20 Best Scented Shrubs and Plants

Key Points

1. Height: 1.5-2.5/3m

2. Light: Sun, but will cope with light shade

3. Soil: any average soil

4. Special Features:

   Choiysa is an evergreen shrub with glossy leaves and a rich, sweet scent, flowering in early summer from mid-May onwards. It is also known as Mexican orange blossom because of its lovely scent. Choiysa is easy to grow and illustrated is c. Aztec pearl, which will grow up to around 2.5m. It often produces a second flush of flowers in late summer.

   More information about Choiysa and planting tips

Key Points

1. Height: compacts 1m, many are tall up to 3m+

2. Light: prefers sun but is tolerant of partial shade

3. Soil: any well-drained

4. Special Features

   Buddleja is a deciduous shrub with aromatic rather than scented flowers. It is easy to grow, attracting butterflies as a magnet, and providing nectar for bees and other pollinators. Planting in a sunny spot helps release the aromatics to attract pollinators.

   Images and growing tips about Buddleja, including how to prune Buddleja

Key Points

1. Height: most varieties are very tall, up to 30M, although there is one, W. Amethyst Falls, which is a compact variety, up to 5m

2. Light: flowers best in the sun

3. Soil: any well-drained

4. Special Features:

   A mature Wisteria is a spectacular climbing plant, with long mauve or white raceme flowers. It is eye-catching. A short video of wonderful wisteria in full bloom. Wisteria has a powerful scent. I grew it on the back of the house, and the scent wafted everywhere in the breeze. But the problem is that it is not the easiest of climbing plants to grow. Advice about growing Wisteria and a video on how to prune Wisteria, which is important to keep it flowering each year.

Key Points

1. Height: 2.5m-9m depending on variety

2. Light: Best in dappled shade, or with roots in shade.

3. Soil: any well-drained

4. Special Features:

   Honeysuckle is a woodland climbing plant with a sweet scent. There are both summer and winter flowering varieties, and both deciduous and semi-evergreen.

   Planting position is important. As a woodland plant, it likes its roots in the shade and its head in the sun. Some varieties are more scented than others. Information on the best varieties to grow for summer scent. There is also the most wonderfully perfumed Winter flowering Honeysuckle, which arguably has the best scent of all. 

Key Points

1. Height: most lavenders are compact, 0.5m -1.5 depending on variety.

2. Light: Best in full sun.

3. Soil: any well-drained

4. Special Features:

   Lavender is a summer-flowering perennial with wonderfully aromatic flowers. Illustrated is Lavandula angustifolia, often called English lavender. This variety, L. Hidcote, is hardier, in contrast with L. stoechas, the French Lavender, which is not fully hardy. There are many shades and sizes of lavender and varying degrees of hardiness.

For images of types of lavender, hardy information and how to make a lavender path.

Key Points

1. Height: up to 2.5

2. Light: Best in full sun, will tolerate light shade.

3. Soil: any well-drained

4. Special Features:

   Another easy-to-grow shrub with wonderful scented flowers. It is deciduous and vigorous, growing up to around 2.5m, which means it needs a fair amount of space in the border.

   Philadelphus flowers in spring and early summer and makes a great addition to a mixed shrub border. It is fully hardy and has attractive white flowers.

Tips on growing Philadelphus, popular varieties and more images

Key Points

1. Height: up to 12M

2. Light: sun or partial shade

3. Soil: any well-drained

4. Special Features: There are several scented varieties of Clematis, probably the most well-known is Clematis montana 'Elizabeth' illustrated is Rubens, which has vanilla-scented flowers. C. Montana is a vigorous May-flowering form of Clematis. It is Pruning group 1, which makes it one of the easier Clematis to grow. For Tips about growing Clematis, including Montana Elizabeth, pruning and planting. There are many scented varieties with new ones being developed all the time its and it is worth searching them out. Crocus (affiliate link) has a good selection.

Key Points

1. Height: around .5m

2. Light: best in sun

3. Soil: any well-drained

4. Special Features :

    Nepeta, (common name Cat Mint) is a summer flowering aromatic perennial and a much better plant than it gets credit for. Easy to grow, attractive to bees, it makes a soft blue cloud of colour. Nepeta is ideal in blue colour planting schemes where, for example, Lavender will not tolerate the conditions. 

   There is also a very attractive upright variety called Nepeta parnassica, which is native to Greece, upright, clump-forming with strong blue/lilac flowers. It shares all the other characteristics of Nepeta, save for flowering a little later in the summer.

Key Points

1. Height: up to 1.5 -20M

2. Light: sun or partial shade

3. Soil: any well-drained

4. Special Features:

   Some Viburnum are highly scented, look for V. Bodnantense, V. Burkwoodii, V.tinus, and illustrated is V.x carlcephalum. There are both evergreen and deciduous scented varieties. Viburnums are easy shrubs to grow, and require little or no maintenance. This variety x carlcephalum produces dozens of very scented snowball-like flowers in early spring. Growing advice and more images of Viburnum.

Key Points

1. Height: up to 3M

2. Light: Flowers best in full sun

3. Soil: any well-drained

4. Special Features:

   Latin name Lonicera fragrantissima, flowers from mid-December through to March and has very sweetly scented small white flowers.

   True to say that the winter flowering honeysuckle has a knockout scent, one of the best.  Tips about growing Winter Flowering Honeysuckle, 

Key Points

1. Height: up to 4M

2. Light: sun or partial shade

3. Soil: requires ericaceous soil

4. Special Features:

   We don't always connect scent with Rhododendrons, but there are some scented Rhododendrons.  Illustrated is Rhododendron luteum, one of the most popular. It is deciduous and has a sweet fragrance that flowers in the spring. For more advice about growing Rhododendrons and images. R. luteum needs acid soil and will tolerate semi-shade. It is easy to grow and trouble-free. Good Autumn colour.

Key Points

1. Height: compact up to 1.M

2. Light: will grow in deep shade

3. Soil: any well-drained

4. Special Features: A winter flowering, shade tolerant, easy to grow, compact shrub. Sarcococca has a lot going for it . Although the flowers look insignificant, they pack a powerful scent and make a lovely, low-growing hedge.

   Sarcococca is a valuable shrub because it is so shade-tolerant, making it suitable for difficult corners of the garden. How to grow Sarcococca.

Key Points

1. Height: depends on the variety up to 2.5M

2. Light: most are best in full sun

3. Soil: fertile, well-drained

4. Special Features: Not all Lilies are scented. Asiatic Hybrids have no scent. Longiflorum, some are scented Oriental Hybrids have the most scent. Check out which to grow with advice on how to grow different types of Lily

   Lilies thrive in containers and bring a stylish and wonderfully scented statement to a patio. 

   The taller varieties may require some support and watchout for the Lily Beetle. (when you find it a squish with your fingers, is best.)

Key Points

1. Height: compact up to 40cm

2. Light: flowers best in full sun

3. Soil: any well-drained

4. Special Features: When thinking about scented plants, daffodils often get overlooked. Whilst some daffodils have a light scent, there is a group of Narcissus which are highly perfumed. Illustrated is N. 'Fragrant Rose', and Crocus has a good selection of scented bulbs available. Scented narcissus is ideal planted with wallflowers and Hyacinth, also scented, for a spring bulb display, which packs a powerful punch of scent as well.

Key Points

1. Height: compact up to 2.M

2. Light: best in full sun

3. Soil: any well-drained

4. Special Features: Sweet Peas are a highly scented annual, which means they grow, flower and finish in one year. A highly perfumed climbing plant, which adds height and scent to a border. In a good summer, Sweet Peas have a long flowering period from June to October. The downside is that sweet peas need a lot of attention. Information and advice about  growing Sweet Peas

Key Points

1. Height: bedding wallflowers up to 15cm

2. Light: for best scent and flowers grow in full sun.

3. Soil: any, not too dry, not acid soil.

4. Special Features: The brightly coloured spring flowers of Erysimum cheiri Cheiranthus also known as wallflowers, have a powerful sweet scent.

   They make great spring bedding displays. Many Wallflowers are biennial and short-lived, it's not uncommon to treat them as bedding and replace them each year. Some are more scented than others - find out which are best to buy for scent.

Key Points

1. Height: tall, up to 120cms

2. Light: sun

3. Soil: any well-drained

4. Special Features :Monarda is a herbaceous summer-flowering perennial with aromatic leaves which are attractive to bees. It is clump forming, and illustrated is M.Squaw. The only drawback is that it is a relatively short-lived perennial, but well worth growing, not least to help the bees. Its common name is Bee Balm.  

Key Points

1. Height: up to 9M

2. Light: sun

3. Soil: any well-drained

4. Special Features: Trachelospermum jasminoides is an excellent climbing plant. It is easy to grow, evergreen and has wonderfully scented white flowers. It is hardy in most of the UK H4 and has sweet-scented flowers.

   It will reach up to around 2.5 at maturity and is self-clinging.