Create a winter scented garden

With winter sapping many of the autumn colours from the land, gardeners can turn to their other senses for enjoyment of their gardens and greenhouses.

The most obvious sense that a gardener can cater for, other than the visual, is smell.

Gardening expert Stephen Lacey has been writing in the Daily Telegraph on the topic of scented plants and advises greenhouse and garden owners to plant Mahonia viburnum, sarcococca, daphne and wintersweet.

He said he has created a "potent cocktail" of fragrant plants by his front gate to welcome visitors to his home.

The Royal Horticultural Society advises that witch hazel, which has a fruity scent, should be grown in moderately fertile acid to neutral soil that is moist but well-drained.

Gardeners in the US will soon be able to enjoy a scent-devoted display at Powell Gardens in Missouri.

"The Fragrance Garden: A Journey for the Senses" is an exhibition which consists of a glasshouse filled entirely with scented plants.

Visitors will be given coffee beans to sniff between plants to "cleanse the palate".