Pump Up the Volume On Fragrance – Flowers That Smell Great

Why do so many people love gardening? Is it because the idea of digging in the dirt is considered to be therapeutic? Do they like the idea of watching plants grow? While it may be a little of each, the true reason why many flower gardeners have chosen their hobby is because if successful, they are rewarded with heady scents that may add to the ambience of the yard during the day hours and even during the evening times!

So if you are ready to pump up the volume on fragrance, here is a list of flowers that smell great:

Lavender is usually at the top of the list of flowers grown for their fragrance. It is easy to grow, and if you are able to provide it with some well drained soil, lots and lots of sunshine, and preferably warm weather, you know that you can count on the plant to grow. A well kept secret among hobbyists is the use of chalky soil to enhance the fragrance. Clip the flowers regularly to spur on new growth and enjoy the fragrance inside your home and outside as well.

Jasmine is a close second. Their white flowers emit a recognizable sweet scent that may be overwhelming if too many plants are grown close together. Scatter them around your garden to give you a light scent throughout.

Not usually thought of as a fragrant flower, lantana is actually fragrant in two ways: its flowers as well as its leaves. The fragrance of the flowers is usually very gentle and may be hard to discern if it is overpowered by the scent of its leaves. This scent is strongest after the leaves are bruised or cut. This plant makes for a wonderfully flowering hedge.

A flower that emits a heady scent is the lilac. Considered shrubs, but also available in dwarf varieties, the flowers are a beautiful purple or white and will often scent an entire yard.

The trick to cultivating a flower garden that has an emphasis on scent is to start slowly. Since many of the plants are relatively inexpensive to purchase and very easy to grow, the novice gardener will very often plant too many fragrant flowers – this results in large pockets of overwhelming smells, and in some cases scents that – when mingled – are not very pleasing to the olfactory sense. It is therefore important to start with just a few specimens and allow them to go through a season of growth. This will allow you to find out the strength of the scent the plant will emit, and also how it mingles with other plants. During the next growing season you will then know if you should continue with the number of plants that you have in your yard, or if you need to increase them so as to strengthen the scent you are looking for. Conversely, it may give you a clue as to the number of which plants you wish to increase while it also lets you know which plants to not add to your landscape.

If you are not certain about the fragrance of your garden, why not invite a friend or two to come over and take a sniff? The odds are that by working in your yard you may have gotten accustomed to the smell and may not notice the nuances as clearly as someone who might be coming in from the outside. While their judgment should not be the final determining factor when it comes to adding or subtracting plants and varieties, it will give you a fair assessment of what others find pleasing, and where they may notice a pocket of smell rather than a general atmosphere of scent.