Scented plants for an (outdoors) pot

[ErrolTheDragon]

Last year I fell in love with the scent of sweet box, bought one and then couldn't find anywhere to put it in the beds so I shoved it in a pot. With the happy result that now I've moved it next to the front door to inhale every time I go out and in.

So... now I'd like some ideas for other scented plants for pots for other times of year.

Sweet peas, Matthiola incana both do OK in pots. Lavender. Rosemary for the leaf scent - brush your hand through it every time you go past.

I do have a lavender which goes by the door when it's flowering.

I didn't know what Matthiola incana but I see its stocks - good idea, I'd not thought of them or sweet peas, I'd been thinking more about small shrubs and perhaps missing the obvious!

The rosemary is by the back door handy for the kitchen.

Wintersweet does OK in pots, as do the various daphne odorata strains: both lovely when not much else is around.

For later in the year, jasmine, if you can support it (and bonus of being evergreen) - there's also some bushy and compact varieties. I prefer sambac personally, but there's lots you can get, especially if you look at nurseries as well as garden centres. Or - my personal absolute favourite - cestrum nocturnum. Smells slightly like honey. It's not fully Hardy, but can cope in to about ten degrees - if you bring it inside, though, as I do, it's fine in a light, unheated room, and barely loses any leaves. I put it by the door once the frosts have passed until it stops flowering--it reminds me of my happy young adulthood in the Middle East.

I second lavender and rosemary; they both smell beautiful, won't die in the winter and don't need much watering at all during summer. Roses and lemon balm also smell really nice and again will last for years.

Lantana camara are great for the summer, look fab and smell of guava fruit. It always reminds me of childhood holiday memories.

lemon balm Lemon verbena has an even nicer lemon smell, though is a bit tender, as are scented leaved pelargoniums (which can come in rose, lemon, eucalyptus, pine and chocolate mint flavours).

Lily of the valley can be grown in pots. So can pinks.

Oh, I forgot - for later in the year, try Nicotiana sylvestris. You'll need to re-grow from seed each year, but it produces abundant long-lasting seed.

Some good ideas! My lilies of the valley are spreading, I think I'll dig some out and pot.

I love lemon verbena but I don't think it would do well here (NW England).

Be careful with those lilly of the valleys, OP, as do they do spread indeed; same with bluebells.

They've been in the same place for a couple of decades, just started escaping from where I wanted them last year.

Something ate my lily of the valley, I wanted it to spread!

I love lemon verbena but I don't think it would do well here (NW England). I have it at 400ft above sea level in Yorkshire, but I bring it in for the winter and stand it in an unheated porch. It loses its top growth be re-shoots in spring.