47 Most Fragrant Flowers According to Gardeners

Raul Cornelius is a Senior Editor at BalconyGardenWeb and an expert in flower and herb cultivation based in Phoenix, Arizona. A frequent speaker at horticultural events, he is also an active contributor to Facebook flower groups. Holding an MBA and a BCom, Raul blends his gardening skills with strong leadership and analytical abilities. Passionate about writing and photography, he enjoys early mornings with coffee and books, and nature bike rides during weekends.
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If you are in love with the perfume of anything natural, then have a look at the Most Fragrant Flowers According to Gardeners and grow one today!

We love pleasant aromas, and flowers are the liveliest source of them. Here’s an all-inclusive list of the Most Fragrant Flowers According to Gardeners based on a small survey in more than 20 countries on major social media platforms.

Check out the most beautiful Orchids here


Most Fragrant Flowers According to Gardeners

1. Scented Primrose

Most Fragrant Flowers According to Gardeners
shutterstock/weha

Botanical Name: Primula vulgaris

Grows widely in Europe, primrose comes in colorful flowers with beautiful foliage and a mild fruity aroma. They herald the arrival of spring, especially in the evening time when the breeze passes through them.

2. Plumeria

shutterstock/AgeAloysius

Botanical Name: Plumeria

Also called Frangipani, plumeria is a subtropical or tropical flower related to oleander. Its flowers are softly fragrant in the daytime and intensify at night.

3. Sweet Autumn Clematis

Most Fragrant Flowers According to Gardeners 2

Botanical Name: Clematis terniflora

From late summer to autumn, its perfumed white flowers bloom in clusters. The sweet vanilla scent oozes out and spreads a soft coolness all around.

Here are the best varieties of Clematis

4. Ylang-Ylang

flickr

Botanical Name: Cananga odorata

It is native to the rainforests of Asia and Australia and is also called the perfume tree. The plant blooms profusely year-round, pouring a slightly fruity floral scent to the surroundings.

5. Nicotiana

Most Fragrant Flowers According to Gardeners 3

Botanical Name: Nicotiana

Popular as a Tobacco flower, nicotiana is native to North and South America. Its small tubular flowers open in the noon and ooze out lily-like intense fragrance.

6. Lily of the Valley

Botanical Name: Convallaria majalis

Lily of the valley grows in USDA Zones 2-9 and blooms in spring. It has cute bell-like white or pale, pink flowers that spread their floral type fragrance in the whole area.

7. Viburnum

Most Fragrant Flowers According to Gardeners 4

Botanical Name: Viburnum

With beautiful foliage, viburnums are excellent fragrant flowers, especially their ‘Korean spice’ variety blooming in clusters of white fluffy flowers in spring and summer with a sweet and spicy fragrance.

8. Tuberose

Botanical Name: Polianthes tuberosa

Rajnigandha is its local name in India. Its seductive odor captures the warmth of mid-summer. The tube-like blossoms appear in hot tropical spring and summer with a sweet scent.

9. Sweet Osmanthus

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shutterstock/LiliStormstout

Botanical Name: Osmanthus fragrans

Native to China, Japan & Cambodia, orange osmanthus flowers carry a sweet apricot-like fragrance. It’s also called Kinmokusei, grown popularly in patios and yards and sidewalks in Japan.

10. Mock Orange

Botanical Name: Philadelphus

It is a cold-weather plant that blooms in summer and emits a pleasant orange-like scent that is refreshing like mint. The plant is the best combination of beauty and fragrance!

11. Lilac

Most Fragrant Flowers According to Gardeners 6

Botanical Name: Syringa

Blooms in spring and summer in Europe & America, lilacs are excellent cut flowers, with their arousing sweet-smelling fragrance. You can also grow this in containers as many hybrid varieties are now available.

12. Angel’s Trumpet

shutterstock/olcphoto

Botanical Name: Brugmansia

Popular for its trumpet-like creamy-orange flowers that ooze a sweet and strong aroma at the onset of dusk.

13. Daphne

Most Fragrant Flowers According to Gardeners 7

Botanical Name: Daphne

This flower is a favorite of the perfume industry with its alluring fragrance, thanks to its sweet and spicy fragrance. Not many gardeners grow Daphne because of the care it needs.

14. Night Scented Stocks

shutterstock/avoferten

Botanical Name: Matthiola longipetala

Stocks with their intoxicating perfume like lily are the best choice in fragrant gardens of cold climate. Its mild fragrance blends lightly in the surroundings in the evening.

15. Magnolia

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flickr

Botanical Name: Magnolia champaca

The beautiful cream-colored flowers give it a mix of deep grape and sweet banana-like fragrance like no other flowers. It’s native to the Himalayan ranges of South-East Asia, and blooms year-round in a tropical and subtropical climate.

16. Arabian Jasmine

Botanical Name: Jasminum sambac

It is the national flower of the Philippines and is also called Arabian Jasmine & mogra. Its strong fragrance is different than jasmine and is more like vanilla.

Check out the most beautiful Jasmine varietieshere

17. Stargazer Lily

Most Fragrant Flowers According to Gardeners 9

Botanical Name: Lilium ‘Stargazer’

All lilies are aromatic, but this hybrid variety is the most fragrant. Its sensual and slightly spicy scent is addictive to fall in love with!

Have a look at the most beautiful Lily pictures here

18. Honeysuckle

Botanical Name: Lonicera periclymenum

A trendy flower among those who love fragrant plants. Its cluster of tiny flowers erupts, inviting fruity fragrances like vanilla & honey that are always noticed.

19. Rose

Botanical Name: Rosa

A fragrant plant list can never be complete without the inclusion of fragrant roses. Loveliest of all the flowers and popular, everyone should grow them! They give out a mild and pleasing scent.

Check out this brilliant hack for growing Roses here

20. Freesia

Botanical Name: Freesia

Native to South Africa, many European gardeners voted for freesias. Its charming and fruity fragrance is pleasing to the senses.

21. Hyacinth

Botanical Name: Hyacinthus

Coming in red, white, blue, and more, hyacinths are appealing to the eyes, and their fragrance resembles a combination of strawberry and honeysuckle.

22. Jasmine

Botanical Name: Jasminum

Whether it’s the queen of the night or the poet’s jasmine, they all are the most fragrant flowers in the world with a strong and sweet scent.

Check out some stunning Jasmine varieties here

23. Night Blooming Jasmine

logees

Botanical Name: Cestrum nocturnum

The plant surely has the most powerful fragrance and what makes it different from the others is its nature to bloom at night, wafting the intoxicating aroma in the air.

24. Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Botanical Name: Brunfelsia pauciflora

The reason this plant has a strange name is that it opens in purple (yesterday), gets a lavender hue (today), and finally takes a pure white shade (tomorrow). It has a sweet fragrance.

25. Orange Jessamine

logees

Botanical Name: Murraya paniculata

If you love intense fragrance, then this should be your pick. The plant has beautiful waxy white flowers with a strong, orange-like smell. It stays bushy and compact, which makes it a top pick for small spaces.

26. Water Jasmine

Botanical Name: Wrightia religiosa

It is a very fragrant plant with a fruity scent. The best part about it is that it blooms all year round and grows quite fast.

27. Ginger Lily

plantogallery

Botanical Name: Hedychium coronarium

The stunning white flowers of this plant have a strong, lily-like fragrance with fruity undertones. Its scent is at its peak in the evening.

28. Spider Lily

Botanical Name: Hymenocallis littoralis

The flowers of this plant look like spiders crawling on leaves. It is one of the most fragrant flowers with a sweet and strong scent of vanilla!

29. Puakenikeni

Botanical Name: Fagraea berteroana

This Hawaiian beauty gets full of small cream-white flowers that take a yellow hue over time. It has a sweet fragrance that anyone will surely love.

30. Gardenia

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Botanical Name: Gardenia jasminoides

The plant is quite easy to grow and flourishes everywhere, in the cold or the tropics. Its big milky white flowers look beautiful, and their magical fragrance is pleasing yet not as overpowering as jasmine.

Learn growing Gardenia in pots here

31. Crepe Jasmine

Botanical Name: Tabernaemontana divaricata

This evergreen shrub is popular for its pinwheel-shaped flowers that give out a sweet and strong fragrance. It does best in full sun and looks stunning with its glossy green foliage.

32. Day Blooming Jasmine

Botanical Name: Cestrum diurnum

This tall plant is a great contender for pots and gives out a pleasing, sweet fragrance during the daytime from its clusters of tubular white flowers. The plant is prevalent in Indian subcontinent countries.

33. Vanilla Spice

flora-toskana

Botanical Name: Clethra alnifolia

This dense shrub is quite popular for its sweetly fragrant white flowers. It is easy to maintain and also attracts bees and butterflies.

34. Spice Baby Viburnum

alexander.hoyle

Botanical Name: Viburnum carlesii

Noted for its magnificent white blooms in clusters, the plant will wow you with its rich and spicy vanilla-like fragrance. It does well in full sun.

35. Paperwhite

Botanical Name: Narcissus papyraceus

The strong scented white flowers look beautiful on the tall, slender stalks. The upright nature of the plant makes them perfect for cut flowers and tabletop decors.

36. Sweet Violet

Botanical Name: Viola odorata

The tiny scented flowers bloom profusely in dappled sunlight under the shade of big trees. The fresh floral scent contributes to one of the most loved perfumes from around the world.

37. Gillyflower

Botanical Name: Matthiola incana

Gillyflower features tiny pink, purple, mauve, white, and violet flower spikes on gray-green foliage. The plant thrives in the well-draining medium under bright indirect sunlight.

38. Candle Flower

Botanical Name: Hoya carnosa

Clusters of waxy, star-shaped flowers adorn the deep-green vining foliage. The tiny pink or white fuzzy flowers emit a sweet fragrance at night.

39. Purple Panicle

Botanical Name: Wisteria sinensis

The hanging purple-blue flowers look dreamy on shiny oblong leaflets and exude a strong sweet smell that might seem overpowering to some.

40. Scented Selluka Ivy

Botanical Name: Vigra caracalla

The plant produces purple and white ornamental flowers on the ovate green foliage. The unique snail shell-like flowers smell like hyacinths and are a magnet for ants.

41. Snake Plant

Botanical Name: Dracaena trifasciata

Although the plant is a rare bloomer but will reward you with fragrant pale green flower stalks under suitable conditions that emit a strong vanilla-like scent at night.

Learn the secret of making a Snake Plant bloom here

42. Chocolate Vine

Botanical Name: Akebia quinata

As the name suggests, the deciduous semi-evergreen plant blooms purplish-brown blooms that smell of chocolates. The plant needs sturdy support to vine beautifully across the garden.

43. Clary sage

Botanical Name: Salvia sclarea

The plant blooms pink, lavender, and white flowers during mid-late summer on wrinkled, serrated foliage. Clary sage mists the air with a sweet and mild tobacco-like scent.

44. Night Jasmine

Botanical Name: Nyctanthes arbor-tristis

Night Jasmine blooms in clusters that emit a sweet fragrance as the petals open at night. The tiny white blooms with orange centers can be the point of attraction in any garden.

45. Garlic Creeper

Botanical Name: Mansoa alliacea

The plant produces funnel-shaped intensely fragrant blooms in purple and lavender that take a lighter hue as they age. The creeping vines look great on pergolas and fences. It grows best as a perennial in frost-free regions.

46. Yellow Jasmine

Botanical Name: Gelsemium sempervirens

The fragrant yellow blooms can be a great addition to outdoor gardens for their unmistakable sweet scent in the spring and fall months.

47. Rangoon creeper

Botanical Name: Combretum indicum

The star-shaped aromatic blooms are loaded with nectar that attracts a hoard of pollinators like bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Plus, the warm and sweet scent intensifies with the evening.

Find out the most fragrant houseplants here

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51 COMMENTS

  1. only thing i can say is you never drove or walked by honeysuckle blooming it would be one on list you can smell it a mile away ~!and magnolia i know it’s a tree,but it would have to be one or two,this tree in proper bloom is awesome.

    • Chuck,,Oh Yes The LOVELY honeysuckle Plant , I Have Been Lucky To Buy My First Home With Flower Bush Growing In The Yard , Take Care,Sharon🍅🍋🍓!

        • Amen, Pat! And, they feed the pollinators, preserve endangered Monarchs, and, in a large patch, turn your yard into a butterfly adventure.

  2. The photo for #3 is that of Muscari. I expect most respondents were voting for Hyacinthus when they said ‘Hyacinths’ — you have to get down really close to experience the fragrance of Grape Hyacinths.

  3. Thank you for comment Jean. Smart gesture though both the ‘Muscari’ and ‘Hyacinthus’ are from Asparagaceae family, it’s true that image here is of grape hyacinth but we mean hyacinthus.

  4. Sampagita (National Flower of the Philippine Islands), Star Jasmine ( found in California, USA), Myer Lemon tree- it’s flowers are fragrant (USA).

  5. The night scented cestrum is a hardy shrub with masses of green small flowers which have an overpowering incense-like fragrance at night.

    • I totally agree. It is my very favourite – the night scented cestrum. It always has been, and always will be, my number one shrub; it has a fragrance which, when flowering, seeps through your home after dark, all through the night, but is gone by daylight. It is overlooked as the flower close during the day, and is totally insignificant. I feel it has been overlooked as ‘gardeners’ have not discovered this shrub.

  6. My absolute favorite is the Pakalana from Hawaii, which is a vine that has small clusters of tiny flowers, and one or two small flowers will scent an entire yard during a still night. It is an airy fragrance like Lily of the Valley, but with a light Jasmine, Freesia like nuance. Very difficult to find, but once you get a clipping, it grows rapidly and is strong. My second favorite is the Yellow Oleander, with an airy, perfume like quality. I can actually imagine it alone being used as a single note perfume as is, that is how airy and aromatic it is without being heady. I could intoxicate myself with either of those all day.

  7. I like your flowers ideas. It’s very useful and impressive.
    It’s best for everyone. Flowers are best gifts for anyone. These flowers are best smelling flowers.
    Thanks

  8. THEY ARE ALL WRONG… The most fragrantly diverse and one of the most pungent is probably CANNABIS. which contains over 100 different turpenes, lemonenes, red fruits, resins, peppers, sage scents, banna pineapple etc… bv 100 different ones!!! which makes cannabis the most aromatically complex plant, for volatile essential oils…. it is also fairly productive.

  9. Sampaguita, Plumeria, Gardenia, Ylang Ylang , Rose and Stargazer are among plants in my garden plus jamaican jasmine, yesterday today and tomorrow, dama de noche camia, and 2 sweet smelling orchids are in my garden still finding other fragrant flowers your articles will helpe a lot.

  10. Here in The Philippines one of my favorite flowers was ALAS SUERTE, the color of its petal are white, a size of Star Gazer Lily. It only blooms once in a year at about 11 pm only and close it petal at dawn. Its scent of this flower was very aromatic as when you smell it you felt that you were enchanted. Actually, you can see the pics on my FB wall.

  11. Lady of the night otherwise known as ” dama de noche” is the most frangrant flower. It only opens up at night . You don’t have to go near the plant to smell the fragrance unlike other fragrant flowers you have to have your nose few inches from the flower to smell it. Guess gardeners who have voted did discover this flower yet

  12. I’d like to add wisteria, I had this huge bush of it in my backyard when growing up. I’d sit in the middle and just breathe it all in… It had this lovely candle-like aroma which I’ve always enjoyed. Such a beautiful flower too! ^_^ Anyway, that would be my favorite one with Gardenia or Jasmine.

  13. Thank you for the article. Natural fragrance from flowers. Good to plant them spread them. I love all of them. I live in Zone 7. I tried to plant gardenia s o far no success but I will try again. Both Gardenia and Jasmine. I have indoor very strong.

  14. The strongest aroma I have experienced from flowers is the night blooming Sirius until now it has been surpassed by this little shrub that I found in my garden ,if you crush a leaf the fragance stays with you for days and you can still smell it after washing your hands many times with soap,the night blooming Sirius blooms one night per blooming season and the aroma permeates the whole house but this little shrub has tiny Daisy looking flowers with white petals and a yellow center you only notice the aroma after crushing the leaves or the flowers.

  15. My mother would wax poetic everytime she remembered the smell of a Tuberose plant she had the pleasure of enjoying as some time in her life. I had never seen one, though the grow well in our area. On day, in an local dept store garden area, I smelled this heavenly fragrance and just HAD to find where it came from. I searched the entire department being led by my nose. As I searched, my mom’s description of Tuberose came to my remembrance. Sure enough, there were 2 pots of Tuberose in the far reaches of the garden shop and I bought them both. They bloom well and multiply well each year in the CA Central Valley, blooming from mid July into Sept when other flowers are dying out from out hot summer heat. Lovely, lovely flowers.

  16. Agreed with the list. I love any kind of Gardenia. The classic gardenia augusta has the strongest scent, one flower fragrant my entire garden. Gardenia Carinata is the most beautiful one IMHO.
    I will add some orchids to the list
    – Blc. Port of Paradise (strong citrus scent at night)
    – Blc. Tainan Gold (mild peach scent)
    – Phalaenopsis Bellina (mild peach scent)
    – Vanda Merrillii (strong jasmine scent)
    – Rhynchostylis retusa (strong candy scent in the morning, fade at night)
    – Oncidium Sharry Baby (choco scent)
    – Vanda Tricolor (not bloom yet but my friend said ‘strong scent’)
    – Maxillaria Tenuifolia (coconut scent)
    – Brassavola Nodosa (not bloom yet in my garden, but some said it is strong scent)

    Other strong scent include:
    – Aloysia Virgata (strong sweet scent)
    – Buddleia (jasmine scent)

    Foliage:
    – Rosemary
    – Lavender
    – Pelagornium Citrosum

    Still have more but not bloom yet in my garden

  17. I need help. I love the fragrance of lily of the valley, roses and freesia. I do NOT like gardenia – there’s an undertone to gardenia that I just do not like. I want to find a jasmine that smells like lily of the valley or honeysuckle or roses, not the one that smells like gardenia. Can anyone help me identify WHICH jasmine I should get? The typical description of “sweet fragrance” does not help.

  18. That’s what I say! I grow milkweed to raise monarch butterflies, and the scent is just wonderful. It blooms for several weeks and you can smell it several feet away. I can hardly wait for the blooms every year, it’s a perennial and spreads by rhizomes once established. I think it smells better than hyacinths.

  19. Sweet Olive is a new favorite of mine. I’d highly recommend it in any garden. The shrub itself is quite attractive and while the flowers are tiny and delicate their scent carries far and is spectacular!

  20. I’m so glad you put gardenia first followed by jasmine. They are my favourites, such a delicious smell and gorgeous flowers as well.

  21. I just found this article and I really appreciate it. I want to add to the list as I have those plants in my garden.
    1. Night blooming (cestrum nocturnum)
    2. Yesterday, today and tomorrow (brunfelsia grandiflora)
    3. Orange jessamine (murraya paniculata)
    4. Wrightia religiosa
    5. Rangoon creeper (Combretum indicum)

  22. Has anybody here grown and/or smelled fringed pink “Rainbow Loveliness?” If not, I suggest you do. And why were sweet peas not mentioned at all?

  23. Tuberose hands down is my ultimate favorite scent. If I could fill my apartment with that scent 24/7 I would be so happy.
    Runner up would be anything orange scented.
    Hyacinths also love the scent.
    But definately I plan on trying to find some of these others on the list at the garden center.

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