Fragrant Plants
Gardening for Fragrance – Here you will find wonderful plants that will perfume your garden.
Pick fragrant flowers in the early morning or late afternoon – the volatile oils that carry the scent are evaporated by the sun. For the most intense experience of a flower’s fragrance, lean close and breathe lightly into it before inhaling. The heat and rush of air releases the fragrant oils. Fragrances seem to lose their scent after a few moments, but the flower hasn’t run out of perfume – rather, your olfactory system is saturated and you are numbed by the smell.
Don’t use chemical sprays on fragrant flowers in bloom – it can affect the scent.
FILTER THE ITEMS ON THIS PAGE BY:
Plant Type
Genus
Common Name
Light Requirements
Bloom Color
Bloom Time
Height
Uses
Resistances
Type
Genus
Common Name
Light Requirement
Flower Color
Bloom Time
Height
Uses
Resistance
Salvia – Color Spires Crystal Blue Sage
Crystal blue flowers unlike any other.
Iris – All Night On Tall Bearded Iris
Dramatic purple, almost black, heavily ruffled blossoms.
Magnolia Butterflies
Lemon-yellow blossoms on an award-winning tree.
Magnolia Yellow Bird
Lemon-yellow blossoms burst forth in spring.
Syringa Scentara Double Blue, Lilac
Extremely fragrant and showy flowers, intense fragrance.
Amelanchier arborea Downy Serviceberry
Colorful year round with flowers, berries, foliage and bark.
Amelanchier laevis, Allegheny Serviceberry
Native plant with showy multi-seasonal interest.
Calamintha – Calamint
2021 Perennial Plant Association Perennial Plant Of the Year. Missouri Botanical Garden Plant Of Merit. Sun-loving perennial.
Caryopteris – Beyond Midnight Bluebeard
Popular variety.
Clethra Ruby Spice – Summersweet
Award-winning fragrant pink flowers.
Convallaria majalis – Lily Of The Valley
A favorite shade loving ground cover.
Echinacea pallida – Pale Purple Coneflower
Missouri Botanical Gardens Plant of Merit Winner.
Echinacea purpurea – Purple Coneflower
Gorgeous Missouri native perennial for natural and formal settings.
Iris Immortality Repeat Blooming German Iris
One of the best Repeat Blooming German Iris.
Itea virginica, Virginia Sweetspire
This small Missouri and Illinois native shrubs grows anywhere, sun, shade, wet, dry.
Lonicera Major Wheeler Trumpet Honeysuckle
Hummingbirds find it from miles around.
Magnolia Bracken’s Brown Beauty Southern Magnolia
Gorgeous tree with glossy evergreen foliage and showy flowers.
Magnolia virginiana – Glauca Sweet Bay Magnolia
Grows a little smaller than the species Magnolia virginiana.
Monarda bradburiana – Bee Balm
Important Missouri native pollinator plant.
Monarda fistulosa – Wild Bergamot
An important Missouri and Illinois native pollinator food source.
Monarda Jacob Cline Bee Balm
Hummingbirds adore its ruby red blossoms, long-time favorite sun perennial.
Nepeta – Cat’s Pajamas Catmint
A purr-fect perennial it brings loads of dark indigo blue flowers.
Nepeta – Walker’s Low, Catmint
Major award winner.
Paeonia – Gay Paree Peony
2023 Gold Medal Winner, recommended by the American Peony Society.
Paeonia – High Noon Tree Peony
Winner of the prestigious American Peony Society’s Gold Medal award, the Society’s highest honor
Paeonia – Pink Tree Peony
Its blossoms bring ethereal, exotic beauty. Very rare and limited.
Paeonia – Red Tree Peony
Wonderfully scented, crimson blossoms.
Paeonia Morning Lilac Itoh Peony
Expect at least 50 flowers on one mature plant. Bloom period can last up to 6 weeks!
Perovskia atriplicifolia – Russian Sage
Multiple award winner with lavender-blue flowers and fantastic silver foliage.
Phlox divaricata – Blue Moon Wild Sweet William
Sweetly fragrant easy care shade perennial.
Phlox paniculata – Coral Creme Drop Garden Phlox
Spectacular scented blossoms all summer.
Phlox paniculata – Garden Phlox
Missouri native with fragrant flowers for months.
Phlox pilosa – Prairie Phlox
Native perennial, makes a fantastic ground cover in sunny areas.
Prunus x cistena – Purple Leaf Sand Cherry
Red and purple foliage. Deer resistant.
Pycnanthemum muticum – Blunt Mountain Mint
Top choice to attract butterflies and more, multiple award winner.
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium – Slender Mountain Mint
2020 Native of the Year.
Rhus aromatica – Fragrant Sumac
Rugged native Missouri and Illinois ground cover shrub for tough spots.
Rhus Gro Low Fragrant Sumac
Rugged ground cover shrub with beautiful leaves. Perfect for fixing erosion issues.
Salvia – Blue By You Meadow Sage
2024 Perennial Of The Year, a vast improvement over old varieties.
Salvia – Rose Marvel Meadow Sage
Largest flowers in its class, perennial.
Syringa Beauty of Moscow, Lilac
Highly fragrant double flowers.
Verbena canadensis – Rose Verbena
2023 Native of the Year. Profuse blooming Missouri native perennial.
Weigela Midnight Sun
Small showy shrub perfect for the front of border.
Weigela Sonic Bloom Pink – Repeat Blooming Weigela
Bright pink flowers. Repeat blooms all season.
Weigela Sonic Bloom Wine
First-ever! Repeat blooming Weigela with dark foliage.
Weigela Spilled Wine
Low-maintenance, showy shrub.
Weigela Tuxedo
Snow white flowers of dark foliage.
Weigela Vinho Verde
Interesting leaves on a tidy deer-resistant shrub.
Allium Warrior – Bunching Onion
Edible, hardy, pretty, delicious!
Basil Emerald Tower
So beautiful you'll be torn whether to eat it or admire its beauty.
Buddleia – Black Knight Butterfly Bush
12" florets loaded with countless shades of pink petals.
Buddleia – Prince Charming, Butterfly Bush
A flower color rarely seen.
Buddleia – Pugster Blue Butterfly Bush
Multiple award winner. Plump full-sized flowers on dwarf shrubs.
Caryopteris – Pavillion Pink Bluebeard Shrub
Cinderella Pink flowers late summer into fall.
Dianthus – Mighty Mini Miss Rose Pinks
Spicy perfumed blossoms spring - fall on 2-4" tall perennial evergreen ground cover.
Dianthus Everlast Pink To White Carnation
Spicy perfume and endless blossoms, perennial.
Eupatorium – Gateway Joe Pye Weed
Just like its huge cousin, but at 5' only 1/2 as tall.
Lonicera sempervirens Coral Honeysuckle
Easy to grow Missouri native vine.
Oenothera macrocarpa – Missouri Evening Primrose
Top Missouri native perennial highly recommended.
Phlox – Olympus Variegated Tall Garden Phlox
Gorgeous leaves and flowers, hardy perennial.
Phlox amplifolia – Captain Puggleface Largeleaf Phlox
This entertainer has a name as adorable as its blossoms.
Phlox paniculata – Early Purple Eye Garden Phlox
Blooms 3 weeks earlier than other similar perennial Phlox.
Phlox paniculata – Early White Garden Phlox
Blooms 3 weeks earlier than older selections of Phlox.
Phlox paniculata – Jeana Garden Phlox
Best performer in top field trial, top award winner.
Salvia – Color Spires Azure Snow Sage
Bicolored flowers unlike any other.
Actea racemosa – Cimicifuga racemosa – Fairy Candles
Our most enchanting Missouri and Illinois native plant.
Agastache – Morello Hummingbird Mint
Dense bright raspberry pink flowers bloom spring through fall on this annual or short-lived perennial.
Agastache – Rosie Posie Hummingbird Mint
Hummingbirds find it irresistible.
Agastache Sunrise Rose Hummingbird Mint
Extremely long blooming selection.
Apios americana – Groundnut Vine
Missouri native vine for shade.
Asclepias sullivantii – Prairie Milkweed
Important food source for butterflies, bees, and other pollinators.
Asclepias verticillata – Whorled Milkweed
Important food source for Monarch butterflies.
Buddleia – Pink Cascade II Butterfly Bush
12" florets loaded with countless shades of pink petals.
Buddleia – Pugster Periwinkle Butterfly Bush
Showy pinky-purple flowers on dwarf shrubs.
Buddleia – Pugster Pinker Butterfly Bush
Large pink flowers on dwarf shrubs.
Buddleia – Pugster White Butterfly Bush
Large white flowers on dwarf shrubs.
Buddleia – Queen of Hearts Butterfly Bush
A royal beauty.
Buddleia – Ruby Chip Butterfly Bush
Ruby pink flowers on petite sized shrubs. Adored by butterflies.
Buddleia – Violet Cascade Butterfly Bush
Ginormous weeping flowers.
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FILTER THE ITEMS ON THIS PAGE BY:
Plant Type
Genus
Common Name
Light Requirements
Bloom Color
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Height
Uses
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Type
Genus
Common Name
Light Requirement
Flower Color
Bloom Time
Height
Uses
Resistance
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