Design with Scented Flowers

So without azaleas, magnolias and gardenias how can you get luscious scents in a Southwestern garden?

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So without azaleas, magnolias and gardenias how can you get luscious scents in a Southwestern garden? One way is to plant annuals and perennial flowers noted for their fragrance. Put them into existing shrub beds and fill large pots with them. You’ll notice the difference right away.

Perennial flowers known for their scents include

  • Chocolate Flower, Lilies, Soapwort, Creeping Phlox
  • Garden Phlox, Hostas, Dianthus, Sweet Violets, Peonies
  • Candytuft, Wallflower, Four O’Clocks, Evening Primrose
  • Dame’s Violet, Forget-Me-Nots, Passion Flower, Bee Balm, Lupine

Annual flowers that are particularly fragrant are

  • Sweet Peas, Stock, Petunias, Dahlberg Daisies, Nicotiana
  • English Primrose, Dianthus, Miniature Carnations, Sweet Alyssum

Also, culinary herbs planted throughout shrub areas and flowerbeds are not only useful, but many are fragrant, particularly to the touch. If you use thyme as a groundcover, especially between paving stones, walking on the leaves releases a lovely scent.

The best way to smell flowers is to place them where you’ll notice their rich aromas more easily—under open windows, near or on patios in pots, or along pathways. Also protect scented plants because wind quickly disperses delicate plant fragrances.

Attributes of plant fragrances

  • The day’s heat is what brings out scents, so plant flowers in warm spots.
  • Plants surrender scents as humidity increases with nightfall.
  • Scents also rise after plants have been watered, in the mornings or in the evenings.

With spring right around the corner (hopefully!), here in Santa Fe we can look forward to that wafting scent of lilac bushes, especially in the historic neighborhoods. Their blooms really are the harbingers of a new season, filling the air with blooming fragrances. So when planting time comes around, start poking in a few plants noted for their perfumes. You’ll smell the difference instantly.