Create a romantic ambience in your garden by perfuming the air with scented florals, herbs, shrubs and trees.
Fragrance from your garden can bring back pleasant memories. Cedar may remind you of that camping trip in the woods. Want to remember that relaxing vacation you had in the Mediterranean? Plant citrus. Your mother’s kitchen might be brought to mind with the scent of rosemary and thyme or bring back cozy memories of grandma with lilac. Did you love licorice as a kid? The smell of fennel will bring back your childhood.
Opt for plants with different blooming times so there will always be wafts of pleasant fragrance. There are even blooms that give off fragrance at night such as night-blooming jasmine, evening primrose, moonflower vine and four-o’clocks.
Create pockets of fragrance in different areas. A walkway begs for scented roses so that visitors can enjoy the perfumes as well. If you plant creeping thyme between stepping-stones the fragrance will be released as it is crushed underfoot. Think about putting delicately fragrant plants in hanging baskets near a patio dining table. On the other hand, flowery scents like tuberose, passion vine and mock orange enhance a garden seating area. Strongly scented hyacinths by the front door will bring the heady fragrance inside, as will planting gardenias or jasmine by windows.
Grow angel’s trumpet or honeysuckle along a sunny wall. The heat will release the fragrance. In the shade, plant hostas for their fragrant white blooms.
Create a tier of scent by layering. Start with ground cover (creeping thyme, lily of the valley), then shrubs (butterfly bush, flowering quince), vines (sweet pea, wisteria) and trees (magnolias).
The most fragrant blooms tend to be white or light colored, but those that have purple hues are aromatic, too. Thick-textured flowers also are known for fragrance. To be certain that what you plant will release a heavenly scent, check the label when you are at the nursery. You may have to start from seed if you want some of the old-fashioned fragrant plants like petunia. Modern hybrids might not be as fragrant.
