Plant a Fragrant Garden with These Four Flowers

Each flower garden is as unique as the gardener. Some plant flowers for a color pop in the landscape, some gardeners make their entire landscape a flower bed so they won’t have to use a lawn mower. Then there are some gardeners who just want the heady fragrance in the summer’s air that only fragrant garden flowers can provide.

If you fit into the latter gardening group, or just want to add some fragrance to your flower garden, try planting one or all of these four easy-care fragrant flowers.

Gardenias

The classy and elegant gardenia is an evergreen shrub that bears white, fragrant flowers which vividly contrast with the glossy, dark green foliage.

Gardenias grow best when planted in acidic soil and in a location that receives filtered sunlight all day. Planting gardenias near (but not directly under) pine trees is an optimum and natural location for gardenias. As the fallen pine needles decompose, they add acid to the soil, and the spaced-out branches of pine trees provide the all-day, filtered sunlight that gardenias thrive in.

Four o’Clocks

Four o’Clocks are so named because that’s just about the time of late afternoon that these heirloom fragrant flowers bloom and release their fragrance. Many people are reminded of their grandparents flower garden at the sight and scent of the aromatic Four o’Clocks.

Four o’Clocks grow in most any soil, are drought tolerant and prefer full sun. The fragrant flower will act as a perennial in warm climates and an annual in cold climates. Save seeds from this season’s flowers to plant directly into the soil the following spring in cold climates.

Fragrant blooming Four o’Clocks come in a wide range of bloom colors and often produce more than one bloom color on a single plant.

Ginger Lilies

Ginger lilies are tall and regal, making a perfect backdrop for a fragrant garden and make excellent cut flowers.

Plant ginger lily tubers in soil that contains lots of organic matter and give them plenty of water.Ginger lilies are perfect for planting in low-lying, damp landscape areas or as part of a rain garden. These hardy lilies will adapt to a location that is in full sun or partial shade.

Oriental Lilies

Oriental lilies come in a wide range of fragrant bloom colors. Planting several varieties of these colorful beauties that bloom at different times will provide color and fragrance throughout the summer growing season.

Plant Oriental lily bulbs in loose, well drained soil and in a location where the lilies will be shaded by other nearby plants. Oriental lilies are a great choice for growing in a container garden or in flower boxes close to the house. Their strong, perfumed fragrance will permeate the air and enter the house when planted near the home’s entrance.

A fragrant garden delights the senses and beautifies the landscape. It doesn’t take a large amount of land space or a large number of different flowers to plant a fragrant garden. Just one of these four fragrant flowers planted in a container or existing flower garden will fill the summer air with delightful fragrance.