14 plants to try for a sweeter-smelling backyard

When selecting plants for an outdoor space, it’s easy to let your eyes do the picking. While pots of bold, colorful flowers always cheer up an outdoor space, don’t overlook another key sense: smell. Scented plants perfume the air, attract pollinators and can help you relax. Here are some easy-to-care-for options to help you enjoy those lazy, sunny days.

Heliotrope

This annual is one of the best for fragrance, says Tim Pollak, plant production manager at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Because of its vanilla-cherry scent, this sun lover is often called Cherry Pie Plant. “When those things are in bloom, which is all summer long,” he says, “the fragrance is unbelievable, especially at night.” Try Deep Marine for dark purple flowers or the white Alba for a more intense aroma.

Sweet alyssum

This honey-scented white annual is “a smaller, shorter plant,” Pollak says, “but it does flower all season long.” Sweet alyssum usually needs shearing once or twice a season to keep the flowering going and maintain a compact shape. Cultivars in the Princess series, though, don’t necessarily need shearing to rebloom.

Lantana

Though some folks find lantana pungent, the actual flowers emit a sweet scent. As a bonus, the foliage is also fragrant. “It has a citrus smell,” Pollak says, “from the warmer months up until the first frost.” This butterfly attractor’s blooms come in red, orange, pink, yellow and white. Some cultivars boast an alluring mix of colors on a single flower. Lantana loves sun and needs about an inch of water a week. Pollak recommends the Lucky and Little Lucky series for their combination of beautiful colors and strong scent.

Scented geraniums

Scented geraniums (in the Pelargonium genus) also offer both fragrant flowers and foliage. Pollack recommends the variety Old Fashioned Rose, “which is a taller variety but has a nice, rosy colored flower. The foliage has a very floral, roselike fragrance.” Other cultivars, such as apple geranium or peppermint geranium, smell like their respective names.

Other annuals

Because moths and other insects pollinate at night, it’s worth adding some annuals that release more scent in the evening for those late alfresco dinners. Flowering tobacco, which has white, red, purple or chartreuse blooms, casts a sweet, jasmine-like smell. Night-scented stock, with its spindly, white or lilac-colored flowers, releases a syrupy, spicy aroma. And the lavender-hued Evening Scentsation petunia sends out a hyacinth-like honey smell, which becomes more prominent as the sun sets.

Lavender

Lavender is a reliable, colorful and, in some climates, evergreen choice for containers. English lavender is hardier than Spanish or French varieties, while Hidcote and Munstead having the strongest bouquet. All require full sun, light soil and a shearing of green stems (not woody) to encourage reblooming. Lavender does best when grown by itself in a pot, Pollak says, as it may need less water than other herbs it might be paired with, like parsley or basil.

Russian sage

“Russian sage would also be great for a container,” says James Gagliardi, director of the Bellevue Botanical Garden near Seattle. Like lavender, it’s drought tolerant and grows wands of purplish flowers. He recommends Little Spire, a shorter, more compact cultivar that has dusky blue blooms and soft gray foliage. Russian sage releases a spicy, herbal scent when you brush against it.

Lilies

Lilies are another tried and true option, Gagliardi says. Stargazer, with its large, pink-speckled flower and tall profile, makes a bold visual statement while emitting a classic perfume. Or the snowy white Casa Blanca blasts a powerful, far-reaching vanilla scent into the air. Both benefit from well-draining soil, regular water and fertilizing.

Garden phlox

As some perennials begin to fade in midsummer, garden phlox comes into its own. This cottage garden favorite bursts with vivid color while giving off whiffs of sweet clove. Because phlox is susceptible to powdery mildew, Pollak recommends choosing cultivars that have been bred for mildew resistance. “They can be quite tall as well,” he says. “So best to choose dwarf or compact varieties.”

Roses

Roses offer traditional, often familiar scents and a visually romantic touch. Pollak recommends fragrant miniature, topiary or shrub varieties. “Shrub roses tend to be floriferous,” he says. “They’re going to have flowers most of the season and they’re more compact.” David Austin roses produce abundant blooms, and they have high disease resistance and varying fragrance strengths. Princess Anne has ruffled, magenta blooms that sit atop dense foliage. Its perfume is moderate so it won’t overwhelm people sitting nearby. Carding Mill has a soft apricot color, blooms on longer stems and produces a myrrh-like scent.

Gardenias

While many U.S. gardeners might think gardenias are only grown in southern climates, Gagliardi says this is changing. “There are hardier types of gardenias that are better for our northern environments,” he says. Cultivars like the lower growing Kleim’s Hardy and taller Frost Proof can survive down to zone 7 (most of the Chicago area is in zone 6a). For best results in northern areas, make sure your pots have a well-draining soil mix and store them under an eave or porch during severe snows or extreme temperatures.

Other shrubs

Other solid choices include Eternal Fragrance daphne, which grows in a tight, ball-like shape of bluish-green foliage. It likes part-shade and, if given a slow-release fertilizer and regular water, it can lightly bloom throughout summer with tiny, fragrant flowers. Another compact shrub, the Miniature Snowflake mock orange, displays white, sweet-smelling puffs in June and is hardy to zone 5.

Vines

If you want to add privacy in addition to a sweet smell, consider vines. Gagliardi recommends star jasmine and honeysuckle, two twiners that need a trellis to grow on and like part-sun conditions. “They will really fill in a space and create a lot of atmosphere within a garden,” he says. Also, both attract hummingbirds and butterflies.

Star jasmine boasts glossy, dark foliage and bright white flowers that release a scent like vanilla or root beer. “Pruning the plants after they first bloom will encourage the vines to bloom again longer into the season,” Pollak says. In milder climates, star jasmine might remain evergreen in winter, but in colder areas you should protect it with frost cloth or position it under an eave. Conversely, the deciduous honeysuckle is hardy to zone 5. It blooms in tropical, clawlike flowers that emit a highly sweet scent. The American Beauty cultivar has pink-yellow flowers, and Serotina can bloom into fall.

Herbs

There are always herbs, which provide a subtler but useful approach to fragrance. “They don’t have that strong emitting perfume that you smell from a distance,” Gagliardi says, “but plants that you brush up against or even cut for culinary reasons are certainly things you want to consider when planting for fragrance.” Rosemary, thyme, lemon balm and pineapple sage all have spicy, fresh-smelling foliage, and they can be used in cooking.