Readers Respond: What's Your Favorite Fragrant Flower

Responses: 145

By Marie Iannotti, About.com Guide

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My favorite smell is the Gardenia! There is nothing like walking out my back door and inhaling the sweet smell!
—Guest Rita

Dianthus 'Bath's Pink' have a spicy sent. Not sure what spice... maybe cloves? But I love them.
—Guest Pam12969

For me it's a toss-up between angels' trumpet (datura) and the old fashioned nicotiana sylvestris, both are white so you can still see them in the early evening and just inhale deeply!
—Guest andrea

I don't know the name in English. I live in Mexico City and the name in Spanish is called "huele de noche" because it sends its scent out at night which is sweetly distinctive and very strong. It is a shrub-like plant with tiny whitish-green insignificant flowers. Mine perfumes the whole neighborhood. [Note from Marie: I believe huele de noche is night blooming Jasmine and it is wonderfully fragrant.]
—Guest DianaG

The Stargazer Lily has the best perfume in my flower beds. Best of all it's very hardy and requires very little care.
—Guest Sharon

So many to choose from...Fragrance is an important quality in plants I grow: Gardenia (in a large pot; comes inside in the winter, heavy spring bloom, then sporadically) Lilac (we have a huge bush of common lilac) Rose de Rescht (fairly hardy everblooming old-fashioned rose,classed as Portland or Damask and a tidy grower) Korean Spice Viburnum (by the doorway, the scent carries on the air) Jasminum Sambac (not winter hardy, but great in a pot on the porch for the summer. Fabulous fragrance; several varieties available)
—Guest BobW

Josee Lilac tops my list it's a frequent rebloomer with a wonderful lilac scent and blooms even in triple digit heat in the south. Nicotinia is a wonderful evening scented flower. A caveat needs to be offered with these. Keep them as far from tomatoes as possible because as the name implies they are a tobacco relative. Peatunias are a perrinial favorite and in some areas self sew. The choices are huge just make sure what you choose is suiteted to where you live. One plant to avoid for fragrance is the candle cactus. It's natural habitat has no bees so it has the smell of decomposing flesh to attract flies as pollinators. I found out the hard way.
—Guest Michael Brunson

Jasmine is my favorite -although I do have several others I like -Lavender, honeysuckle. Jasmine has not had it's heady fragrance "hybridized out" like some roses. Couple that with it's graceful climbing qualities and bee-friendly flowers, it's a winner for me!
—glamgram

I have 2 favorites that I have in my garden. Catmint is a favorite because it's a soft sweet mint smell and I really like other aspects of the plant. The other favorite is gardenia daffodil. It's so sweet and pretty. Plus it's flower is different from other bulbs.
—Guest NE OH gardener

Right now, here in NJ the lillies are coming out. I have Asiatic lillies in several of my gardens. The Stargazer lilly is very fragrant. You just have to pass by them and you notice thier wonderful fragrance. Mine are at least 4 feet tall and full of flowers.
—flowerluver

1. Star or Confederate jasmine. 2. Oriental lillies. (They bloom at a wonderful time here (Aug) 3. Gardenia. Sigh, so difficult but worth it. I buy 1 or 2 a year with big buds but I don't expect them to return the following year. 3. Burmese honeysuckle, it's fallen out of favor for some reason but they have the loveliest mango scent! 4. Heliatrope. If you love vanilla this one's for you!
—Guest wendycat

Stock, sometimes called Night Blooming Stock. They are easy to grow from seed, come in many colors and have when planted in a group make a very fragrant statement.
—Guest msh3ll

is Cimicifugia 'Brunette'.....beautiful flower. Cimicifugia likes a shady dampish spot, this makes it especially worthy because so few shade plants are fragrant. Sindy in zone 5.
—Guest Sindy

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Marie Iannotti
Gardening Guide