You don’t need to visit fancy, formal gardens at this time of year, just mooch along the footpath, as so many gardeners have kindly planted roses and other fragrant growers along their front fences.

Not that all of the roses along the footpaths are fragrant. Two thirds of the brick wall in the main street of Braidwood has a glorious display of white roses, totally scentless. But pink roses sprawl down the other third,
and they make up for it. A small group of tourists stood there with me, all of us simply sniffing.

I found another gorgeous scent down a side street, a bush of Mock Orange or Philadelphus (not Murraya paniculata which can become a weed). The scent is supposed to be like orange blossom, though it isn’t
really, although both are sweet.

Philadelphus’s scent is so strong it can wander through the entire garden and down the footpath too. It will grow in semi-shade, but blooms best in full sun and it seems more fragrant in sunny spots as well. They are attractive, glossy-leafed bushes, but can become a bit twiggy or decidedly twiggy – so prune them lightly all over as soon as flowering finishes.

If you fall in love with them, take cuttings in winter; leave in semi-shade in wet sand and plant out after a year or two, when their roots are well established.

Common jasmine (Jasminum officinale), or poet's jasmine, is one of the most fragrant spring flowers of all time. It is also one of the worst garden weeds of all time, and I still mutter at the ‘kind friend’ who planted some for us without telling us. We are still pulling the wretched stuff out each year, finding it by its scent. But that scent is stunning – almost glorious enough to accept strangled apple trees and collapsing fences.

And some darling local gardener has put in sweet peas, the old-fashioned fragrant kind. I adore sweet peas. Our bowerbirds and wallabies also adore sweet peas, so I have given up planting them or, rather, every few years I try again and every time I do, they are eaten.

A handful of sweet peas is one of the most wonderful small gifts in the universe, and a vase of them on a receptionist’s desk even better. But before you plant, do check they are a disease-resistant variety, and will cope with your climate (they don’t like humidity) and that they are fragrant, not just showy.

Our garden is about half a kilometre from our front gate, but our ‘second’ front gate, the one by the house which we naively thought would be part of a wombat- and wallaby-proof fence (ha!) has a port wine magnolia in full
bloom by it.

Port wine magnolias are really Michelia figo, not true magnolias. They are almost totally inconspicuous all year round – if you ever need a disguise, become a port wine magnolia and no one will notice you – but the scent is stunning (not the James Bond sort of stunning, the other kind). But for some reason it seems to lurk several metres away from its bush, so you can’t easily see where it is coming from, at least not until the
small wine red petals fall – and they are inconspicuous too.

Port wine magnolias make a brilliant front hedge for privacy – they trim into extremely neat shapes, and are not so rampant that they need constant tending, but still grow fast enough to become a proper hedge in three or so
years. It also has one glorious advantage – it blooms on old wood. That means you can trim your port wine magnolia hedge each summer, and still have blossom and scent the following spring.

The one fabulous spring scent I haven’t come across this year (yet) is gardenia. The only gardenia grower I know here grows hers in a protected courtyard. Gardenias do best in a mild, humid climate. Out climate is either hot, freezing or windy, except for about 65 days when it is perfect and you forgive the other 300.

But gardenias are not as forgiving as gardeners. If you find the right spot though – warm and protected from
winds – they are surprisingly low maintenance, with glossy leaves and the world’s most romantic scent, except for that of a Papa Meilland rose (I admit bias though about Papa Meilland roses).

Gardenias are smallish shrubs – some varieties are smaller than others – and make excellent pot plants, especially by the front door where the scent will pervade the house … or by the front gate, for those garden lovers like me who come along sniffing the perfumes of the footpath. And, unlike canine sniffers, we garden lovers seldom, if ever, lift our legs on your gate post.

Braidwood Open Gardens
November 24-25 is ‘Open Garden’ day in Braidwood. The cost if $5 for one garden, or $15 for all four gardens on display: the stunning historic Durham Hall, Linden, Bedervale and Exeter Farm. All profits go to the not-for-profit Braidwood Preschool.
More information is available at www.braidwoodgardens.com.au