As the warmth of May arrives, the air is immediately filled with a striking mix of fragrances from plants and trees. In this video, Chris Fehlhaber, assistant horticulturist at Chanticleer Garden, tours the garden grounds to share several shrubs that fill the landscape with refreshingly beautiful scents.
Chris starts with the Abelia mosanensis, which appropriately blooms each May and is full of buds ready to open. Up next is a classic —the ‘President Lincoln’ Lilac is not only over one hundred years old, but also offers a stunning, pure blue flower in addition to lilac’s typically fresh scent. Lilacs are important to prune once the flower fades to encourage further growth.
The Ribes aureum features a somewhat unusual clove scent while serving as an important host plant for birds and pollinators. While these three shrubs all require full sun and start to bloom currently as the weather blooms, Chris also shares an option for alternate growing conditions. The Viburnam carlessi, native to Korea, is an early blooming shrub already nearing the end of its blooming season that tolerates some shade while adding late winter color to your garden.
