Planting for Scent in Your Garden

Feel Free to Share!

Planting for Scent in Your Garden, adding flowers primarily for scent adds another level of pleasure to your fabulous garden.

I love planting for scent.  Is there anything better than walking into a beautiful garden and being greeted with the sweetest perfume wafting in the air?

You look around to see what could possibly be emitting such fragrance and follow your nose to a lovely flower that is as enjoyable to view as it is to smell.

Garden for Scent, Planting for Scent

Each part of the garden season has its own sweet-smelling contributions.

Violas

Garden for Scent, Plant for Scent

I have favorites for Spring like bright, cheery violas..

Garden for Scent, Planting for Scent

They come in such an array of colors but their scent is pure Spring for me.

I plant my window boxes full in Fall, they sit there all winter huddled together then on the first warm days they bounce into bloom and emit a light deliciousness that just screams Spring for me, even if Spring is a bit down the road yet.

Sweet Williams

planting for scent, garden for scent, perfume in the garden

Sweet Williams gives off a soft fragrance as well and they are early bloomers here.  I did an entire post on growing Sweet Williams as many are not familiar with this close cousin of the Dianthus..

Scented Iris

Planting for Scent

Some of my heirloom Iris (my grandmother called them Flags) also have a fun scent, it reminds me of Grape Kool-Aid and they bloom early and last for weeks on end.

Roses

Planting for Scent

A bit later comes the roses…never forget the roses.  Find ones that are particularly scented.  David Austin’s site lists which of his have won awards for scent and usually many good sites to purchase plants from will tell you if a plant is well perfumed.

You can grow roses in your Garden, they are easier than you think!

Lilacs

Wait!  I almost forgot my harbinger of Spring!

How to Grow and Care for Lilacs for a sweet cottage garden, FlowerPatchFarmhouse.com

Lilacs, I have a couple of posts dedicated to them and they are beloved by me, I have started a few from heirloom plants and there is no sweeter scent first thing in Spring.

Sweet Peas

planting for scent

As the Spring flowers fade then the Summer bloomers are ready for their time on center stage….Sweet Peas can’t be beat this time of year.

Lilies

I shouldn’t say can’t be beat as the Lilies get started they have a strong perfume that you can smell from across the garden but they are more short-lived than the Sweet Peas.

planting for scent, trumpet lily

Here the Trumpet Lilies start first and they have a unique to them scent..this is in my side garden but I planted more of these in my Secret Garden in different colors.

Late Summer Garden 2016, Oriental Lilies

Then come my Oriental Lilies…I need to do an entire post sharing my different colors.  Has anyone grown the Orienpet lilies?  

I have some in my Secret Garden but they did not do so well this year, I was wondering if it was me or if others have struggled with them.

Oriental Lily

Echinacea

How to Grow Purple Coneflower aka Echinacea

I have some Echinacea that are also slightly scented, you need to bend down close to catch it but it is so sweet..plus these beauties soldier on through the toughest heat with aplomb!

Lavender

Late Summer Garden 2016, Lavender

There are other fragrant plants that I love, herbs come to mind and when I brush against my lavender I am rewarded with a pungent, earthy but relaxing scent.

I made some topiaries with some Lavender cuttings. It is so simple and placing them around makes for fun punctuations in the garden!

Monarda aka Bee Balm

Purple Rooster Bee Balm Monarda in Secret Cottage Garden, Flower Patch Farmhouse dot com

Bee Balm is in the mint family and it is the foliage that has the scent. It releases its sweet aroma when you brush against it or even just as the heat is waning on a summers day.

Monarda comes in various sizes and colors plus you can grow some varieties in containers!

Learn all about growing Monarda Bee Balm here!


There are many more plants for scent that I have yet to add to my garden. (isn’t there always more)

Enjoy another level of gorgeous

Fragrant Flowers of Spring

What springtime blooms reward you with not only beauty but fabulous scents as well?

Any scented favorites you in your garden that I haven’t tried or listed? I love to try new plants.

Happy Gardening!

signaturePamela_thumb.png

Feel Free to Share!

Similar Posts

24 Comments

  1. I will definitely be adding more Nicotiana to my garden next year. thank you!

  2. Nicotatiana is one that on a cloudy summer afternoon or a warm evening that’s has just the right humidity level can bring out a most intoxicating fragrance similar to gardenias ..

  3. Yours sound like perennial sweet peas and though lovely are terribly invasive here. I yank them out. But I have had some lovely ladies in England email me and say they are quite well mannered in their gardens. So go ahead and plant some annual sweet peas too if you want the sweet scent.

  4. Hi Pamela,
    Like your butterfly bush, I have sweet peas (which I love!) but I don’t notice any scent from them at all. They are climbers and I’ve had them for years. Maybe there are different varieties?

  5. Joannescott says:

    love your posts.

  6. That sound wonderful. I will have to investigate that bush and maybe include it on my wishlist.

  7. Karen Stancil says:

    Korean spice verbinum bush has an amazing scent! Doesn’t seem too many folks know of it but it’s worth looking for! ☺

  8. I have wanted to give Lily of the Valley a try, I just haven’t gotten around to it. I have heard it is just lovely for scent.

  9. I love your list of plants,mostly my choice,I love Lily of the Valley too but it always fails me.your photos are great.Thank you

  10. I love Petunias too. Some really don’t like their scent but I do, I think it takes me back to my childhood. My mom always had a big row of petunias planted in front of the house in summer.

  11. I went out early this morning to dead head my Black Knight Butterfly bush and put my nose into a bloom. Sure enough, it has a sweet scent. Very subtle and it may release it when it is warmed up more. I know there have been times I have been greeted by a very different perfume in the garden but could not find what it was, I think now it may very well have been my butterfly bush.

  12. Pamela, An interesting thing happened regarding my butterfly bush last night. I met a couple walking in the alley and as we spoke about my back garden, I invited them to smell the butterfly bush. There was no scent. And, yet, it was producing a heavenly scent during the day when it was covered with butterflies. Could the scent possible be strong during the day and reduced at night. I think so!
    Ginene

  13. Debbie Jones says:

    I say petunias have a nice scent. Am I the only one who smells it? Jasmine is wonderful! We have a plant near our spa. Heavenly! Night jasmine is VERY strong! Took mine out.

  14. Your neighbor is doing the right thing – ignoring his wisteria – apparently that is what you do! I remember one year when the flower buds on mine began to appear! Hubby thought he was helping by giving the wisteria some soluble nourishment! Wrong! The buds just developed into leaves and I did not get one bloom that year! So we do not fertilize ours now – it is near camellia and azalea bushes so the roots can get some nourishment from their feed over time! Happy gardening!

  15. They sound glorious! I love touring other gardens with plants that I could not possibly grow. I should find these varieties in the Valley and experience the sweet scents you have mentioned. Isn’t it wonderful that somehow they can all have their own perfume and yet they don’t seem to clash in the garden.

  16. Thanks, Lyn, I do know it is my favorite subject to photo. 😀

  17. I never could get my Wisteria to bloom so I took it out, though my neighbor has an absolutely gorgeous one that blooms much,much later than others around here. He basically ignores it. I should see if he would let me get some cuttings to start from his since I know it is a tried and true variety that thrives here. Thanks for sharing, I love learning about other plants that have heavenly scent. 🙂

  18. I have wanted to get jasmine or honeysuckle to have on my deck. I would most likely need to bring it inside in winter so I should check on that.

  19. I have not noted my Butterfly Bush having scent so I should go out by it and see. I have read that about butterfly bush and wonder if it is certain varieties. I should look that up. Thanks for sharing, I have wanted to add more of them to my garden so now I will be sure they are well scented when I do.

  20. We have many hedges and trees in the south that perfume my yard. Ligustrum and pittisporum are two of the hedge shrubs. Japanese plum and, of course, the sweet magnolia are a few of my favorite blooming trees. Oh, don’t forget the Mimosa!

  21. Lyn Pilgrim says:

    beautiful photos Pamela as always !

  22. Agree 100% with you, Pamela – you have listed “my garden”, too – but what about wisteria? Mine has started getting what I call “pussy willow buds” this past week which means spring is just around the corner here in Perth, Western Australia and I find the perfume of the blossom so heady when it finally blooms in full – just lovely – almost as strong as gardenias! Happy gardening!

  23. Makes me wish the internet could convey smells! By far, the most beautiful fragrances in my garden are orange blossoms and night-blooming jasmine.

  24. Pamela,
    What a nice post on the scent of flowers. This year I planted, for the first time, a butterfly bush. The scent is something like lilac, but more complicated. Heavenly.
    Ginene

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *