Wonderfully Fragrant Plants for the Garden

Sounds absolutely lovely, doesn’t it? Perhaps you’d like to introduce more fragrant plants to the garden or perhaps you don’t have any plants that give off fragrance at all. This is the guide for you. The great news: introducing fragrant plants is one of the easiest things you can do in the garden to make it a more appealing and interesting space, and you’ll attract lots of amazing pollinators like bees and butterflies at the same time.

Read on to discover 14 of the best fragrant plants for the garden loved by gardeners up and down the UK.

14 of the Most Fragrant Plants for the Garden

With these 14 choices we have a bouquet of scents – forgive the pun – that can transform your garden into pleasurable haven. Whether you’re a fledgling gardener, or you’re looking to enrich an established garden with even more aromas, there’s a fragrant flower for everyone here.

Roses

This list has to start with the wonderful rose. Roses are renowned for their scent which if you’re new to roses is quite variable. They are broadly categorised into “fruity”, “musk”, “myrrh”, “old rose”, and “tea”. There’s no other plant that has such a wide range of different fragrances whilst also being relatively easy to grow and at the same time having stunning blooms.

Roses need lots of sun and require regular feeding to stay healthy and produce abundant blooms. Good air circulation and healthy soil are also key. Pruning in early spring is also advisable to keep your rose bushes in shape and to promote strong new growth. This requires just a little effort and in return it will keep giving you wonderful blooms along with that amazing scent!

Lavender

Lavender, with its enchanting violet flowers and silvery-green foliage, has an unforgettably light, fresh, and soothing fragrance, transporting us to the Mediterranean or south of France. They typically flower in late spring to early summer, lasting through to late summer. The scent of lavender is renowned for its therapeutic qualities, promoting relaxation and tranquillity. The scent also isn’t too intense so you can plant a group of them together to create a lovely row or border. The pollinators will absolutely love this too!

Lavender prefers a slightly sandy soil and needs good drainage. It is also an excellent plant for hotter areas of the country as it’s quite drought tolerant. Lavender also does very well in pots, any patio gardeners out there will be pleased to know.

Honeysuckle

Ah the wonderful honeysuckle. We think every garden should have one of these wonderful climbers! Generally, honeysuckles are very easy to grow and have an unmistakable perfume, while also looking quite stunning with their pretty, tubular flowers that can be white, creamy, yellow, pink, orange, or red. They typically flower throughout summer and give off a deliciously sweet strong perfume. The scent is particularly strong at dusk and will make you want to go into the garden every night throughout the summer.

They need a healthy, moist but not wet soil to look their best, and need space to spread a bit and grow. They’re a great choice for growing up a fence, wall, trellis, pergola, or an arbour. Honeysuckles like sun, but too much may scorch their leaves so dappled shade would work best to have them looking and smelling their best.

Star Jasmine

Star Jasmine are a highly prized garden addition, with their attractive white star-shaped flowers that bloom throughout the summer months and are highly scented with an exotic, sweet floral aroma. They smell even stronger at night, and if planted near the home the scent will carry in on a gentle breeze.

They’re a wonderful climbing plant and that makes them suitable for growing on a fence, trellis or pergola. They do best in a warm and sunny spot and besides that aren’t too fussy so can be grown in a pot successfully too. Think high impact, low maintenance.

Clematis

Another scented climber is the wonderful clematis. Producing an abundance of star-like flowers from early summer right through to the autumn, their flowers are a magnificent sight indeed. They’re also very fragrant, some are said to smell like almonds or vanilla. Many clematis flower in late spring bringing an early burst of colour and fragrance when many other plants are waiting until summer to showcase their blooms and scent.

Clematis are particularly great climbers for shady spots in the garden. Some clematis even grow in heavily shaded areas so if you have a shadier garden you don’t have to miss out on colour and scent. The only significant thing to note is that all clematis do best when their roots are in shade. Their roots are thick and fleshy so they can dry out easily so protect them with other plants or a good mulch to look and smell their best.

Wisteria

Continuing the topic of wonderfully scented climbers, wisteria must be mentioned for looking and smelling enchanting. Visually stunning, its abundant blue, pink or white flowers release a strong but sweet and slightly musky fragrance that becomes stronger in the evening. It certainly adds an elegant touch to any garden.
Wisteria is a strong grower and requires regular pruning to keep it in check and promote blooming. It enjoys a sunny spot with rich, well-draining soil and support for its vigorous growth such as up an arbour or pergola.

Sweet Peas

The final climber of our list, annual sweet peas give off such a lovely, sweet scent in the garden throughout the summer months. Like the other climbers mentioned, sweet peas are ideal for growing up something like an arbour, obelisk, or trellis. Some sweet peas are even more fragrant than others, giving off a perfume like fragrance that almost fills the space around them in the garden. Being an annual they grow, flower, and die the same year sown, so pick up some seeds in the spring and spread them where you’d like them to grow. Just make sure the soil is rich – so work in a good compost – and moist. They’ll also grow well in pots.

Lilacs

Lilac is a popular choice for its ease of growing and lovely aroma as well as its majestic tube-like blooms. It flowers in spring in range of colours from delicate white through to deep purples, providing an attractive focal point in any garden. The scent of lilac is intense and undeniably memorable. With lilac, a little goes a long way, as its scent can carry for quite a distance.

Lilacs thrive in full sun and well-draining soil, and they can be planted as a hedge, specimen shrub, or a privacy screen. They’re hardy and low maintenance, making them a very popular addition to gardens across the UK. Smaller lilacs will also grow well in pots.

Rhododendrons

Rhododendrons are a staple of many gardens and no wonder; this amazing evergreen woodland shrub has spectacularly abundant displays of red, white, yellows, pink or purple blooms, from spring into early summer. Some are fantastically fragrant too, releasing a sweet enjoyable scent.

They’re quite versatile and hardy plants too being tolerant of many different light, temperature, and soil conditions, though they do need a more acidic soil. They tend to do well in most places in the UK and dwarf varieties will do well in pots for people with larger patios or smaller paved spaces.

Azaleas

Azaleas are wonderful flowering and fantastically fragrant shrubs in the same family as rhododendrons for their shared characteristics. They have lovely small flowers in a variety of colours from reds, pinks, purples, oranges, and yellows, with some even having two coloured flowers, and the flowers tend to cover the entire plant too, which makes for a really stunning display. The fragrance is quite strong, but not overpowering, and quite appealing, being described as sweet and spicy.

Like rhododendrons they’re quite versatile and hardy plants being tolerant of many different light, temperature, and soil conditions, though they also need a more acidic soil.

Phlox

Phlox is a lovely compact plant that’s easy to grow with small fragrant bright pink, rose, red, purple, orange, or white flowers. They are particularly fragrant and even more so in the evenings giving off a lovely, sweet scent. Phlox flowers during the summer and are particularly great for adding to pots or even hanging baskets, so you can smell them from head height, in addition to other fragrant plants in a bed or border.

To maximise blooms, keep the soil moist especially during dry spells and give it a good feed with a general-purpose fertiliser every couple of weeks.

Tobacco Plant

The tobacco plant’s elegant long white tubular flowers have an intensely sweet fragrance that is released in the evening as the sun sets. The flowers bloom from summer into autumn, growing to a height of about 1.5 metres to 2 metres so they’re a great addition at the back of borders. So, they’ll be a great choice for keeping you in the garden a little longer during those warm summer evenings after the sun sets.

Similarly to phlox, to maximise blooms and enjoy their fragrance as long as possible keep the soil most especially during dry spells and give it a good feed with a general-purpose fertiliser every two weeks.

Iris

Iris flowers come in a variety of intriguing shapes, sizes, and bold colours, and have a lovely, delicate, sweet, earthy scent too. They are well-used in many perfumes. Additionally, some varieties of irises bloom in winter, offering interest during a time of year when most other plants, trees and shrubs have gone dormant. If the winter season makes you feel a little down, then a winter blooming iris can bring some joy, cheer and fragrance whilst waiting for spring to arrive again.

Irises are great for UK gardens because they are quite hardy and can adapt to a variety of regional climates. They prefer well-draining soil and are happy in areas with full sun or partial shade, and they can provide a lovely contrast to the stronger scents in your garden.

Dianthus

Dianthus are a mainstay favourite among British gardeners notable for their heavy but appealing clove-like scent and “serrated” frilly edges of their flowers. They come in a variety of colours from bold pinks, purples, reds and even some yellows. Their vigorous growth habit makes them almost like a bush with many lovely flowers to enjoy. Dianthus typically bloom from spring into early summer, but if deadheaded this will encourage continued blooming the same year.

Dianthus love full sun but can tolerate partial shade, are easy to maintain, and also do very well in pots, so they’re perfect in patio planting schemes.

Now You Can Enjoy More Scent in the Garden

By choosing a few select species or cultivating a diverse bouquet of scents, your garden can become a fragrant delight. We have chosen a handful of favourites, but there are many more that would also work in the garden. Do your research and experiment with different combinations and placements to create memorable experiences that will linger in the memory. Likewise, keep in mind when selecting what times of the year they will bloom so you can extend the fragrance for most of the year, even the whole year if introducing a few winter flowering scented plants to the garden. Gardening is a joy of discovery, and fragrant plants can elevate that joy to another level.

Which ones will you add to the garden?