Stop and smell the roses (and the lilacs, and the paperbush)! 

Our favorite fragrant plants are here. These scent-makers will help your garden smell as good as it looks!

We often design gardens for the eye forgetting the transportive nature of aroma. Beyond just pure floral enchantment, our noses provide direct links to our past. Unlike other senses, fragrance is processed in the limbic system—a brain region typically associated with memory and emotional processes. This biological connection is why the scent of a specific flower can trigger a sudden, powerful emotional reaction more effectively than just looking at it. So go ahead and create some memories in your garden full of fragrance!

A few tips for fragrance gardens: Layer your plants for consistent scent across the seasons. Just like you might plant for staggered blooms throughout the year, time fragrant bulbs in the spring, add spring and summer scents with shrubs, trees, and herbs, and include perennials for aromas into autumn. Position plants near windows, pathways, and doorways to maximize your enjoyment. Scented geraniums were notably popular and strategically planted along pathways in Victorian times so that long skirts would brush against the foliage and release a dreamy scent! And don’t forget about the evening scents for nighttime pollinators: four o’clocks, evening primrose, night-blooming jasmine, and moonflower are great ones!

Highly fragranced plants always go fast, but we’ve got a great stock right now. Read up and then come find your favorite!

Scented blooms: 

Paperbush Edgeworthia chrysantha

Stunningly sweet clusters of yellow flowers bloom in winter, emitting a truly magical gardenia-like fragrance. This is a stop-in-your tracks kind of aroma! We have them in 3G pots for $52.00. And while we have a good amount right now, they always go FAST. It's the irresistible aroma!

Desert Orchid ‘El Nino’

Exquisite pink orchid-like summer blooms have a unique, delightfully sweet fragrance. Read more in our feature of the week here:

Sweet Box ‘Sweet and Lo’ 

Slender pink-white flowers perfume the air with a jasmine-like fragrance late winter to early spring, adored by pollinators

2G pots for $36.00

Orange Sweet Olive Osmanthus fragrans var. aurantiacus

Highly fragrant, bright orange, tiny fall blooms have a perfume reminiscent of apricot (Photo at the top). Tall specimens in 3G pots for $38.00.

2 Varieties of incredibly fragrant and sought after Korean Spice Viburnums:

'Spice Baby': Fragrant pink-white spring blooms; foliage takes on attractive burgundy shades in fall

'Spice Cowboy': Cultivar prized for its large, white, snowball blooms that fill the air with their fragrance in spring; foliage turns bright red-orange in fall

5 different Lilacs at Painters this spring:

• Bloomerrang 'Dark Purple': Fragrant purple flowers bloom first in spring, then again mid-summer to fall

• 'Congo': Large, abundant clusters of wonderfully fragrant purple flowers in spring, adored by pollinators and excellent for cut arrangements

• 'Miss Kim': Abundant, fragrant, lavender-pink blooms in spring; burgundy foliage in fall

• 'Baby Kim': Dwarf version of the popular Miss Kim variety with fragrant pink-purple blooms mid to late spring

• 'Old Glory': Fragrant, showy panicles of flower bloom in mid spring, about a week earlier than most

  Click on our Tree and Shrub Availability List for prices, sizes, and quantities.

Scented foliage:

Florida Anise Tree

Star Flower (Anise Tree) 'Orion'

Citronella Scented Geranium

2 different varieties of Illicium: Florida Anise Tree and Star Flower Anise ‘Orion,’

Florida Anise Tree: Lustrous foliage exudes an anise aroma when crushed; dazzling, dark red flowers (not quite so nicely scented) bloom in spring

Star Flower Orion: Delightfully fragrant foliage, lovely white starburst flowers bloom from spring to fall with an otherworldly charm. Both varieties in 3G pots for $38.00

Plus all the varieties of scented geraniums!

And tropical or herbal delights!

Don’t miss these scented treats in the greenhouse:

Heliotrope 'Marine'

Citrus bloom at Painters

Grapefruit Mint

Lavender at Painters

Night Blooming Jessamine at Painters

Herbs (Basils, Mints, Lavender, and more) and Citrus Plants (Meyer Lemon, Key Lime, Lemon & Lime Cocktail Tree, & 'Eureka' Variegated Pink) all with fabulous, fragrant foliage.

Click on our Growing and Availability List for prices, sizes, and quantities.

Heliotrope ‘Marine’

Deliciously fragrant, deep purple flowers bloom summer to fall; be sure to plant in a spot where you can regularly enjoy their spectacular scent. 6" pots are $6.50.

Night Blooming Jessamine

Intensely fragrant, creamy white summer flowers release their heady perfume at night. 4' pots available for $14.00.

Arabian Jasmine

Brilliant white, enchantingly fragrant flowers bloom in summer and sporadically throughout the year. 4' pots available for $14.00.

Common 'scents' says you should get to Painters ASAP! Come snag these scent-makers before they go!