A patio is a perfect place to grow scented plants. It's a spot you're sure to sit for long enough to really appreciate the fragrance.
To get the most out of your perfumed patio, you’ll want to use a variety of plants. Use ones with a long or nearly continuous bloom. Alternatively, use those that bloom in succession throughout the season so there’s always something scented the air. Go one step further by adding in a few plants that are especially fragrant at twilight and into the night.
Where to begin?
- Clad fences and walls with climbers so you’ll have fragrance that swirls around you.
- Build beds with medium sized shrubs and perennials that bloom in sequence for a custom fragrance mix throughout the season. (Such as roses + butterfly bush + orange blossom).
- Line paths or edge decks and patios with smaller shrubs. Alternatively, use a swath of lavender or rosemary that will release fragrance as you brush by.
- And finally, fill a few pots with fragrant topiary or standards such as gardenia or lantana.
There are plenty of really great plants that are ideal for scenting a patio. Here are just a few of our favorites. (Not sure of your zone? Map here.)
Sweet Summer Love Clematis
Red buds and cranberry-violet flowers deliver a spectacular display while perfuming the summer garden. Blooms over a month earlier than others, and often well into fall. Twining stems up to 12 ft. long. Partial to full sun. Zone: 4 – 9
Phenomenal Lavender
Intensely fragrant, this is a perennial lavender for colder climates. Doesn’t die back in the winter and tolerates summer’s humidity, too. On a warm summer day, pet it as you stroll by to suffuse the air with rich scent. Up to 3 ft. tall and wide. Full sun. Zone: 5 – 8
Prairie Dropseed
Fine-textured grass with tall, slender stalks that display airy, remarkably fragrant, light brown, late summer panicles. N. American native that, despite its name, rarely self-seeds. Deer resistant. Full sun. Zone: 3 – 9
Candy Store® Grape Lollipop™ Phlox
Border phlox has a memorable evening perfume. Butterflies drop in for a drink during the day, but it puts on its most perfumed performance in the evening to attract pollinating moths. Plant in groups of 5 or more. Full sun. Zone: 4 – 9
Bloomerang® Dark Purple Lilac
During the heat of the day, wrap your patio in classic lilac fragrance–but for months instead of weeks! Blooms in spring, then again mid-summer through fall. Good choice to fill a corner. Up to 6 ft. tall and wide. Full sun. Zone: 3 – 7
Devon Cottage™ Pinball Wizard Pink
The finest perfumes are a blend of essences. Add a hint of spicy clove to your sweet-scented border with 2-inch wide double, pink and white striped blooms. Use under taller shrubs, to surround a deck, or in pots, too! Partial to full sun. Zone: 5 – 9
Summersweet
When foxgloves have finished, add spiky floral form to beds of roses with this N. American native shrub. Profuse, fragrant, white flower spikes attracts butterflies all summer long. Partial to full sun. Up to 8 ft. tall and wide. Zone: 4 – 9
Goldflame Honeysuckle
Honeysuckle is pretty much fragrant from dawn to dusk. Although, it really does it thing in the evening having been warmed up by the heat of the day. Use alone or let it twine through climbing roses. Twining stems up to 15 ft. long. Partial to full sun. Zone: 4 – 9
Flutterby Petite® Blue Heaven Butterfly Bush
Lots of butterfly bushes to choose from, but this one’s compact form makes an ideal border or container plant. Same pollinator-magnet, just scaled down. Blooms summer until frost. Up to 30 in. tall and wide. Full sun. Zone: 5 – 10.
Variegated Sweet Iris
There’s no mistaking the violet scent of a sweet iris. It’s a popular basenote in many fine fragrances, and in the garden it adds an earthy, almost watery note that’s magic with herbals such as rosemary. This variety has striking foliage, too. Partial to full sun. Zone: 4 – 9