Bowling for Erysimum

Bowles’s Mauve is a prolific, fragrant wallflower and has been flowering since December in Villa Marie, despite the harsh, cold winter.

The longest and severest of winters eventually comes to a reluctant end. Spring arrives, bringing with it an increase in temperature, light intensity, and hope. In particular, spring brings radiant days filled with a medley of scents released from early shrubs and emerging perennials. These garden scents are vital, for in these pinched, penury-stricken days, many believe that spring is not always ‘just around the corner’.

However, a whiff of an evocative flower fragrance, can often raise one’s spirit — no wonder aromatherapy has gained such favour in today’s busy world. Yet, for generations, scented flowers and aromatic leaves were strewn on manor floors and church pew seats to elevate the spirits and cleanse stale air of mustiness and odours.