Since time immemorial, people have dreamed of and collected beautiful fragrances in the garden. The nose, well, knows! Fragrant garden classics like gardenia, potted tuberose, roses or lilac bushes need little introduction, but there are many other scented plants perfect for today’s borders.
Here are some of the best shrubs, bulbs and annuals to combine for a nonstop succession of fragrant dreams day and night.
Fothergilla
A genus in the witch hazel family, Fothergilla comprises a handful of species native to the southeast United States. These deciduous shrubs lend fragrance to borders in spring, and unlike many spring-blooming shrubs they provide continued interest all the way until frost.
Both large fothergilla () and dwarf fothergilla () resemble shrubby, multi-stemmed), with scalloped leaves that drop in fall to reveal an interesting architecture of twiggy branches. reaches six to ten feet tall and wide and prefers part shade and drier soils, while the dwarf species grows one to three feet tall and wide and enjoys more sun and moisture. Both can colonize an area at a slow to moderate rate, but is more apt to spread this way, especially if given loose soil. For several weeks beginning in mid-spring, one- to two-inch-long, creamy white bottlebrush flowers blossom on the branch tips and fill the air with a light honey scent. The shrub’s leathery leaves remain fresh and appealing all summer; come autumn, they turn a riot of red, orange, yellow and purple.
