Your favourite flowers for scent? Not roses, lavender or sweetpeas

[Koulibiak]

I’m looking for recommendations for scented flowers for my garden, beyond the usual roses, lavender and sweetpeas. Last year I sowed nicotianas, which smelled divine of an evening. Can anything top that? Or would provide similar scent but in the morning? Ideally something I can grow from seed, but I am open minded. I already have star Jasmine, brugmansias, a daphne, sweetpeas and scented leaf pelargoniums. Thank you 🙏

I ve got a dwarf lilac (Kim?} in a pot, about 10 years old now, it smells amazing.

Mock orange. I just stand next to mine when it's in bloom, breathing deeply.

Oh and also, privet hedge. The smell of privet in spring and early summer remind me of growing up in the North West.

Gardenia. I grew a beautiful in a sheltered spot (plus am on the south coast) and the scent was amazing.

Salvia Nachtwinde
I also love having lots of herbs in pots around the seating area, rosemary, thyme, basil varieties…

Daphne and sarcocca for fabulous scent in December/january.

I grew chocolate cosmos for the first time this year, it loved the hot weather we had and was glorious.

Night scented stock seeds are usually cheap. I usually sow a couple of small pots in succession and keep them near to our seating area.

Wallflowers. Ours are so hardy and they smell of my neverending childhood summers.

Freesias

To all those who said freesias, how do you get them to grow? I don’t know if I got dud bulbs last year, but not a single one grew. I followed the RHS advice to put the pots in a cold shed at first. Anything else I need to do?

I have never had any luck with them. Saw them growing wild on Gibraltar however!

Salvia Nachtvlinder, I bought it this year for the deep crimson/purple flower colour and was pleasantly surprised by the amazing scent.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/351255/salvia-nachtvlinder/details

Freesia and honeysuckle.

Lily of the valley and hyacinths are my favourites. Also Philodelphus, but that gets huge and only smells nice for a fortnight.

Resurrecting this thread to thank everyone who suggested night scented stocks. They are divine, I’ve got two pots by my patio doors, when the doors are open in the evening (even just a sliver) I can smell them throughout the house.

I’m currently blessed with a combo of stocks and nicotianas at night, and sweet peas and daphne in daytime. My star jasmine is about to flower for the first time. And I’ve got brugmansia to look forward to later in the summer.

I also have scented leaf pelargoniums and houttuynias for leaf fragrance (I know the latter is marmite, but mine smell of oranges). And a huge crop of basil too.

Night scented stock

Sorry - just seen your update. They remind me of my late dad ❤️

I live lavender growing by the front door, so I brush against it as I go in and out.

I love lily-of-the-valley, but I can't get it to grow.
Hyacinths in flower in spring are wonderful.
Honeysuckle.
Corsican mint is tiny, but if you can get it growing where you'll tread on it,it's fab.
Definitely agree with night scented stock.

The one that hasn't been mentioned yet is violets. I bought a lovely variety last year at a local stately home and the scent is gorgeous and it flowers all summer - viola Rebecca. I've got winter flowering viola as well but so now have violet scent in the garden all year round.

There are some clematis that are scented, although I've not found one with a really strong scent yet.

Freesias, stocks, jasmine.

Philadelphus - but check which one! I have two in my garden neither of which I know the variety but when one blooms it fills the garden with scent. It might be virginal. It has kind of thin stems that droop either with masses of white flowers. The other has fewer flowers and is in a separate bit of my garden and doesn’t do the same. I adore the smell. I will take a few stems and put in my car!

Also old fashioned honeysuckle, though I have no idea of the name of the one that grows through my old hedge but and it’s gorgeous and great for bees.

Finally night scented stock for the evening

edit Sorry I didn’t read the full thread or look at the date x

My philadelphus is absolutely exploding in fragrant blossom right now. I can smell it from my bedroom window. I’ve put some in a vase in the kitchen, and you can smell it as soon as you walk through the front door at the other end of the house. But it’s still a dainty fragrance, not overwhelming like hyacinths or lilies.

A fragrant shrub that people overlook is ligustrum (privet). We always see them as trimmed hedges, but, if you do not trim from May onwards, then in July you’ll have small cones of creamy flowers with a lovely scent. You can resume trimming a fter they finish flowing.

wild liliac. smells incredible

@Koulibiak I sowed stock and nicotiana this year on the back of this thread and the seeds germinated but failed to thrive.

Not sure if it’s the compost or other unsuitable growing conditions.

Wonder if it’s too late to start again?

They are glorious aren't they. The path leading to my office is surrounded by lime trees and the smell as I walk underneath is wonderful. Bees go absolutely mad for the blossom as well