Flower fragrances are enchanting, alluring, even nostalgic. When asked about favorite flowers, scent plays a big part in most people’s choices. For instance, many people who love roses also love being surrounded by their fragrance, and might even wear rose perfume oil.
We’ve been capturing the scents of the most fragrant flowers for perfume since ancient civilization. In fact, the earliest documentation can be found on a cuneiform tablet. The first perfumer recorded in history was a woman chemist named Tapputi in Mesopotamia in the 2nd millennium. In those earliest endeavors, she distilled flowers, oils, and other aromatics, filtering several times to make perfume.
In the garden, flowers emit fragrance for two reasons: to attract pollinators or to repel unwanted insects. The scents are contained in oils produced by the flower petals. In the warm air of the garden, the oils evaporate and disperse pleasant floral scents. One of the easiest ways to freshen up your indoor space is with a bouquet of fragrant flowers.
So what are the best smelling flowers? Well, everyone has their favorites, and the list of the most fragrant flowers is endless, but we have plenty of enticing examples to spark your interest.
Lily of the Valley
Tiny, delicate lilies of the valley are an unlikely source for filling the air with their equally delicate, clean fragrance. The early spring bloomer’s heady scent embodies crisp, cool mornings and warming days. Plant these bulbs in a shady spot in late fall. They naturalize easily and can be invasive, but also do well in containers.
Caution: toxic to humans and animals
Growing conditions: full to part shade; moist, well drained soil
Size: up to 1 foot tall
USDA hardiness zones: 3-8
Gardenia
Gardenia is one of the most fragrant flowers, and its lush, warm scent is the basis for perfumes like Chanel’s Gardenia and Marc Jacobs’ Eau de Parfum. The flower, with creamy white petals, blooms amongst a shrub of bright green leaves, and emits a seductive, musky fragrance. Gardenias do well as houseplants if kept away from humidity.
Caution: toxic to humans and animals
Growing conditions: light to moderate shade; well drained, acidic soil
Size: up to 6 feet tall
USDA hardiness zones: 8-11
Lilac
The sweet scent of lilacs is one of the fleeting thrills of spring. Lilac shrubs have a short but dramatic blooming season in the spring, with a riot of purple hued blooms and intense fragrance. Lilacs are durable when planted in the sun, and will reward you with some of the best smelling flowers in your garden.
Growing conditions: full sun; dry/medium dry well drained soil
Size: up to 12 feet tall
USDA hardiness zones: 3-7
Nicotiana
Also called nicotine flower and jasmine flower, nicotiana fills the air with intense sweet fragrance throughout summer and into fall. The flower is most fragrant at night, and is often included in moon gardens. The star shaped flowers bloom in white, cream, yellow, green, pink, and red, and is perennial in frost-free regions, though often grown as an annual.
Growing conditions: full sun to part shade: moist, well drained soil.
Size: up to 5 feet tall
USDA hardiness zones: 10-11
Sweet Pea
Sweet peas are known for being among the most fragrant flowers, their intense honey and orange flower scent belying their small, dainty blooms. An annual that will climb as a vine up to eight feet in a season, sweet peas bloom in almost every color from spring to early summer. Sweet peas will last up to five days in a vase, and it’s ok to fill your home with the scent of sweet peas from the garden, because the more you cut, the more they proliferate.
Growing conditions: full sun; moist, well drained soil
Size: up to 8 feet tall
Moonflower
If the idea of spending the evenings enjoying your garden appeals to you, moonflowers are another must have along with nicotiana for a fragrant moon garden. Typically grown as an annual if not hardy, moonflower’s iridescent white trumpet flowers open at dusk, basking in the moonlight until dawn, emitting a lemony fragrance while the blooms are open.
Growing conditions: full sun; moist, well drained soil
Size: up to 4 feet tall
USDA hardiness zones: 9-10
Southern Magnolia
Striking and unmistakable, southern magnolia trees are known for their large, shiny, evergreen leaves and lush, fragrant, white or cream flowers that bloom in spring. The majestic tree is a striking visual addition to a garden or landscape, and a beautiful, fragrant harbinger of spring.
Growing conditions: full sun to part shade; moist, well drained soil
Size: up to 80 feet tall
USDA hardiness zones: 7-9
Rose
There are so many rose varieties, and though some have no scent at all, rose fragrances are as complex and diverse as the flower’s many types and varieties. Some are spicy, some citrus, some are musky, others brightly floral. They are certainly deserving of the title of our national flower, and one of the most beloved flowers. The fragrance of roses is the base for perfumes and other cosmetics, sachets and fragrances items. Rose oil is often featured in aromatherapy treatments, and some varieties are edible, with the flavor intrinsically connected with the flower’s aromatic quality.
Growing conditions: full sun to part shade; moist, well drained soil
Size: up to 3 feet tall
USDA hardiness zones: 5-9
Lavender
Lavender is prized specifically for its fragrance, though the lavender-blue flowers and silvery foliage of the herb are visually striking. You’ll find fields of lavender in the southern French countryside, but at home, it’ll do well in an herb garden, or a long a walking path where it’s unique fragrance will stir in the air as you pass by. Lavender is a star in aromatherapy terms, touted for its relaxing properties and often an ingredient in wellness products.
Growing conditions: full sun; dry/medium well drained soil
Size: up to 3 feet
USDA hardiness zones: 5-8
Heliotrope
Sweet clusters of little purple, blue, or white flowers with a sweet, rich fragrance, heliotrope is easy to grow as an annual in areas where it isn’t hardy. Heliotrope is an old fashioned garden flower that has gained popularity recently for its appeal with pollinators. Heliotropes do really well as cut flowers, so you can enjoy their vibrant colors and fragrance indoors.
Caution: toxic to humans and animals
Growing conditions: full sun; moist, well drained soil
Size: up to 18 inches tall
USDA hardiness zones: 10-11
Hyacinth
The scent of hyacinth immediately evokes the feeling of early spring, with its distinctive crisp, clean perfume. These clong clusters of flowers bloom in early spring in shades of purple, blue, pink, red, yellow and white. Plant the bulbs in fall in mixed borders or along walkways. Hyacinths do well in rock gardens and containers, and the bulbs can be forced so you can enjoy them indoors.
Growing conditions: full sun; medium moist, well drained soil
Size: up to 1 foot tall
USDA hardiness zones: 4-8
Orange Blossom
Credit: Wiki Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Orange_blossoms_-_Portakal_%C3%A7i%C3%A7ekleri.jpg
The uplifting scent of orange blossoms is deceptively simple. In fact it’s a nuanced blend of bright citrus, grassy green and clean soapy notes, which is why it’s a darling of perfumers. The result is a distinctive but subtle fragrance that has a tendency to trigger sense-memory and nostalgia. Groves of orange trees in bloom have been described as “an aromatherapy healing cloud,” and if you’ve smelled orange flower, you get it. It’s impossible to resist the good feelings a whiff of orange blossoms brings on!
Growing conditions: full sun; loamy, well drained soil
Size: up to 25 feet tall
USDA hardiness zones: 9-11
Honeysuckle
A whiff of honeysuckle can send you off on a search for the source, as you often smell honeysuckle before you spot it. The intense honey and citrus scent is unmistakable, and for a lot of folks, it evokes nostalgia for summers past, and the feelings and smells of lazy, lusty summer days and evenings, the tease of the season’s most fragrant flowers wafting through the air. Not surprisingly, a honeysuckle vine, when in bloom, is likely to entice hummingbirds into your garden.
Growing conditions: full sun
Size: up to 25 feet
USDA hardiness zones: 5-9
Peony
An old-fashioned favorite that’s gained newfound popularity, voluptuous peonies are as worthy of attention for their scent as for their stunning beauty. Ranging from light and citrusy to spicy and sweet, peonies vary in fragrance as much as color and style. Double white and double pink peonies are most notable as the most fragrant, and among the best smelling flowers.
Growing conditions: full sun to part shade; medium moist, well drained soil
Size: up to 3 feet tall
USDA hardiness zones: 3-8
Sweet Alyssum
Low growing sweet alyssum is an easy to grow annual for cool seasons. Grow them in borders, rock gardens, and flower beds, in clusters so as to encourage their light honey fragrance. Sweet alyssum does well in hanging baskets and window boxes.
Growing conditions: full sun to part shade; medium moist, well drained soil
Size: up to 9 inches tall
Freesia
Freesia has the distinction of having the broadest range of hues in the world’s best smelling flowers. The fragrance of the bell shaped flowers of freesia has been described as strawberry-like, spicy-sweet, and zesty, and compared to strong tea. The fragrance is so complex that even top perfumers can’t replicate it, so it’s often paired with Lily of the valley or magnolia in perfumes.
Growing conditions: full sun to light shade; moist, well drained soil
Size: up to 1 foot
USDA hardiness zones: 9-10
Naked Lady
Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Naked_ladies_pink_flower.jpg
This member of the amaryllis family is one of the longest lasting blooms, with lily-like pale pink flowers that emanate a sweet fragrance that’s a little like a sugary treat. These are called naked lady because the flowers blooms before the leaves appear, so their long stems stand naked.
Growing conditions: full sun; well drained soil
Size: up to 3 feet tall
USDA hardiness zones: 7-10
Bring the Fragrance of Flowers Indoors
There are so many ways to go when it comes to brightening up your space with a fragrant bouquet. You can never go wrong ordering roses online for visual and olfactory impact. But now that you’ve seen some of the other possibilities, maybe it’s time to go bold. For some ideas on mixing it up with winter flowers, or the many other bouquet ideas we have, check our blog section. Either way, when you order the best smelling flowers from The Bouqs, you’re also getting the freshest, longest lasting flowers, because our sustainable practices bring the flowers directly from the farm to your door!
Get 20% off on Bouqs.com with code BOUQSBLOG. Exclusions apply.
