You might think that the best part of your garden are all visual – the flowers, textures, and colors – but have you considered fragrance as a component of your garden? A scented garden can bring back memories, relax and calm you, or just put a smile on your face.
At least, that’s what these fragrances do for me. When I walk through a garden or past a particular plant, I take a deep breath to inhale the fragrance. I’m reminded of the garden at my grandmother’s house or the time spent playing under the magnolias as a child. While flowers are beautiful to look at and a well-planned garden is visually stunning, scent adds another layer of complexity to your garden.
While some plants and flowers have delicate fragrances, others have strong almost overpowering odors. Keep these in mind when you are integrating scented plants into your garden landscape. I tend to gravitate towards the delicate, mild scents, but I can include some of the stronger fragrances if they are further away from my home (allergies, darn it!).
Spend some time smelling the flowering plants, vines, shrubs, and trees on this list and determine which ones you prefer before planting them in your garden. Enjoy!
Stargazer Lily
Lilium ‘Stargazer’
Grown from a bulb, this perennial lily is strongly fragrant with a very floral scent. It’s perfect for a scent garden. Don’t get the pollen on you – it stains! The plant gets between 2-3 feet tall and prefers full to part-sun.
Bloom time: Summer
USDA Zones 3 – 9
Sweet Peas
Lathyrus odoratus
If you haven’t smelled a sweet pea, you’re missing out. It’s an amazingly sweet scent, but it doesn’t overpower. This annual plant climbs, so be sure to stake it and provide a trellis. Prefers full-sun.
Bloom time: Spring to Summer
USDA Zones 2 – 10
Lilacs
Syringa spp.
There are several kinds of lilacs, so you should be able to find one that does well in your zone. Height ranges from small (3 feet) to large (15-foot tall). Butterflies like the flowers that produce a lightly sweet scent. Perennial, grow in full sun to part shade.
Bloom time: Spring and Summer
USDA Zones 3-7
Hyacinths
Hyacinthus spp.
A spring-flowering bulb with a potent, sweet fragrance. Flowers are blue, pink, purple, white, red, burgundy, and yellow. Plant in full sun for best results but will be fine in part shade.
Bloom time: Spring
USDA Zones 2 – 9
Pansies and Violas
Viola spp.
You might be surprised to discover that pansies and violas have a faintly sweet scent. Plant in full sun for the strongest odor. It’s perfect on a fall day in a scented garden. Generally grown as an annual.
Bloom time: Spring, Fall, & Winter
USDA Zones 4 – 8
Gardenia
Gardenia spp.
Gardenias are evergreen shrubs with bright green leaves and strongly fragrant flowers. Height ranges from 4 feet to 8 feet, depending on variety. Most have white blooms while a few have yellow.
Bloom time: Spring and Summer
USDA Zones 7-11
Star Jasmine
Trachelospermum jasminoides
This vine has many small star-shaped flowers with a strong fragrance. Can be grown in full sun to part shade. In warmer climates, it is evergreen.
Bloom time: Spring and Summer
USDA Zones 7-11
Chinese wisteria
Wisteria sinensis
Beautiful purple hanging blooms on this vine produce a sweet floral scent in early spring. Be careful as this vine can be highly aggressive and invasive. Grow in full sun to part shade.
Bloom time: Spring
USDA Zones 5 – 9
Daffodils and Paperwhites
Narcissus spp.
Daffodils have a much fainter scent that becomes stronger in full sun while paperwhites have a much stronger scent. Grown from bulbs planted in the fall, they bloom in spring. Plant in full sun for best results.
Bloom time: Spring
USDA Zones 3 to 9
Eleagnus
Eleagnus spp.
The genus Eleagnus contains many shrubs ranging in size from relatively small to over 15 feet. On many, the underside of the leaves have shiny coppery or silvery scales on them. The blooms are very tiny, but have a lovely scent; intensity of the scent differs by species.
Bloom time: Spring, Summer, Fall
USDA Zones 4 to 9
Butterfly Bush
Buddleia spp.
Lovely long flower spikes of pink, purple, red, white, yellow or shades in between can be found on butterfly bushes. They can grow to be very tall – over 15 feet. Plant in full sun for the strongest fragrance. Adult butterflies will feed on the nectar of the flowers.
Be cautious when selecting to grow this shrub as in some locations it is considered invasive.
Bloom time: Summer
Zones 5 to 10
Lemon Tree
Citrus spp.
Such a tiny flower on a lemon tree can produce such a heavenly scent. I have a miniature lemon tree and when it blooms, it smell so good. Plant in full sun and if you are outside of recommended zones, you can grow it in a container and move it indoors when necessary.
Bloom time: Mainly Spring and Fall
Zones 8 to 10
Freesia
Freesia spp.
In areas with really mild winters, plant the corms of your freesia in fall for spring blooms. In colder climates, plant in spring. They prefer full sun but will handle part-shade. Make sure the soil is well draining. The scent of the freesia is moderate and may overpower a small room.
Bloom time: Spring
Zones 4 to 11
Southern Magnolia
Magnolia grandiflora
The scent of a southern magnolia flower is a bit like a sweet lemon. It’s clean, fresh, and light. It’s one of my favorites. These trees get very tall and are wide branching, so give them lots of room. Southern magnolias are evergreen, but they lose a lot of leaves year-round, and can be quite a chore to clean them up. They are thick, leathery leaves that take a while to decompose.
Bloom time: Spring and Summer
Zones 6-10
Tall Garden Phlox
Phlox paniculata
While these plants get to be 3 to nearly 4 feet tall and nearly as wide, they produce large abundant flowers with a soft, sweet scent. Perennial and should be planted in full sun with good drainage. Not all phlox have a scent, so make sure you are getting the correct kind.
Bloom time: Summer
Zones 4-8
Rose
Rosa spp.
You can’t forget about roses when you’re planning a scent garden. There are a large variety of roses available, but not all have a strong fragrance. Some of the newer hybrids have none that you would notice. Follow your nose to find one that you like the smell of. My favorites are the old-fashioned roses. Roses do best in full sun with well-draining soil.
Bloom Time: Spring, Summer, Fall
All zones
Carolina Jasmine
Gelsemium sempervirens
With a strong, heady scent, these bright yellow trumpet-shaped blooms attract bees and butterflies. This evergreen vine spreads rapidly, so make sure you put it somewhere it won’t take over and you’ll need to trim it. Plant in full sun for the most flowers and strongest scent. Native to the U.S.
Bloom time: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
Zones 7-9
Lavender
Lavandula spp.
The fragrance of lavender is in both the flowers and the leaves. There are different cultivars of lavender from English, French, and Spanish lavenders! They grow best in full sun in well-drained soil
Bloom time: Spring, Summer, Fall
Zones 7-10
Rosemary
Rosmarinus officinalis
This evergreen shrub is commonly used in cooking. Every time I walk by it, I stick my hand in to get the scent. I love how it smells. Although it does produce blooms, they are tiny. The scent is in the leaves. It has to have well-drained soil to avoid root rot and powdery milder. It prefers full sun but can tolerate part shade.
Bloom time: Spring and Summer
Zones 7-10
Sweetshrub
Calycanthus floridus
Adding sweetshrub to your scented garden is a must! It has scented flowers, leaves, and even bark. It has a fruity scent and blooms in May to July. It grows up to 9 feet tall, preferring full sun to part shade.
Bloom time: Spring and Summer
Zones 4 to 9
