The only thing better than a flower garden is a scented flower garden

Magazine production is a funny thing. To think about gardening in spring while watching the snow swirl around in late winter can be a challenge. Normally, there are fresh flowers and flowering plants on my desk to urge me along, although in late winter it’s hard to find fragrant flowers at the shops.

A look inside one of my many photo libraries some time back planted the idea for this story. No, we can’t smell glorious flowers through the pages of our magazine. But can you imagine the scent of a peony, fresh cut lilacs, fragrant roses? Sure, you can. And soon those will be blooming for real in our gardens. Don’t have a lot of scented plants yet? Maybe this is the year to change that!

Before we go further, let me twist an old adage to say, fragrance is in the nose of the beholder. Some gardeners love the scent of lantana flowers and foliage, while others find them skunky. (I don’t like the scent but love the flowers and just avoid brushing up against them.) Some people may find our common “French” lilacs overwhelming in scent and prefer the milder scent of Preston hybrids and reblooming species. There are those who love the scent of petunias, whereas I grow them only for their outrageously beautiful colours and their attraction for hummingbirds. Scent is highly personal.

It may be surprising to learn that not all varieties of a plant species are scented. I have a fairly substantial collection of daylilies (Hemerocallis), some of which are sweetly perfumed, and some of which have little fragrance. I spend a good part of daylily bloom time with telltale yellow pollen on my nose because I have to check each one. Some species of true lilies (Lilium) are highly scented, such as the Oriental varieties (think ‘Stargazer’ and ‘Casablanca’) whereas Asiatic varieties are unscented.

Likewise, plant breeders are busily improving some ornamental plants, developing fragrance where traditionally there is none. We all know and love begonias for their bodacious blooms in showstopping colours, but they’ve never been known for scent. That’s all changed with the recent introduction of several lines of scented begonia varieties, including the ‘Fragrant Falls’ series. This line boasts three perfumed begonias in yellow, peach and pink flower colours, and they are an utter delight.

Tall white nicotiana’s remarkable fragrance is especially obvious in the evenings.

 

Plan where to plant

Although some plants like a large lilac shrub can scent a whole yard, it’s nice to have fragrant blooms near where you like to sit or walk. In the summer I set my chaise lounge beside the rugosa rose ‘Michel Trudeau’ where I can enjoy the scent of the huge fuchsia-coloured blooms, and watch bumblebees, too. Coming along the walkway, the garden has plenty of lavender, various types of pinks, and other annuals and perennials. The main thing is to have your fragrant plants where you can smell them easily, and not have to clamber through a perennial bed to get to your peonies.

While we can’t control wind—and many of us have plenty of that year-round—if you have sheltered parts of your garden, these are great places to add fragrant plants. That way the scent lingers and isn’t swept away to wherever the wind takes it.

With a little planning, you can also have fragrance in your garden from the first spring bulbs right through the gardening season.

 

Night scented flowers

Some flowering plants release their most fragrance at evening, in part to attract night-flying pollinators. Last year I planted half a dozen tall white annual nicotiana (Nicotiana sylvestris) along my walkway, and around suppertime they would start to release their scent. I often sat on my deck with a cup of coffee or other beverage and just reveled in the fragrance, which is reminiscent of lily-of-the-valley. Not all species of nicotiana are scented, however, so do check with your local nursery before bringing home unscented ones to add to your fragrant plantings.

There are annuals and perennials with “night-scented” in their names, as well as references to evening—these can usually be counted on for delightful perfume. Night-scented stocks are not the showiest annual you’ll ever meet, but their fragrance is fabulous, and they are easily grown from seed. If you’re fortunate enough to have a night-blooming cereus, a succulent relative of Christmas cactus, you probably have many visitors during that evening performance.

Going vertical

Those of us with somewhat limited gardening spaces often opt to have a variety of climbing plants scrambling around the garden, up trellises and shrubs, smaller trees and other supports. There are numerous lovely scented perennial vines and annual flowers to help fill in the vertical fragrance show. If you have a sturdy arbour or are faithful in pruning, wisteria is a real winner, for our noses and for pollinators, too. Sweet peas, of course, are a favourite of many gardeners, and you can get dwarf varieties for a pot as well as tall varieties to scramble up your supports. Many honeysuckles have great fragrance as well as being beloved by pollinators, but you may have to do a “smell check” to make sure you’re purchasing a scented variety.

Some clematis are fragrant, too—look for ‘Sweet Summer Love’, ‘Serious Black, ’Clematis montana varieties, and ‘Sweet Autumn’, among others.

Then there are the trees and shrubs with fragrant flowers. Among the most glorious are the magnolias, which come in a host of sizes from shrub to truly tree-sized. Linden trees are a personal favourite because they’re also a bee-magnet; lilacs are a quintessential favourite of many. Some deciduous azaleas have spicy-sweet flowers, although the scent does vary with the variety. If you have the space, consider one of the fragrant viburnums rather than that aphid-laden, scentless snowball bush—look for Korean Spice viburnum, or for the Burkwood viburnum—these shrubs are simply glorious.

 

Lavender makes gardeners euphoric with its clean perfume.

Fragrant foliage

Although we all know about the beauty of herbs for cooking and cosmetic purposes, sometimes we might forget that their foliage is also pleasing in a garden situation. Rosemary, lavender and the mints all come immediately to mind. But there are a variety of plants with fragrant foliage. Add to those various low-growing thymes, sage, ornamental pineapple sage, bee balm, and some of the scented geraniums with lemon, rose or citronella-perfumed leaves.

Other plants with delightfully scented foliage include native sweet fern (Comptonia) northern bayberry (Myrica), eucalyptus (makes a great potted plant for indoors after the growing season), Russian sage (Perovskia) and catmint (Nepeta—related to regular catnip but without quite the same feline fascination.)

 

Don’t forget bulbs

You may find the scent of paperwhites in the home at Christmastime somewhat overwhelming, but many bulbs are excellent choices for scent in the spring garden. Daffodils and hyacinths are two favourite choices, and for those plagued by deer, relax—daffodils and narcissus are toxic so deer and other pests don’t bother them. For a pop of naturalizing colour and fragrance, grow some grape hyacinths (Muscari) near your walkway—they’ll scent your spring days and gradually grow into nice clumps.

 

More favourite fragrant flowers

Alyssum is a low-growing annual, ideal for growing along walkways or in container plantings such as hanging baskets. It comes in white, pink or purple, and blooms all summer with regular deadheading.

Bee balm (Monarda) is a perennial pleaser, with flowers in hot colours of red, pink, purple, fuchsia and even white. Some varieties are tall and quite enthusiastic spreaders, such as my favourite ‘Raspberry Wine’, but there are also more dwarf, clumping forms available. Hummingbirds and bees adore these plants!

Dianthus is a genus of flowers that includes the pinks, carnations and sweet Williams; many of these are perennial, coming back each year and offering spicy sweet fragrance from their dozens of blooms. You can find low-growing species ideal for a walkway edge, as well as taller varieties such as the sweet Williams.

Lavender can be a challenging plant to grow because it loathes winter wet, but you can easily make a raised bed in a sunny location. Not all varieties are perennial or hardy here, but surefire winners include ‘Hidcote’, ‘Munstead’, and a recently developed variety, ‘Phenomenal.’

Peonies are a personal favourite—when I moved to my present home, I brought peonies from my previous life that I dug up and nurtured through a winter before getting them into the ground. Among the most fragrant are ‘Bowl of Beauty’, ‘Coral Sunset’, ‘Festiva Maxima’, ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ and many, many others.

Phlox species come in a dizzying number of choices—from the creeping moss phloxes of spring to the tall border varieties like ‘David’, ‘Sherbet Cocktail’, ‘Blue Flame’ and ‘Goldmine’. The tall varieties can easily reach 4 feet high and more so be sure to place them where they won’t overwhelm smaller plants.

Roses are a good example where some varieties are highly fragrant, and others are scentless. For hardiness, you can’t beat the hybrid rugosa roses like ‘Snow Pavement’ and ‘Polareis’, but other great choices include ‘Golden Celebration’, ‘Charles de Mills’, and ‘Abraham Darby’.