Nothing is more memorable than smell.  Consider that when picking fragrant flowers for your log cabin.  Flowers should be enjoyed for their intoxicating fragrances as well as their beauty. Don’t rely on just one type of plant to provide fragrance. Choose a variety of plants that captivate your sense of smell wherever you go.  Situate around your outdoor seating areas and in window boxes so you can enjoy scents on the breeze while doing dishes or having a glass of wine on the deck with friends.  Put climbing vines on your pergolas, fences and trellises.   Research when they bloom so you can enjoy scents throughout the year.

Temporal Zone Map

Temporal Zone Map

Some Fragrant Flowers Worth Picking and Sniffing

Angel’s Trumpet – A woody shrub, with pendant flowers ranging in colors.  If you don’t live in a frost free zone, plant in a container and move indoors to wait out the winter.  Size ranges from 3 – 20 feet high.  Zones 9 – 11

Chocolate Flower – This perennial daisy blooms nearly year round in warm climates and from May to October in cooler regions.  The fragrance is stronger on hot summer days.  Zones 4 – 10

Clematis – Large vine known for its versatility.  Different varieties bloom in different seasons from spring to autumn.  It’s low maintenance but poisonous.  Can climb 4 – 30 feet.  Zones 4 – 9

Flowering Tobacco – It’s easy to grow and the scent is most noticeable later in the day.  Birds are attracted to the lush rosettes that bloom through summer.  With a scientific name of Nicotiana, it’s no surprise  that it’s poisonous.  Zones 10 – 11

Four o’clock  – The drop in temperature in late afternoon causes the blooms to open.  You can enjoy its light fragrance all night.  Zones 8 – 11

Gardenias – Heavily scented evergreen shrub.  The white flowers are intensely sweet and do best in shade.  Zones 8 – 10

Heliotrope – Also called “cherry pie”   because of its fruity fragrance.  It’s good in containers or beds and has highly fragrant flowers.  Zones 9 – 11

Hosta – Although usually grown for its foliage, some varieties are scented.  Hosta is hardy and low maintenance and can thrive in shade or sun.  Zones 3 – 9

Hyacinth – The strong scent arrives in the early spring in time for Easter.  Its range of colors includes purple, white, pink and red.  Zones 4 – 9

Jasmine – This tropical exotic beauty has an uplifting fragrance that you can smell from feet away.  Zones 6 – 10

Lavender – Bees and butterflies like it but deer and rabbits will stay away.  It’s easy to care for with a scent regarded as soothing.   Lavender is a favorite in potpourri and can be used in cooking, but a little goes a long way.  Zones 5 – 10

Lemon Verbena – As the name suggests, the leaves are lemon scented which has calming and clarifying properties.  The leaves will hold fragrance after being dried for years.  Zones 9 and 10

Lilac – Blooms appear in large clusters in early spring. The spicy sweet smelling shrub reaches 6 to 8 feet tall and 5 to 6 feet wide which makes it good for privacy. Most do best in regions with a winter chill.  Zones 2 -9

Lily – Not even King Solomon was as decked out as the glorious lily!  Available in a myriad of colors, they tend to have sweet floral scents.  Zones 4 – 8

Magnolia  – The white variety drop petals leaving the ground looking snow-covered.  Sweetly-scented trees can grow to over 20 feet high. Likes sun. Zones 5 – 9

Peony – Some peonies have a symbiotic relationship with ants.  The nectar attracts ants who help open the dense double blooms.  If you want to cut and bring inside, clip while still buds before the ants arrive.  Zones 3 – 8

Phlox – It’s drought resistant, available is a wide variety of colors and great for borders or beds.  Zones 4 – 8

Roses – With more than 100 varieties, you’re sure to smell something you like.  The old fashioned garden rose is the most fragrant.  Even though higher maintenance than most fragrant flowers, they are worth the effort.  Zone 3 – 11

Stock  – Spicy scented and thrives in cool weather.  For this reason, it stops blooming once the heat hits.  All zones.

Sweet Pea – Vines grow 4 – 6 feet and bloom from spring to early autumn.  Not all varieties are fragrant.  Zones 6-9