1. GARDENIA
Grown for their attractive glossy foliage and highly scented waxy white flowers, gardenia are guaranteed to introduce an extra special touch to your scented garden. They bloom in late spring and early summer, then repeat flower again in late summer and early fall, so they are a good investment if you're looking for longevity in the scent department.
2. ROSE
Every garden, however small, should have at least one scented rose and there are plenty of different fragrances to choose from. These range from citrusy or fruity notes to floral, tea, myrrh and musk. Roses are renowned for their delicious fragrances, however some varieties are much more fragrant than others.
3. PHLOX
One of summer's most fragrant and showy flowers, phlox bears big clusters of magenta, reddish-pink, lilac or white blooms on tall stems from mid to late summer. The sweet, heady scent is particularly strong on warm, sunny days.
4. SWEET PEAS
'Sweet peas have an intoxicating fragrance, gorgeous delicate tendrils, and a beautiful, romantic flower form,' says flower expert Lisa Mason Ziegler of The Gardeners Workshop. 'There are several types of sweet peas, some with larger blooms, others with more fragrance.'
5. STOCKS
This spicy-sweet smelling annual flower is one of the most strongly scented plants there is, with a delicious perfume like cloves. The flowery spires comes in strong shades of pink, purple, and red, as well as softer tones of apricot, lemon and cream if you prefer a more pastel color palette.
6. NICOTIANA
Nicotiana will fill flower beds with a strong, sweet fragrance all summer long and right into fall, and the scent is most pronounced at night. Although they look lovely during the day, tobacco flowers really come into their own in the evening, when they release their fragrance to attract nocturnal pollinators such as moths.
7. ORIENTAL LILIES
With their multiple flowers per stem and exotic good looks, lilies are the glamor queens of the scented garden. There are so many to choose from, including a multitude of colors and bi-colors in all the usual brights and pastels, that selecting a cultivar by strength of fragrance is a good way to narrow the field.