Galium odoratum

Galium odoratum, better known as Sweet Woodruff or Sweet-scented Bedstraw, is a hardy perennial plant of the forest floor that forms beautiful emerald-green carpets and comes to life in spring with pretty white-ivory, honey-scented flowers. It is also a medicinal plant, renowned for the aroma of its stems reminiscent of a mix of freshly cut hay, vanilla, and tonka bean, which can be detected when they are broken or dried. An excellent evergreen ground cover, sweet woodruff is perfect for ornamenting shaded areas of the garden, adding the discreet charm and efficiency of wild plants. 

Formerly known as Asperula odorata, Galium odoratum is a plant belonging to the Rubiaceae family, akin to Gardenias. It is a creeping herbaceous plant, perennial through its rampant rhizome. Native to Eastern Europe and Russia, it tolerates cold weather well (-20 °C (-4 °F)), but requires a humus-rich soil that remains slightly moist in summer. The foliage, usually evergreen (except in colder regions), consists of clusters (or whorls) of 6 to 9 oval and elongated leaves, 3 to 5 cm (1 to 2 in) long, emerald-green in colour, carried by rough, quadrangular, upright stems, averaging 20 cm (8 in) tall. This plant spreads sideways through its underground stems transformed into rhizomes. Its slightly flagrant flowering occurs from May to June. It takes the form of inflorescences resembling small umbels, composed of small white flowers with 4 petals. Once pollinated by insects, each flower gives way to a small fruit covered in hooked hairs that cling to the fur of animals: this is how sweet woodruff ensures its dispersal. 

Sweet woodruff forms beautiful carpets in clearings or open woodland, alongside daffodils, comfrey, lungworts, and Brunneras, etc. This countryside perennial is used as a ground cover at the base of deciduous shrubs, along a shaded path or wall, or even in the vegetable garden, alongside other medicinal plants. In the past, its freshly cut leaves were used to scent the house as they emit a pleasant aroma that is both herbaceous, spicy, and sweet, and the flowers were used to make bouquets to place in closets, to repel insects and perfume clothes. The plant contains an aromatic molecule called coumarin, which is used in the production of anticoagulant treatments.

Some gardeners may be familiar with wild madder (Rubia peregrina), another plant belonging to the Rubiaceae family that somewhat resembles sweet woodruff. Unlike sweet woodruff, however, wild madder is a climbing plant and does not have a scent.