398 Aromatic Plants, plus Roses!

Show Transcript

398 TRANSCRIPT Aromatic Plants, Fragrant Roses

Farmer Fred

Today, we feature shows for the nose, including the rose! We ask local Master Gardeners about their favorite aromatic gardenplants, many of which do triple duty: they look good, they smell good and some can be used in the kitchen. Plus we visit with a Master Rosarian who, among her 300 backyard rose plants, has several that have a delightful fragrance that you will want to add to your own rose collection.

It’s all in Episode 398 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, “Aromatic Plants, Including Roses!”

We’re podcasting from the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center as well as Barking Dog Studios here in the beautiful Abutilon Jungle in Suburban Purgatory. Let’s go!

AROMATIC PLANTS - SCENTED GERANIUMS

Farmer Fred:

We are at the herb section of the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center on a Saturday workday. And we are talking with Collette Armao, Master Gardener. And I just want opinions today, Collette. And I would like to know your favorite aromatic plant.

Collete Armao: Well, picking out one favorite is like asking a mom to pick out her favorite kid. but I do have some in particular that I like. I do like the scented geraniums and there's a few in that category that I think really stand out for me. The rose geranium, skeleton geranium, and the mosquito shocker. And the reason I like them is they are delicious smelling and they're pretty plants, they're easy care and you can use so many things with them. The flowers are edible, you can dry the leaves, you can make beautiful sachets and potpourris. In the summertime when it's hot, make a tea of the different leaves and flowers together and they make wonderful foot soak. So make a really strong tea and then soak your poor barking hot dogs in them and let them cool down. And they'll have this lovely scent and they'll feel so comfortable and refreshed after you've taken your feet out of the bath.

Farmer Fred:

All right. So we're talking feet here, as opposed to four-footed canines or frankfurters.

Collete Armao: Yes. Okay. All right. Absolutely. And the other thing, scented geraniums, if you do have pets, consideration in any garden is, is this safe for pets? All your scented geraniums are safe for pets. There's no toxicity to them.

Farmer Fred:

All right. Now, you mentioned one variety called mosquito shocker. What is the mosquito shocker? Is it a citronella plant?

Collete Armao: It Is not a true citronella. The citronella that you find in mosquito sprays comes actually from lemongrass, but it does have a scent akin to lemongrass, and it is a scent that mosquitoes don't particularly like. So to have some scattered throughout your garden is nice. I wouldn't recommend it as the one and only mosquito repellent, but there's a lot of scents that not only mosquitoes, but a lot of insects don't like. So another value to the scented geraniums is that you get to smell something pretty, but a lot of bugs don't like them. So the mosquito shocker is the one that comes the closest to citronella in smell. It's often in blends if you look at what's plants in there, but the ingredient in the bug sprays that have citronella is actually lemongrass and not the Mosquito Shocker, but it is in the blend. And it's a pretty plant and it's easy to grow.

Farmer Fred:

It's a dark green with purple veins. And according to the sign here at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center, the Mosquito Shocker pelargonium has edible flowers.

Collete Armao: That's true. Most of the scented geraniums, the flowers are edible. That's the only part of the plant that is edible. And many of them have a slight reminiscent taste of what the flavor is.

Farmer Fred:

All right. Leaf-scented geraniums are a group of species within the Pelargonium genus. Scented leaf geraniums have glands at the base of their leaves where the scent is formed. Crushing or touching leaves will release the scent. Most leaf-scented geraniums have relatively small flowers. They are tender perennials. They'll live year-round in USDA Zone 9. If you're below USDA Zone 9, you might want to treat it as an annual or bring it indoors for the winter. They prefer full sun, but they will tolerate part shade. And once they're established, they are very drought tolerant. I can vouch for that. They are a low priority plant in my yard as far as care that they need.

Collete Armao: That's true. But, you know, I have in my garden, they survive year round. What you're going to have to do is keep trimming them back. They can tend to get very, very big if you don't trim them. But if you do have a big space that you want to grow something, A scented geranium is a nice idea because it can get very big. And although they prefer to be in less direct sun all day, like any plant, they're very adaptive. And they can adapt to a wide variety of light conditions. The one thing you don't want to do is overwater them. They don't like that.

Farmer Fred:

[4:49] Leaf-scented geraniums, very aromatic plants. They're a plant that can find a home in just about every garden. We're talking with Master Gardener Collette Armeo about shows for the nose. Thank you.

Collete Armao: Thank you, Fred. This was fun.

AROMATIC PLANTS - TUBEROSE

Farmer Fred:

We're here at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center talking with Master Gardeners, getting their opinions about their favorite aromatic plants. Now, normally this Master Gardener is over in the vegetable section, but he's hanging around the herb section because another Master Gardener brought a box of tomato plants because it’s spring and people have extra plants. And this is how many of us supply our gardens. Dan Vierria is here. Dan, do you have a favorite aromatic plant?

Dan Vierria:

Yeah, I do. I like Tuberosa. I have it planted right next to my patio sliding door. So every time I go out when it's in bloom. It's just amazing fragrance.

Farmer Fred:

Do you have it in full sun or part shade?

Dan Vierria:

Mine is in, it gets morning shade actually, and it gets a little afternoon in some late evening or the evening sun coming in from the west there.

Farmer Fred:

Is it in a pot or in the ground?

Dan Vierria:

No, it's in the ground. Yeah. And, you know, it dies back and then it pops up again and I don't even hardly, I just keep it watered. I don't think I've ever fertilized it. And just a beautifully fragrant plant.

Farmer Fred:

And it doesn't get that tall either.

Dan Vierria:

No, it doesn't. No, maybe foot and a half, 18 inches, two feet tops. Yeah, beautiful flowers.

Farmer Fred:

Tuberose, excellent aromatic plant. Thank you, Dan.

BEYOND THE GARDEN BASICS NEWSLETTER

Farmer Fred

In this week’s Beyond the Garden Basics newsletter, we show you what we’ve been talking about today in the podcast: Aromatic plants, and Fragrant Roses.

This newsletter edition is available now, in its entirety, for both free and paid subscribers.

Paid Subscribers have added perks. We have a new Monday edition that is just for paid subscribers. Monday it was all about how summertime soil solarization can kill weeds, soil pests and diseases, while at the same time, improving your soil!

Another benefit of being a paid subscriber to Beyond the Garden Basics: they have  complete access to the previous posts of the Beyond the Garden Basics newsletter, of which there are now over 200 editions.

By the way, your paid subscription to the newsletter supports not only the ongoing efforts to produce the Beyond the Garden Basics newsletter, but also helps keep the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast freely available each week.

Find out more information about the Beyond the Garden Basics newsletter in today’s show notes, at Garden Basics dot net, at Farmer Fred dot com, or… at Substack.

And thank you for your support and encouragement to keep the good gardening conversation going.

AROMATIC PLANTS - LEMON VERBENA

Farmer Fred

We're talking with Kathy Hellesen. She's a Master Gardener here in the herb section. Boy, if there's a place where there's shows for the nose, it's here in the herb section. But Kathy, I see you have your eye on this shrub or a tree that to me is just fantastic.

Kathy Hellesen: It is fantastic. It's our lemon verbena. And normally it's a small herb. But over the years, one of our other Master Gardeners, Vivian Sellers, has trained this one into a small tree. And it is just lovely. And you cannot walk up to this thing and stick your nose in it and not be surprised and happy and joyful. It is so lovely. The lemon smell is just wonderful. And it makes wonderful tea or cookies or whatever you want to do with it. It's great.

Farmer Fred:

Lemon verbena cookies is what sold me on that plant, that's for sure. The lemon verbena here, as you mentioned, has turned into a shrub or a small tree. It gets about six feet tall, maybe a spread of four to five feet wide. And as you mentioned, it tends to die back, but it re-sprouts. And this time of year, it's putting on a full leaf.

Kathy Hellesen: Absolutely. Mine at home is in a pot, which is just as happy in that. And it's also going nuts.

Farmer Fred:

It's lemon verbena, Aloysia citradora for those of you at home keeping score. A very aromatic herb, a shrub, a small tree, whatever size you want to keep it at. Lemon verbena. Kathy, thanks so much.

Kathy Hellesen: you're welcome.

CULINARY SAGE - SALVIA OFFICIANALIS

Farmer Fred

We're canvassing the Master Gardeners today at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center on a Saturday workday finding out their favorite aromatic plants. shows for the nose. We are talking with longtime Master Gardener Greta Lacin, and we are in the perennial and California native plant section here at the Hort Center. Greta, do you have a favorite aromatic plant?

Greta Lacin

I would have to say sage. I love it for cooking, but also there are so many salvias out there that are just gorgeous, and the creatures love them. So I love them.

Farmer Fred:

Any favorite varieties?

Greta Lacin

Well, I'd have to say the cooking variety (Salvia officianalis) because I cook a lot. But, you know, any of the salvias are just, they're just beautiful.

Farmer Fred:

They have flowers and leaves that are both aromatic. And it has a delightful aroma, too, especially when you rub your fingers along the leaves.

Greta Lacin

That's true. I love them.

Farmer Fred:

Salvia, you got to add one to your garden. Greta, thank you.

Greta Lacin

You're welcome.

AROMATIC PLANTS - THE BANANA SHRUB

Farmer Fred:

Teri Van Airsdale is a Master Gardener here that's always hovering around the perennial plants and the herb section, so she must have a favorite show for the nose. Aromatic plants. Terri, do you have a favorite aromatic plant?

Teri Van Airsdale

I do. My favorite aromatic plant is the banana shrub. It was a Michaelia figo. Now it's a magnolia figo. It has been reclassified. the variety ‘Port wine’ is beautiful. It's cream-colored with kind of burgundy colors on it. And I just got a brand new red one that's spectacular, also smells really, really good.

Farmer Fred:

And we should point out to people, it doesn't grow bananas. What it is, the flowers have a banana-like scent, or like I like to say, jthe scent of Juicy Fruit gum in the afternoon. And the flowers, though, can be insignificant, usually hidden by the shrubbery of the plant. But when you're walking by it in the afternoon, you go, ‘what's that aroma? What's that beautiful aroma?’

Teri Van Airsdale

You say, hey, that shrub's blooming. You don't even see it. And you go, oh, that smells really good. I know it's blooming, even though I didn't know it was blooming.

Farmer Fred:

Michaelia figo was its original name. Now it's a magnolia figo. Go figure. We don't. We just keep track of things like that. The banana shrub, and it's a true shrub. It can be several feet tall. I remember I had a variety called ‘port wine’ when we lived at the ranch, and it was parked right next to the back sliding door. Where you would see it every time you walked out, and you'd smell it, especially in the springtime, in the afternoon. And it got to be as tall as the roof. It got 8 to 10 feet tall, so I was constantly pruning it back. How tall are yours?

Teri Van Airsdale

Mine is as tall as the roof, the original one. The other one is only a year old, so it's still small, but it's growing. I expect it to be, and it's right outside my bedroom window, which is a great place to have them.

Farmer Fred:

Do they have the same aroma?

Teri Van Airsdale

Yes, they seem to. You know, they're close enough that I don't know that I would know if they didn't, but I don't smell anything different or weird.

Farmer Fred:

Here in USDA Zone 9, it is an evergreen plant. It doesn't seem to suffer much. It doesn't have very many requirements. You can be your own judge as far as how much to water it and adjust accordingly.

Teri Van Airsdale

That's what I've done, is adjust it accordingly. The plant needed more water at first, but now it's come into its own.

Farmer Fred:

The banana shrub, Michaelia figo or Magnolia figo, according to the newest references. It is truly a springtime show for the nose, a great aromatic plant. Teri, thank you.

Teri Van Airsdale

Thank you, Fred. You're welcome.

TOP 10 FRAGRANT ROSES

Farmer Fred

You may have heard on this podcast (Ep. 187) Debbie Arrington talking about the tastiest roses, the roses to munch on, and she mentioned something very interesting: that the tastiest roses also were the roses that had the best fragrance. So what are the most fragrant roses? Let's talk with another Master Rosarian, Charlotte Owendyk, of the Sierra Foothills Rose Society. Charlotte, you have what, over 300 roses in your yard, right?

Charlotte Owendyk

That's correct.

Farmer Fred

So, I imagine that you've got some fragrant favorites.

Charlotte Owendyk

The ones that most people asked me about when looking for good fragrant roses, they always asked and mention Mr. Lincoln, and Double Delight. These are roses that were hybridized in the late 60s, early 70s. I bought Double Delight the year it came out. So let's not talk about my age. Anyway, they are lovely roses, but I don't have them in my yard. Why is that? Because they're not as disease resistant as some of the neer roses that came down the pike. At the time these roses were bred, they were going for scent and people were spraying their roses then, so they didn't have to worry about mildew and black spots and all those things. So the roses were not as strong and sturdy. The newer roses that they have produced now, they're much stronger and they're more disease resistant than the older roses, believe it or not, disease resistance and fragrance are actually linked somehow in the genetic makeup of a rose. So first, they couldn't get both those two things, they had to go for one of them. And so they went for disease resistance first and then once they got some disease resistant, they started incorporating more fragrance. So you'll see more and more of the newer roses have are fragrant, which is really, really nice. And so I'm going to talk about some of my favorite ones. My absolute favorite, I'm going to start start off with that one. First is Secret. And I've mentioned this before and you've heard me talk about it. It produces beautifully, but it's a bicolor rose, it has pink around the edging and kind of a creamy, the center of the pedal is creamy white, and it will actually turn darker pink, just like a little bit like Double Delight does. And it's so it changes. If you bring it inside it it gets lighter because it doesn't have the sun bringing the color out. It's got a fragrant, strong spicy scent to it. It's a very vigorous bush. The bush grows really strong and puts out a lot of blooms and it's usually a one bloom per stem. Occasionally you get a spray which is two roses or more buds on one stem. And they're great cutting roses so it's lovely to bring that inside. It will scent the entire room. So you can tell I'm in love with this rose.

Farmer Fred

We should mention that's a hybrid tea rose.

Charlotte Owendyk

Most of these roses are hybrid teas and thank you for that. Very few of the ones that I mentioned  are shrub roses, one or two. There may be, I think I'm gonna mention Julia Child. She's a floribunda. So, it could be a grandiflora but grandiflora is like a hybrid tea, only they throw out more cluster blooms. Instead of one rose per cane, they'll have two or three per cane. So that's the difference between grandiflora and a hybrid tea rose.

Farmer Fred

Are you going to mention Julia Child?

Charlotte Owendyk

Oh, I can. I can, but it's not my second most favorite. I guess it could be because I love the color. Can I tell my favorite story about Julia Child and why how it got its name?

Farmer Fred

Be my guest.

Charlotte Owendyk

Okay. Julia Child did not want a rose named after her. But Week's Roses at the time  said, well why don't you come and take a look at all the roses in our growing fields. So she drove over to down near Bakersfield where they had the growing field because she lived in Santa Barbara at the time. And she walked through and she pointed to some roses in the distance, and said, "that one."

Farmer Fred

Just like that,

Charlotte Owendyk

just like that. Tom Carruth, who was the hybridizer of this particular rose is very proud of this story. That's who I got the story from. And she liked it because it was the color of butter. Everybody who's cooked with Julia Child recipes know she loves butter. So that's why she picked that particular one. And it has a myrrh fragrance. To some people it smells like anise or that type of licorice scent. Some people smell it very well and some people don't. But it's a beautiful bloom and it's  just a rich, buttery yellow. And it's very, very disease resistant. The blooms will fade a little bit as they get older. But who cares when you got a really gorgeous bloom. I have one bush which is the very first one I got. And then I have six tree roses in there. And the whole bush is butter yellow. So people when they see my yard, they know a Rosarian lives there, because not everyone sees those bushes. But anyway, my next favorite rose, and this one is an excellent rose, called Memorial Day. It also was hybridized by Tom Carruth. He is an excellent hybridizer. They are kind of roughly orchid pink hybrid tea roses, that the blooms are about five to six inches across. They're just stunning. And  my bush right now, it looks like a big bouquet. I have at least 25 to 30 buds on that particular Bush as we speak because I just looked out the window. It is a super strong, classic old rose fragrance so that a lot of people like that old rose kind of a fragrance. So it's almost nearly thornless too. So that's another reason a lot of people liked this particular Rose. It's a pink. It's a pink rose and sometimes they have the pinkish orchid kind of purplish pinkish purple, kind of lavender pinkish lavender, I guess, I would say. So it's absolutely lovely that all these three roses, all the roses I'm talking about are very, very disease resistant. None of them have had black spot or powdery mildew on them as we speak.

Farmer Fred

Do the roses you mentioned have a wide planting area? Can other parts of the country, other USDA zones besides us here in USDA Zone 9, have success with these?

Charlotte Owendyk

Yes, most of them. There are some people who live in the really colder areas. And there, the nurseries that they would go to would not stock any rose that won't survive. They're colder areas. And in some of the colder areas people will bury their roses in winter and such like that. So I would check with your local Rose Society. I'm thinking if you're in USDA Zones 2-3-4, maybe five, that's a little getting a little touchy. Secret, for example, is frost tender. So that one you need to stay in a warmer area or you need to protect it as a rose.

Farmer Fred

All right, so we have in your list of disease resistant fragrant roses, we've got secret Julia Child and Memorial Day. I bet there's more.

Charlotte Owendyk

I think I can add a few more. How about a red rose, Firefighter. That's a dusky Red Velvet hybrid tea. And it has an intense old rose fragrance. It was named after the firefighters who lost their lives on 911. So it's a remembrance type rose but it's an excellent cut flower. It's almost always one bloom per stem and it very vigorous, it likes to bloom. That's a taller Rose. It's a little bit taller than some of the other ones. Another one I really like, is for that blush kind of a bridal pink. It's called Francis Meilland. And this rose has amazing sweet strong fruit and citrus. I like roses that are kind of fruity. In fragrance,  Damask and fruit are my favorite. And this one. It's beautiful. It has the center of the roses kind of pinkish and then unfurls on it becomes ivory white, and it's just gorgeous and a great cut flower.

Farmer Fred

So a fairly new entry.

Charlotte Owendyk

That was about within the last 10 years. All of these are within the last 10-15 years.

Farmer Fred

You know, going back to something you were talking about, originally about the old roses, they had a good fragrance, but they were susceptible to diseases. You mentioned Mr. Lincoln and Double Delight, probably Fragrant Cloud would be in that mix as well.

Charlotte Owendyk

That's true. It's also in that category. I didn't put that in this article. But I made a note to mention Fragrant Cloud, because when it came out, I remember walking down the neighborhood and somebody had planted it. And naturally you walk by a rose that catches your eye because it has a great eye color. And it really stood out in that particular garden. I put my nose in and go, Oh, that's really smelly.

Farmer Fred

Said the woman who says her nose doesn't work. Yeah.

Charlotte Owendyk

Well, some days are better than other days depending on if I take an allergy pill or not.

Farmer Fred

All right, let's see if we can round up five more so that way we have a top 10. Okay, Charlotte's favorite fragrant roses.

Charlotte Owendyk

I'm going to give you  a white rose. It is a beautiful white rose. It was one of the best performers this last summer. It kept on pumping out the blooms no matter how hot it was. And that was the same thing for Memorial Day. Pope John Paul II and Memorial Day were some of my best performers in my garden. And we're talking anywhere from 80 to over 100 degree heat depending on the day. So I want to say that it's a clear white blooms. And it's a has a lot of pedals because there's about 45 petals in this one, but it has a strong citrus fragrance. And it's a stunning disease resistant bush. It has beautiful dark green, glossy foliage. Whenever I see leaves that are very glossy, I know they're going to most likely be very disease resistant because they have a waxy covering and like the spores from the fungus and from the powdery mildew kind of roll off. They have a harder time getting through that glossy, waxy covering so that I know when I see a rosebush with a waxy cover. I go, Oh, this one's probably going to be good disease resistant. So it's my number three fragrant rose.

Farmer Fred

Pope John Paul the second.

Charlotte Owendyk

I actually have two of them. And I wasn't going to get another one. And then I was walking through a nursery, and they're in a pot. And it was just sitting all by itself with a couple other roses. And it was near the end of the season. So it's August, and it had at least 10 to 15 White blooms on this pot. I said that is such a good bush. I'm going to take you home with me. So I do pick up stray cats and dogs.

Farmer Fred

All right. All right. How about some more?

Charlotte Owendyk

That's why you like talking to me because I can make you laugh. Okay, Princess Alexandria of Kent. There's a whole group of roses, called English roses or Austin roses. And David Austin was the hybridizer out of England. And he loved all the garden roses because he liked the shape of the bloom. There's hundreds of petals usually and a lot of them are very, very fragrant. But many of them didn't bloom that frequently or they only bloom once a year. They'd have the spring bloom and then they'd stop or they have intermittent blooms the rest of the year. So he crossed hybrid tea and the newer modern roses which bloom all the time they're called recurrent and he came up with some beautiful roses. And one of the ones I absolutely love is Princess Alexandria of Kent. They're very large, bright pink flowers that are cupped and they don't hang down. They look up at you because the stem holding them up is very good and it's a very rounded shrub. It's been four feet by four feet in my garden and has a fresh tea fragrance that matures get with a little bit of lemon and hand have blackberries and it handles our heat really well. So that's a lovely one. I really liked that one. Let's see how about I'm going to give you Golden Celebration. I've had this one for a very long time. And I like it because that golden yellow color, it's not quite the same color. It's a richer color than Julia Child. And it's a bigger bush. But it has a beautiful fragrance and I can pick it and bring it in that the whole house smells, not just the room and it has strong tea kind of a wine, a wine and strawberry fragrance. It's just beautiful. And it's a stunning rose. Now sometimes when you have a very fragrant rose, it doesn't necessarily always last that long. And this one doesn't last that long. Everyone that I've mentioned earlier, it are all good cut flowers, but this one lasts three or four days where the other will last five or six days.

Farmer Fred

And it's a deep yellow color, right?

Charlotte Owendyk

Yep, it's just a golden yellow. Yeah, it's absolutely gorgeous. Beverly is another really nice one. It's a really bright intense pink. It's more of a pink, it's a deep pink and it has more of a ruffled kind of look at the fragrance in that it has citrus. I love how these peach pear and plum you know has along with a couple of other under notes, but you're gonna have to figure that out with your own nose. And it's a beautiful rose. Instead of having a kind of a pointy tip to it, it opens up flat so it's pretty in an arrangement. And that's a lovely one. Another one and I love I just love this one.

Farmer Fred

This will be your last one. You're sure you want to make this one your last one?

Charlotte Owendyk

Well yeah, yeah. I'm going to make this one. It's called Falling in love. Okay. Because if you plant this you're going to love all kinds of roses. No. No The reason I don't know why the marketers came up with this one. But when we saw this rose we just chuckle, it's a beautiful pink rose. It can last up to seven days as a cut rose and it has the perfect spiral shape it and it's super fragrant. But when you cut it and you look at the stems is very thorny.

Farmer Fred

Oh my. Well still, be careful.

Charlotte Owendyk

Except the big prickles ,but they're farther apart.

Farmer Fred

Master Rosarian Charlotte Owendyk's top 10 fragrant roses: Secret, Julia Child, Memorial Day, Firefighter, Francis Mielland, Pope John Paul the second, Princess Alexandria of Kent, Golden Celebration, Beverly, and Falling in Love. Serve them in a salad soon.

Charlotte Owendyk

In a Botanical restaurant.

Farmer Fred

why not? Charlotte Owendyk is with the Sierra Foothills Rose Society. Some great fragrant roses there. Thank you for your efforts in this behalf, Charlotte.

Charlotte Owendyk

It's been a pleasure and I love talking with you, Fred. Oh, we have fun. Yes, you do. All right.

Farmer Fred

Thank you, Charlotte.

Charlotte Owendyk

Well, okay, bye bye.

Farmer Fred:

Garden Basics with Farmer Fred comes out every Friday. Garden Basics is available wherever podcasts are handed out. For more information about the podcast, as well as an accurate transcript of the podcast, visit our website, GardenBasics.net. And thank you so much for listening and your support.