Plants for Autumn Fragrance
Home Gardening Center
Helen's Garden of Fragrant Plants
Fragrance in Your Garden
Plant fragrances appeal to everyone. They can evoke wonderful memories and associations. Your nose has more than 10 million scent receptors, and your sense of smell is unique. Whether the fragrance is in the flowers, leaves, or even the roots, there are thousands of fragrant plants to grow.
Visit the Home Gardening Center at any time of year to see and smell first hand some of the many beautiful, fragrant plants. Even in mid-winter, daphnes and witch-hazels can surprise us with a sweet fragrance on a sunny day.
Why do some plants smell?
* Flower scents attract pollinators like bees, moths, and butterflies.
* Aromatic leaves, bark, and roots can repel hungry predators like insects, rabbits, and deer.
Why don't all plants smell?
* Flower fragrance is unnecessary for flowers pollinated by wind or by birds, which have no sense of smell.
Plants for Autumn Fragrance
From September through November, annuals, perennials, and shrubs continue to add fragrant flowers and leaves until frost. Annual pinks and heliotrope and late-blooming roses contribute fragrant flowers. Lavender and tender scented-geraniums with aromatic leaves all contribute end-of-the-season fragrance to the garden.
Autumn is the time to plan ahead for next year's fragrant garden. Plant witch-hazels (Hamamelis) for fragrant yellow flowers that appear as early as January. Or try daphnes for sweet-scented flowers in late winter and Korean spice viburnum (Viburnum carlesii) for early spring. Don't forget bulbs: now is the time to plant hyacinths, daffodils, and early-flowering tulips for spring fragrance and lilies for mid-summer. And fall is the perfect time to plant old-fashioned perennials like peonies and iris, many of which are deliciously scented.
Below is a list of some of the many fragrant plants to try in your garden. Many of these are good choices for late summer, fall, and winter fragrance. Visit the Home Gardening Center in spring to see many more.
variegated glossy abelia Abelia × grandiflora 'Conti'
fragrant abelia Abelia mosanensis
Japanese bugbane Actaea matsumurae 'Elstead Variety'
Japanese bugbane Actaea matsumurae 'White Pearl'
purple-leaved Kamchatka bugbane Actaea simplex (Atropurpurea Group) 'Brunette'
purple-leaved Kamchatka bugbane Actaea simplex (Atropurpurea Group) 'James Compton'
anise-hyssop Agastache 'Black Adder'
anise-hysspop Agastache 'Blue Fortune'
butterfly bush Buddleja davidii 'Black Knight'
butterfly bush Buddleja davidii 'Summer Beauty'
white calamint Calamintha nepeta 'White Cloud'
Carolina-allspice Calycanthus floridus
tea-oil camellia Camellia oleifera 'Lu Shan Snow'
sweet autumn clematis Clematis terniflora
dwarf summersweet Clethra alnifolia 'Hummingbird'
summersweet Clethra alnifolia 'Ruby Spice'
summersweet Clethra alnifolia 'Sixteen Candles'
spike winter-hazel Corylopsis spicata
lemon grass Cymbopogon citratus
variegated Burkwood daphne Daphne × burkwoodii 'Briggs Moonlight'
variegated Burkwood daphne Daphne × burkwoodii 'Carol Mackie'
Burkwood daphne Daphne × burkwoodii 'Somerset'
carnation Dianthus Garden Spice Light Pink®
sweet woodruff Galium odoratum
wintergreen Gaultheria procumbens
chinese witch-hazel Hamamelis mollis 'Wisley Supreme'
witch-hazel Hamamelis × intermedia 'Angelly'
witch-hazel Hamamelis × intermedia 'Barmstedt Gold'
vernal witch-hazel Hamamelis vernalis 'Purpurea'
heliotrope Heliotropium arborescens
fragrant plaintain-lily Hosta plantaginea
European hops Humulus lupulus 'Aromas'
Virginia sweetspire Itea virginica 'Merlot'
lantana Lantana camara 'Denholm White'
lavender Lavandula angustifolia 'Hidcote'
lavender Lavandula angustifolia 'Munstead'
lavender Lavandula 'Provence'
sweetbay magnolia Magnolia virginiana
crabapple Malus 'Snowdrift'
nemesia Nemesia 'Forever Fragrant Antique Rose'
nemesia Nemesia 'Forever Fragrant Berries and Cream'
nemesia Nemesia 'Forever Fragrant Royal'
vareigated basil Ocimum × citriodorum 'Pesto Perpetuo'
upright holly osmanthus Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Gulftide'
Russian-sage Perovskia atriplicifolia 'Little Spire'
mock-orange Philadelphus coronarius
plectranthus Plectranthus ciliatus
mountain-mint Pycnanthemum muticum
swamp honeysuckle azalea Rhododendron 'White Lightning'
shrub rose Rosa Eglantyne
shrub rose Rosa Gertrude Jekyll
shrub rose Rosa Golden Celebration™
floribunda rose Rosa 'Julia Child'
grandiflora rose Rosa 'Wild Blue Yonder'
rosemary Rosmarinus officinalis
Mexican bush sage Salvia leucantha
sweet-box Sarcococca hookeriana var. humilis
early-flowering lilac Syringa × hyacinthiflora 'Maiden's Blush'
lilac Syringa vulgaris 'Waldeck-Rousseau'
germander Teucrium chamaedrys
Korean spice viburnum Viburnum carlesii 'Compactum'
Judd viburnum Viburnum × juddii
Japanese wisteria Wisteria floribunda
Season: Fall
