I have never known anyone who grows currents or gooseberries. There isn't a tradition. I barely know anyone who grows plums, cherries, or peaches. I have a red current bush. I made a batch of jam from it last year. Quite tasty. It needs to be moved (yes, deer again) if I can find a spot. I tried growing gooseberries but some kind of insect kept defoliating it and it died. Someone's state by state list of ribes laws. here. I guess I wont be reading "The perfumed garden" I wanted to grow breadseed poppies but I've read about arrests for that. Seed companies sell the seeds but it's confusing. I'd rather not get arrested so I stick to oriental poppies and Shirley poppies.
Thank you @Daniel W for the information that makes it much clearer. Also I didn't know about the poppy seed.
What an eye opener Daniel, as far as I know we haven't seen this disease in the UK and I find it hard to imagine our gardens without the Ribes genus at all. We use Ribes sanguineum widely as an ornamental shrub, and there are a few varieties of this. Another favourite of mine is the highly scented one with yellow flowers, useful for hedging - not much good then for your perfumed garden .... There appears to be a big list of states that have no restrictions on the Ribes family, following your link ? We have trouble mostly from blackbirds when it comes to growing currants and gooseberries, but they are usually contained in bird proofed cages for success. Blackcurrant cordials and jams etc are very popular here.
This week I also started four o'clock seeds. I've grown four o'clocks for years and honestly don't recall the scent. Some writers say they are fragrant. Maybe the new batch of seeds will produce more fragrant plants. Four o'clocks grow nicely here. Deer and rabbits don't touch them. Normally they come back again every year and make a nice bushy green plant. I will plant this batch in a new location that is awkward for me to garden so I want something that fills in and is low maintenance. Next week I'll start some morning glories. I don't know if they are fragrant. Oh - I sourced some large but messy old lavender plants a while back. They were going to be removed. I trimmed them back and cleaned them up. They have all started to add fresh new growth.
My favorite for scent is lavender. Pretty easy to grow here in VA so so long as you get some sand in the hole and add lime in fall. Here is a terrific guide to growing lavender in Virginia for those of you blessed with acidic clay soils!
Yes lavender likes a lot of drainage, got some that seeded in a tarmac path by our front garden around the side and doing well.
