When we see a beautiful flower, we put our nose to it. When we see a beautiful garden, we close our eyes and inhale. By creating a fragrant garden, we fulfill these expectations and create an olfactory as well as visual sensory delight.

Design
When designing a fragrant garden, consider how the garden will be used. Is the garden an entrance garden that people will move through? Does the garden have a seating area or place to linger? Will the garden primarily be seen (and smelled) through the window or from a screened-in porch? The placement of the fragrant plants depends on how the garden will be seen and used.

If the garden is situated around a path, then the plants need to be placed in such a way as to be enjoyed by people who are moving through the garden. Foliage that is fragrant when someone brushes against it is ideal for these situations. Herbal groundcovers, like thyme, will release their fragrance when they are stepped on. Place any fragrant blooms near the path, and consider covering parts of the path with arches and training flowering vines over the arches.

In a garden with a seating area, plants with wonderful but subtle smells can be enjoyed. Plant an arbor or gazebo with fragrant vines. Surround a patio with fragrant shrubs and perennials. Place containers with flowering annuals on a deck. Since people will linger, there is more opportunity to move close to enjoy an elusive scent. If you have a favorite fragrant plant, but one that whose scent is not strong, place it near an outdoor seating area.

Gardens that are enjoyed from afar can still be fragrant gardens. Pick plants whose fragrance wafts. Honeysuckle, jasmine, and some old garden roses are ideal. Any fragrance that knocks you over will find a home here. Frame the window or porch with fragrant vines and plant fragrant flowers under a window in order to maximize the experience and let the garden come inside.

Plant choices
Herbs and fragrant foliage are under-utilized in a fragrant garden. Because they provide pleasing scents even when not in bloom they are the most reliable fragrant plants you can have. Old-fashioned scented geraniums have interesting foliage and sometimes, beautiful flowers. But their fragrance makes them truly valuable. Annual and perennial herbs release their scent when they are brushed against or after a rain. Thyme and rosemary are two of the best. Some shrubs have fragrant foliage.

Some of the most favorite fragrant plants in the garden are flowering trees and shrubs. Lilacs are as beloved in the North and Magnolias are in the South. Citrus tees and Apples smell wonderful in bloom. Gardenias and native azaleas have beautiful flowers and wonderful scents. Sweet olive and Southern Wax Myrtle have miniscule blooms, but they are very fragrant. And the most famous fragrant flowering shrub is the rose.

Roses have been bred for florists. Bright colors and long straight stems are more important to a florist than fragrance. So be sure to plant Antique roses in your fragrant garden. Some of the most fragrant roses ever are in the Bourbon class: Madame Isaac Periere is considered by some to be the most fragrant rose in the world. Other roses in the Bourbon class that are especially noted for their fragrance include Souvenir de la Malmaison and the climber Zephirine Drouhin. Damask roses are grown for their scent: they are harvested to make rose oil. The most fragrant roses in the Damask class are: Duchesse de Rohan, Rose de Rescht, and Marchesa Boccella. Though they bloom only once a year, roses in the Egalantine class, praised by Shakespeare, have apple-scented foliage, so can be used as a foliage plant, with the occasional bonus of fragrant blooms! Other Old-fashioned classes of roses have wonderful scented blooms. My favorites are the noisette Madame Alfred Carriere, and the polyantha Perle d’Or.

Vines offer fabulous fragrance and flexible use. They can cover an arch or arbor, or trained around a window or post. Anywhere people can go, a vine can go. Honeysuckle is one of the best fragrant vines: be sure to use a non-invasive type like goldflame. Other fabulous fragrant vines include: Carolina jessamine, jasmines like star jasmine and jasmine Maid of Orleans, and passiflora ‘Incense’ Maypop.

Special considerations
Some gardens have special challenges. Gardens are in deep shade or are only used in the evenings can still be fragrant gardens. The fragrant plants that do well in the shade are too numerous to list. Lily of the Valley, native azaleas, and scented geraniums all do well in shade, as do herbs like lemon balm. Many night blooming plants have wonderful fragrances. Night blooming jasmine, and Moonflower are both fragrant flowering vines that bloom at night. Some plants, like Nicotiana and Angel’s Trumpets, have flowers that are more fragrant in the evening. Whatever type of garden you have, you can make it a fragrant garden.