of scented
leaved cultivars. Plants such
as P. ‘Attar of Rose’ have a
heady Turkish delight/rose
water scent, while others lean
towards mint and citrus notes.
Touch them to find out...
4. Atlantic Legume
This woody pea relative from
the Canary Islands has a very
powerful sweet almond or
parma violet scent, however
some people cannot smell it at
all. Have a sniff close up and
see if you are one of the lucky
ones who can get a whiff…
The Abhorrent Arbour
For every deliciously scented
plant there in one with a less
than desirable odour. The
Arbour highlights some of the
stinkiest most fœtid plants
around. Some are poisonous
so only touch plants with
labels recommending this.
Scents of the Tropics
Tropical plants have some of
the most exquisite scents.
For this reason many are
harvested for the perfume
industry. Look out for Vanilla,
Cardamom, Patchouli and the
intoxicating Stanhopea orchid.
6. Salvia elegans
This plant may take all summer
before producing its bright red
flowers but in the meantime
its foliage is a treat. Lightly
rub the leaves to discover the
extraordinary pineapple scent
locked into its foliage.
c.
d.