Fragrant Flowering Shrubs
Once you’ve experienced the pleasures of a sweet-smelling garden, you’ll agree that every garden should include a few of the best fragrant shrubs. Many shrubs that smell good are also lovely to behold, and they come on all sizes and hardiness levels. The best fragrant shrubs for your area will include many summer bloomers. For example, butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii) is a popular shrub with very fragrant flowers. Its blossoms, in shades of purple, yellow, and white, and attracts butterflies during their June to September flowering season. Roses (Rosa spp.) also flower in summer, and many are fragrant. When you are planting fragrant shrubs, don’t forget lilac, a garden classic with an unforgettably sweet aroma. Try the super-hardy Bloomerang series. This member of the “best smelling shrubs club” blooms in spring, takes a rest, then flowers again in summer. However, spring and summer flowering bushes are not the only shrubs with blossoms that smell good. With a little effort, you can extend your collection of fragrant flowering shrubs to include fragrant bushes for all seasons. When you are planting fragrant shrubs, keep your calendar handy. You’ll want to include a few shrubs that smell good in each of the four seasons. For fall fragrance, consider planting fragrant shrubs like tea olive (Osmanthus heterophyllus). It’s an evergreen holly-lookalike. Its small white flowers offer a big fragrance from September through November. For fragrant bushes for all seasons, you’ll need a winter-flowering shrub too. One suggestion for a tough shrub with a sweet smell is winter honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima). Its ivory-colored, citrus-smelling flowers provide sensory delight from January through March.
