Creating a Scent Garden for your Backyard
The smell of a southern magnolia flower always stops me in my tracks. My neighbor has one and when it is blooming, I always spend a few extra moments in front of his yard enjoying the smell. It’s so lemony fresh — it reminds me of childhood days spent outdoors climbing trees.
Most of us select plants and flowers for our gardens based on the way they look or the height and shape of the plant. But have you ever thought about the way they smell?
Scents can work in powerful ways. They can trigger a memory or even change your mood. Scent is very personal, so take your time to find the plants with fragrances that best fit your taste.
My sense of smell is a bit ridiculous. Sometimes that is a good thing – like when there is delicious food cooking but sometimes it’s just plain unpleasant. As a result, there are some plants that I can’t stand the smell of because they are too overpowering. I prefer flowers and plants with less heady odors.
When you are picking the plants that best fit your favorite odors, be sure to pick ones that complement one another or be sure to plant them far enough apart in your garden so as to not overpower one another. If you include a plan for particular scents in your garden, you can create wonderful aromas through the seasons.
Planning a Scent Garden
My favorite scented plants are those that have a less perfumed smell, but some of them on my list have pretty strong fragrances. My picks for the best plants to create a scent garden in your backyard are listed below. Most of these I would never bring indoors as they would overpower my rooms and my sense of smell, but outdoors where the scent is dispersed, they are just heavenly.
Early to Mid Spring Bloomers
- Hyacinth (heavy perfume)
- Wisteria (medium to heavy scent) – Wisteria sinensis
- Sweet peas (light scent) – Lathyrus odoratus
- Daffodils (medium scent)
- Lilac (medium perfume) – Lila persa (Persian lilac grows in the southeast)
- Sweetshrub (wide range of smells from flowers to leaves and bark) – Calycanthus floridus
Late Spring and Summer Bloomers
- Stargazer lily (heavy perfume)
- Southern magnolia (light scent) – Magnolia grandiflora
- Lavender (light scent)
- Gardenia (heavy perfume)
- Sweet Autumn Clematis (medium to heavy perfume) – Clematis paniculata
- Roses (light to medium perfume)
- Carolina jasmine (medium perfume) – Gelsemium sempervirens
- Scented geraniums (light scent) – Pelargonium spp.
- Butterfly bush (light scent) – Buddleja spp.
- Honeysuckle (light scent) – Lonicera japonica
- Confederate or star jasmine (heavy perfume) – Trachelospermum jasminoides
Fall Bloomers
- Pansies (light scent) – I only smell them when they are in full sun, but they have a very sweet smell
- Silverberry (light to medium scent) – Elaeagnus pungens
Year-Round Scent
- Rosemary (light scent)
- Wax myrtle (leaves smell when broken) – Myrica cerifera
All of the plants listed above are all suitable for Southeastern gardens. I’m in zone 7b and have grown all of them at some time or another. Choose a few plants across all seasons so that you always have fragrance in your own garden.
I recommend planting those with heavy perfume scents further away from your sitting area so that the wind carries the odor to you rather than being overpowered by the concentrated scent of the plant.
For those with lighter scents, they can be planted adjacent to your doors or windows so that when you open the house up, you can enjoy their fragrance.
Is there a plant that I omitted from this list? Leave a comment about your favorite fragrant plant or flower.
