Fragrant Flowering Plants

Agastache

Licorice-scented foliage and tubular orange-pink flowers that hummingbirds and butterflies find irresistible. Thrives on neglect.

Angel's Trumpet

Huge pendant trumpets release intense evening fragrance over a long warm-season bloom.

Anise Hyssop

Lavender-blue spikes with licorice-scented foliage. A pollinator powerhouse that blooms for months.

Arnold Promise Witch Hazel

Spidery yellow flowers with sweet fragrance on bare branches in late winter. The earliest tree to bloom.

Bee Balm

Shaggy, crown-shaped flowers that hummingbirds fight over.

Beverly Sills Iris

Coral-pink blooms with a tangerine beard. Named for the opera star and just as elegant.

Bloomerang Lilac

Blooms in spring, then reblooms summer through frost. Compact habit with classic lilac fragrance.

Blue Angel Hosta

Massive blue-gray leaves up to 18 inches long. One of the largest and most slug-resistant hostas.

Bowl of Beauty Peony

Hot pink outer petals cup a creamy center of narrow petaloids. Dramatic and unmistakable.

Butterfly Bush

Long, arching flower wands that butterflies absolutely lose their minds over.

Carolina Jessamine

One of the first vines to bloom each year, smothering itself in fragrant bright yellow tubes in late winter and early spring.

Cat's Meow Catmint

Tidy, dome-shaped habit that never flops open. Stays compact without shearing.

Catmint

Billowy lavender-blue haze that blooms all season if you shear it back.

Chamomile

Tiny daisy flowers with apple-scented foliage. Brew into tea or let it naturalize between pavers.

Chaste Tree

Long lavender-blue spikes cover this heat-loving shrub all summer. One of the few shrubs that actually blooms in August.

Chinese Witch Hazel

Spidery yellow, sweetly scented flowers bloom on bare branches in late winter.

Cliffrose

Creamy white rose-like flowers with sweet fragrance and feathery seed plumes on a tough Rocky Mountain native.

Climbing Hydrangea

Slow to start but spectacular once established, covering shady walls with flat-topped white lacecap flowers and exfoliating bark.

Creeping Thyme

Fragrant, walkable ground cover. Bees love it, foot traffic can't kill it.

Culinary Sage

Spiky purple blooms above silver-green aromatic foliage. A kitchen herb that doubles as an ornamental.

Dianthus

Spicy-scented, fringed petals. One of the best edging plants there is.

Don Juan Climbing Rose

Deep velvety red climber with classic rose fragrance. Repeats reliably on a strong, vigorous plant.

Double Delight Rose

Creamy white petals blush to strawberry red at the edges. Knockout fragrance matches the looks.

Dwarf Korean Lilac

Slow-growing dwarf with dense rounded habit. Perfect for small gardens and foundation plantings.

Festiva Maxima Peony

Pure white double blooms flecked with crimson at the center. Beloved since 1851 and still unmatched.

Flowering Tobacco

Tubular flowers that release sweet fragrance at dusk. A cottage garden classic that attracts moths and hummingbirds.

Fothergilla

Fragrant white bottlebrush flowers in spring give way to some of the best orange-red fall color of any small native shrub.

Fringe Tree

Clouds of white fringed petals dripping from branches in late spring. Fragrant and underused native.

Garden Phlox

Billowing clusters of fragrant summer color. A butterfly magnet.

Gardenia

Glossy evergreen foliage frames intensely fragrant white flowers from late spring into summer.

Graham Thomas Rose

Rich golden-yellow cups with an intense tea rose fragrance. David Austin's most famous creation.

Guacamole Hosta

Chartreuse-gold leaves with dark green margins and sweetly fragrant white flowers that perfume the shade garden.

Happy Returns Daylily

Lemon-yellow rebloomer with light fragrance. A bit taller than Stella with softer color.

Hidcote Lavender

Compact and intensely dark purple. The standard against which all other lavenders are measured.

Honeysuckle

Tubular, nectar-rich flowers with a fragrance that defines summer evenings.

Hosta

The undisputed queen of shade gardening. Foliage in every green and blue.

Hyacinth

Dense, intensely fragrant spikes. One bulb can perfume an entire room.

Hyperion Daylily

Tall, pale lemon-yellow, sweetly fragrant blooms on an heirloom variety that's been cherished since 1925.

Immortality Iris

Reliable rebloomer with pure white ruffled falls. Blooms spring, then again in fall.

Iris

Elegant sword-leaved perennials with intricate, ruffled blooms.

Jasmine

Intensely sweet-scented white stars. The scent of warm southern evenings.

Lavender

Fragrant silver-green mounds beloved by bees and humans alike.

Lilac

Intensely fragrant clusters that define spring in northern gardens.

Lily-of-the-Valley

Tiny bell-shaped flowers with one of the most intoxicating fragrances in the plant world. Spreads into lush carpets under trees.

Magnolia

Goblet-shaped blooms on bare branches. One of spring's most dramatic moments.

Mary Todd Daylily

Ruffled golden-yellow flowers with a lavender eye, large, showy, and sweetly fragrant in the summer border.

Matilija Poppy

Enormous fried-egg flowers on blue-gray stems. California's largest native wildflower. Spreads aggressively.

Meyer Lemon

Sweetly scented white blossoms appear intermittently year-round and set thin-skinned lemons.

Miss Kim Lilac

Compact lilac with pale lavender blooms and outstanding fragrance. Burgundy fall foliage as a bonus.

Mock Orange

Arching stems carry orange-blossom-scented white flowers in late spring.

Munstead Lavender

Earlier blooming and slightly softer purple than Hidcote. Gertrude Jekyll's favorite for a reason.

Native Witch Hazel

Spidery yellow flowers and intoxicating clove fragrance on bare branches in late fall. The last native shrub to bloom each year.

New Dawn Climbing Rose

The world's most popular climbing rose. Soft blush pink, sweetly fragrant, and remarkably vigorous.

Nootka Rose

Single, apple-pink blooms followed by large rose hips that persist through winter on a vigorous Pacific Northwest native.

Oregano

Tiny flowers are a pollinator magnet when allowed to bloom. Let a patch go to flower for the bees.

Oriental Lily

Huge, intensely fragrant blooms in deep pink and white that perfume the entire garden. The lily that defines summer.

Peony

Lush, ruffled blooms with intoxicating fragrance. Lives for decades.

Petunia

Cascading color for containers and beds. Blooms nonstop until frost.

Phenomenal Lavender

Survives humidity and cold that kills other lavenders. Silver foliage stays tight and full.

Piedmont Azalea

Fragrant pale pink to white flowers open before the leaves in early spring, filling lowland forests with sweetness.

Pink Plumeria

Clusters of pink, sweetly scented blooms cover this classic tropical tree in summer.

Plumeria

Intoxicatingly fragrant tropical blooms. The flower of Hawaiian leis.

Rose

The queen of the garden. Modern varieties are surprisingly low-maintenance.

Rosemary

Aromatic evergreen herb with tiny blue flowers loved by early bees. Needs excellent drainage.

Rosy Returns Daylily

Soft rose-pink blooms with a cream throat that keep coming from late spring to frost, absolutely tireless.

Sacred Lotus

Massive blooms rise above umbrella leaves in shallow water. Seedpods are as ornamental as the flowers.

Sarah Bernhardt Peony

Fully double, apple-blossom pink blooms so heavy they nod on their stems. The most planted peony in history.

Sensation Lilac

Unique bicolor blooms with purple petals edged in white. A head-turner in any spring garden.

Southern Magnolia

Huge glossy-leaved tree bearing enormous lemon-scented white flowers. The quintessential symbol of the Deep South's summer.

Stained Glass Hosta

Glossy gold center with dark green margins, like light through a cathedral window.

Summersweet Clethra

Spikes of intensely sweet-scented white flowers in midsummer, one of the best fragrant natives for shady spots.

Swamp Rose

Clear pink single blooms on a native rose that thrives in wet spots, ditch edges, and rain gardens where other roses would drown.

Sweet Alyssum

Honey-scented carpet of tiny flowers. The best living edging plant.

Sweet Autumn Clematis

Explosive late-summer bloom of thousands of tiny fragrant white flowers. Vigorous to a fault.

Sweet Olive

Small clustered flowers perfume the garden with an apricot-like scent over a long season.

Sweet Pea

Ruffled, intensely fragrant climbing flowers in every pastel shade. Cool-season annual that hates heat.

Tall Phlox David

Pure white fragrant phlox with the best mildew resistance in the species. A reliable, clean performer for the late-summer garden.

Thalia Daffodil

Pure white, swept-back petals with two to three blooms per stem. Orchid-like elegance.

Tuberose

Tall summer spikes of waxy white blooms release powerful evening fragrance.

Viburnum

Fragrant snowball clusters in spring, then berries for birds in fall.

Virginia Sweetspire

Fragrant white bottlebrush flowers followed by brilliant orange-red fall color on a shade-tolerant, deer-resistant native.

Walker's Low Catmint

Perennial Plant of the Year. Billowy lavender-blue spikes that rebloom hard after a shear.

Water Lily

Floating jewels that transform any pond. Pads provide shade for fish while flowers dazzle above.

White Plumeria

Highly fragrant white flowers with yellow centers appear in clusters on succulent branches.

Wild Azalea

Sweetly fragrant pinwheel flowers on a deciduous native azalea that grows from New England to Georgia. Earlier and more cold-hardy than most.

Wild Bergamot

The wild cousin of bee balm. Lavender puffs alive with pollinators. Tougher and more mildew-resistant.

Wild Blue Phlox

Loose clusters of sky-blue flowers float above woodland floors in spring on a fragrant, mat-forming native.

Winter Daphne

Clusters of pink buds open to white, intensely scented blooms in late winter.

Wintersweet

Highly fragrant waxy yellow flowers open on bare stems in midwinter.

Wisteria

Cascading, fragrant racemes that create a dreamy canopy. Needs structure.

Witch Hazel

Spidery, fragrant blooms on bare branches when nothing else dares.