When you decide to start a garden, there many things to put into consideration like the type of flowers you’d like to plant, the kind of color mixture you want, whether you should go for annual plants and flowers or perennial ones. It sometimes results into having to study properly because a garden is a whole lot to invest in. For some people, it tells a whole lot about their lives and their likes while for others, it’s just about the beauty but what’s important any ways is the beauty and true depiction of nature, and again, nature.
How a garden should look is very important but what’s also super important is how it should smell, and that can only mean one thing; there’s more to a garden than just sight. More often than not, scent is always overlooked when designing a garden but over time, it has become clearer that scent is an important concept in the making of that dream garden. Fragrance, as proved over the years, is important and apart from being healthy, adds extra layer of richness to anything it is applied to and garden is not an exception.
Thankfully, there are flowers that naturally possess great scents and might serve double purposes when added to a garden; they make the garden look beautiful and also make it smell nice. Scented flowers are like blessings because of what they represent which is a touch of beauty and fragrance. When deciding which flowers you need to have in your garden space, never make the mistake of overlooking scent.
Here are the top 10 best fragrant flowers in the world you can turn to, for a beautiful garden and wonderful scent.
10. Sweet Alyssum
Put a Sweet Alyssum (Scientific name: Lobularia maritima) in containers, window boxes or hanging baskets and it will still survive as long as there’s a direct access to sunlight. The flower produces tiny blooms which in turn produce sweet scent that fills your garden up in an amazing way. The white shade blooms all season long without any disturbance while you can also opt for deep purple blooms which pair well with other flowers in containers.
9. Magnolia
Magnolia is a group of large flowers that possess wonderful scent. It is slightly different than an ordinary flower because of its tree-like nature which makes it grow up to 40 feet wide sometimes. The flower loves a rich soil where it can also get plenty of sunlight and it blooms well both in spring and in summer, depending on the variety you’re able to get your hands on.
8. Freesia
Freesia is also one of the most popular, natural and sweet smelling flowers you can get in the world and the fact that it comes in variety of shades makes it even a more perfect choice for any garden. With colors that range from white to orange, and blue to red, Freesia’s ability to bloom all through the summer is more than enough to make it one of your collections for a great smelling garden.
7. Lilac
There’s hardly a garden you’ll see without having this beautiful yet sweet smelling flowers in it. The sweet aroma that comes with a lilac flower is enough reason for every garden to have it but it goes way deeper than just the scent. Lilac (Scientific name: Syringa) is one of the easiest flowers to grow and maintain as they require less stress when compared to the process of growing other known beautiful and sweet smelling flowers.
6. Lily of the Valley
What’s noteworthy about Lily of the Valley (Scientific name: Convallaria majalis) is that it is poisonous so you should think twice before planting it in a garden where there are children and pets. However, in a highly monitored garden with no children or pets, Lily of the valley is more than an ideal choice for fragrance purposes. The flower thrives more in partial shade and a moist soil so it doesn’t matter if it is being planted directly on the ground or in contains, as long as it receives nutrients from the moist soil, it is sure to grown beautifully.
5. Lavender
Lavender (Scientific name: Lavandula) is a name we’re all familiar with when it comes to fragrances because it is by far one of the most used scents in essential oils. Lavender is popular and only popular for one thing; sweet scent. Lavender loves sun and well-drained soil but if you’re in a more humid area, you can still make it survive in containers with the type of soil the flower loves because Lavender’s heavenly scent is worth all the stress you go through to get it in your garden.
4. Honeysuckle
You can’t make a list of fragrant plants without including Honeysuckle (Scientific name: Lonicera); reason being that it comes in different varieties that can survive literally anywhere. Its fruity smell which sometimes can be mistaken for vanilla and honey is strong enough for anyone who notice the flower wherever it is being placed in a garden which is an additional advantage to the flower’s natural ability to reach a good height of up to 40 feet from the ground. The native Honeysuckle thrives more under full sun and its height will make sure it beautifully spills over the fence line, giving a different look to your garden altogether.
3. Hyacinth
Hyacinth (Scientific name: Hyacinthus) is a perennial fragrant flower that comes in a quite number of beautiful colors, adding something different to a garden when it comes to beautification. They large, beautiful looking flower, however, is popular for being a fragrant flower whose scent is only matched by very few flowers in the world. Hyacinth blooms in spring, usually lasting for two weeks but because of its large size, manual support is always needed to keep it alive and fresh. It comes in a number of beautiful colors like the deft blue which towers above bright green stems and the pink which is solely the fragrant one with soft pink petals.
2. Rose
Rose (Scientific name: Rosa) is generally known and popular to be one of the most beautiful flowers in the world and while that fact is rightly justified by its looks, the emergence of scented rose varieties has made many people turn to it for fragrance purpose too. However, the scent you get depends on the variety you’re getting as it ranges from musky to fruity. You need to carefully select which variety can also comfortably grow in your area, putting your climate into consideration but it is advisable to opt for varieties that do not need a winter cold to bloom.
1. Gardenia
Gardenia (Scientific name: Gardenia jasminoides) are special flowers that bloom in late spring right up until early summer only to start blooming again in late summer. Regarded as one of the most cold sensitive flowers in the world, Gardenia only thrive in warm, moist and well-draining soil which explains why they do not survive severe winters. These flowers have a warm and spicy scent which makes them perfect for both the beauty and scent purposes. They smell so nice that you might be tempted to bring them into the house for some sweet scents; they are better off indoors for the winter anyways.
