Heavily scented plants.

[Tumbleweed101]

I’ve got a cottage garden border that I started last year and hoping to add to this year. It was very pretty but there wasn’t much scent to the flowers. I’m just after ideas for scented cottage garden plants for this year 🙂.

Night scented stocks.

Would you consider a Shrub Rose. Princess Anne has a lovely musk scent, flowers well and is very hardy. Along the edge of the Garden you could plant lots of Thyme and leave it to flower.

I definitely second the stocks.
Not really sure if you'd consider them in keeping with a cottage garden theme, but pineapple sage smells divine when it's warm or wet.
Quince bushes are wonderful when the fruit ripen (at least mine are, and they seem to be self fertile, as well as having about a hundred seeds per fruit, every single one of which germinated. They also make the most delicious jelly I've ever tasted.)

Presumably you've already got some Honeysuckle? Tobacco plants are good, Lily of the Valley, gardenia, phlox.

Thanks for the ideas :).

I have an established honeysuckle by the front door and put in another at the back gate at the end of the summer so hopefully that will get going this year. I've also got a jasmine under the window. I've got some thyme and some other herbs but haven't tried the pineapple sage so will have a look out for that.

The others I haven't got at the moment so I will start looking them up today :). I have a large enough garden that I can include some shrubs too. I put in a peony this year but it wasn't very happy so will have to move it before the growing season (just waiting for my ground conditions to improve a bit).

I just love going into summer gardens and there's that lovely fragrance that makes you think of summer and summer evenings :). Have heard that night stocks are good but forgot about them so will have to add them this year :). Quite like the idea of a thyme border by the side of the path.

I'm trying to get ahead with the ideas this year so I can get the plants in as soon as it is time to. Last year was the first time I've really had the time to focus on the garden and on having more than just lawn!

Lurking as am doing the same!

Old fashioned pinks are good - Doris pink ones or Mrs Sinkins white ones. otherwise nicotiana (especially for the evening), stocks and dame's violet (which comes in white as well as mauve.

See if you can find a second hand copy of The Scented Garden by Rosemary Verey - lots of ideas in there! If you have room for a small shrub Lonicera purpusii or L.fragantissima have a lovely scent early in the year. Early bees love them too!

I bought really expensive scented geraniums from Sarah raven last year then realised they were doing them super cheap at Homebase. I’ve had one on the kitchen windowsill all winter and it’s grown so fast I’ve taken cuttings which touch wood have taken well.

Roses. I think dark red ones tend to have the best scent but I might be wrong. Roses are very low maintenance given that they bloom for about half the year.

orange blossom is a lovely scented shrub. We used to have lavender under the washing line which was brushed by the sheets as they dried so the sheets and garden smelt nice - have to be careful when folding that a sneaky bee isn't dozing on the sheets though!

Thanks for all the ideas :).

Monarda - other name is bergamot. The leaves smell like earl grey tea. I have monarda squaw with is a beautiful red and flowered for months last summer, the bees loved it.

Jasmin. So evocative of summer. Lilacs also.

I’ve found a copy of the book suggested and ordered it :).

I’ve also written a list of all the plants suggested so I can check out the light and soil conditions they prefer - got clay soil so some may need a bit of compost etc added to the ground.

Just to add, honeysuckle and nicotiana will give out their scent in the evenings along with the night scented stocks.

Also, monarda (bergamot) is lovely and obvs sweet peas.

Philadelphus (mock orange) is fab, though I have 2 different varieties and one has a much nicer smell than the other so worth checking which type! (The nicer one has dark green leaves and rose-like double flowers and looks similar to "Virginal", the less nice one has lighter green leaves and single flowers and looks more like "Belle Etoile").

Also if you would like something scented for Winter too, Christmas box (Sarcococca confusa) is fab - though I've been trying to grow some and mine have not made much scent so far, so not sure what I'm doing wrong with them

Sweet peas definitely, Lavender and rosemary. Lilac - wouldn't bother as the trees get big and although the blooms are lovely they aren't in flower for long. Buddleia are fragrant and butterflies love them but they are naturalising everywhere so I would avoid them.
Don't plant lily of the valley or lilies if you have cats.

Do self seeding sweet peas lose scent after a while? Mine are pretty but not really scented and have been coming up in same place for about five years.

What about mock orange? Beautiful scent lasts as long as the sunshine does.

So I’ve made a start...

Put in a lovely smelling winter honeysuckle yesterday near the path where it will be easy to smell walking by. It’s in the part of the garden that is most used in winter. It should grow at the same rate as the Mexican orange blossom that’s nearby and I put in last spring.

Got seeds for a lot of the annuals mentioned such as Night stocks, sweet peas etc. Will start them in a few weeks - is end of Feb best for summer annuals? Anyone found the ideal time? Says on packets Feb - April for a lot of them for sowing. I usually plan too late so buy plants rather than seeds.

Got a Sweet Box to put in for winter scent and a Mock Orange. Gradually building up a collection!

Going to lovely. Wish the weather would clear up a bit so I can get out and make my garden lovely!

Yes. Looking forward to spring.

You have been given great suggestion nos for spring/summer. For winter/spring plant wallflowers. It's hard to beat the scent of a wallflower!