12 scented shrubs for a fragrant garden all year round

Fragrant shrubs for spring

Fragrant currant – Ribes odoratum

Shrub with a bushy, rounded habit, fragrant currant combines many qualities. In mid-spring, its numerous tubular flowers, mixing yellow and orange, give off a clearly noticeable perfume. They are followed by black, edible fruits, though of limited culinary interest. Thornless, this ornamental currant bears toothed leaves of a clear green, which turn a beautiful purple in autumn. Hardy to at least -15°C, this shrub, about 2 m in all directions, fits well in hedges as well as in borders.

Ribes odoratum

• Requirements

Plant in any ordinary, deep, fresh soil, even chalky, in full sun or partial shade.

• Scent

Gentle yet clearly present, fragrant currant’s scent recalls that of carnation. It can be smelled at a distance from the shrub.

→ Discover all our varieties of flowering currants and our factsheet: Flowering currants – planting, growing and maintenance

Burkwood viburnum – Viburnum burkwoodii

A must-have in a scented garden, Burkwood viburnum lights up spring with its small white flowers tinged with pale pink, gathered into numerous spherical clusters about 10 cm across. Its scent is simply wonderful! Foliage, deciduous to semi-evergreen, is borne on a shrub of around 2.5 m, sometimes with a slightly untidy habit. Green during the growing season, the leaves again draw attention to this superb shrub in autumn when they turn particularly warm colours. Hardy to -20°C, this viburnum is easy to grow and shines in the garden several times a year. The variety ‘Ann Russell’ differs from the species by less vigorous growth and a more compact habit.

Viburnum burkwoodii

• Requirements

Plant viburnum in fresh but well-drained soil, not too chalky, in full sun or partial shade.

• Scent

Close to that of lily, its scent also releases notes of jasmine and tuberose. Very powerful, it is truly perceptible several metres around!

→ Discover our wide range of viburnums and our factsheet: Viburnums – planting, pruning and cultivating

Lilac – Syringa

Lilacs are emblematic of a scented spring. These shrubs, hardy and very easy to grow, adopt an upright, dense habit, forming a well-branched shrub that becomes more spreading with age. Fast-growing, lilac produces in April–May clusters of melliferous flowers in a range of colours, from white to deep burgundy, including various shades of pink and blue. Some even offer mixes, such as the variety ‘Sensation’. Single or double, the flowers emerge from mid-green foliage, in pyramid-shaped thyrses that are easily recognisable. Recent hybrids, such as Bloomerang ‘Dark Purple’, provide repeat flowering once summer heat subsides. Fast-growing, lilacs can reach over 6 metres, but some dwarf varieties, like ‘Bloomerang Pink Perfume’, do not exceed 1.3 metres, making them suitable for everywhere, even in a pot on a terrace.

Syringa Bloomerang Dark Purple

• Requirements

Lilac grows in any ordinary, well-drained soil, even in calcareous ground. It tolerates full sun as well as partial shade.

• Scent

A scent steeped in nostalgia, instantly recalling grandparents’ gardens and becoming a reference. Sweet and tender, it blends floral and aniseed notes.

→ Discover all our lilac varieties and our factsheet: Planting, pruning and maintaining lilacs

Fragrant shrubs for summer

Butterfly bush – Buddleja

Small shrub or handsome shrub, Butterfly bush grows from 1.20 m to 4 m depending on variety. Its spreading silhouette showcases deciduous or semi-evergreen foliage, green to silvery, with a downy underside. From June to October, long nectar-rich spikes adorn the plant and attract butterflies. A wide range of colours is available, including vivid blue in ‘Empire Blue’, white with ‘White Profusion’ or pink as in ‘Summer Beauty’. Varieties occur in varied shades and some are even bicoloured, such as ‘Flower Power’.

Hardy down to -20°C, fast-growing and disease-free, they settle well in all gardens, especially as they resist pollution and tolerate heat and drought well. Dwarf varieties, such as ‘Nanho Blue’, even make them suitable for a terrace.

Buddleja ‘Nanho Blue’

• Requirements

Buddleja grows in any well-drained soil, even poor and calcareous. Position in full sun and preferably sheltered from wind.

• Scent

Dominated by honeyed notes, it also reveals musky touches and a hint of carnation. Scent is clearly noticeable when passing close to the shrub.

→ Discover our selection of Butterfly bushes and our factsheet: Planting, pruning and caring for Butterfly bush.

Japanese snowbell – Styrax

Somewhat niche, the Japanese styrax gains popularity each year. It certainly has many advantages! This elegant shrub displays a tiered silhouette with horizontal branches that bear deciduous leaves of deep green, slightly bluish beneath. In autumn they blaze with beautiful yellow and orange tones. This original shrub is also prized for its scented flowering in early summer, with a multitude of white bell-shaped flowers, whose drooping habit enhances its striking outline. Dry, creamy-white drupes follow the flowering. Moderate-growing, Styrax is long-lived and rarely exceeds 3–4 m. Hardy (-15°C), very disease-resistant and easy to grow, it deserves to be discovered and used in the garden or in a pot.

Styrax japonicus

• Requirements

Styrax prefers light, neutral to acidic soils rich in organic matter and kept moist. In the warmest regions, place in partial shade. Elsewhere, it will tolerate sun. Simply avoid scorching exposures.

• Scent

Its fresh, gourmand scent is both vanilla-like and sweet.

→ Discover our Styrax species and our factsheet: Planting, caring for and pruning Styrax

Glory tree – Clerodendrum trichotomum

Known as glory tree, Harlequin Glorybower or turquoise tree, the Clerodendrum is an original shrub with an exotic appearance. Its leaves are deciduous and green in the species, variegated with yellow turning white in season for cultivar Variegatum. Prominent veins give attractive texture to the foliage, whose underside is downy. When crushed, leaves emit uncommon peanut notes. From July to October the plant bears panicles of white flowers with purple calyces, star-shaped and highly fragrant. These are followed by small round berries, resembling delightful turquoise gemstones set in a bright red casing. In addition comes rapid growth, very good disease resistance, low maintenance and good hardiness (-15°C). What more could one ask for?

Clerodendrum trichotonum

• Requirements

Easy to grow, Clerodendrum tolerates any well-drained, fresh soil, in sun or partial shade. Avoid heavy, waterlogged soils in winter, as well as excessive heat in summer.

• Scent

While peanut scent from crushed foliage may be surprising and not to everyone’s taste, the jasmine-like fragrances of its flowers are on the other hand a delight, especially at dusk.

→ Discover our Styrax species and our factsheet: Planting, caring for and pruning Styrax.

Fragrant shrubs for autumn

Autumn camellia – Camellia sasanqua

With a species name like that, Camellia sasanqua (a name that sounds like “what does it smell like?”) deserved a place in a selection of scented shrubs. This small camellia with evergreen, typically glossy, thick and leathery foliage remains a reasonable size (1.5 to 3 m), making it easy to plant even in modest spaces or in a pot. Slow to moderate-growing, it has the particularity of flowering in autumn, usually between October and December, with single or double flowers in shades of pink, red or white. There are varieties with a pronounced fragrance, such as ‘Setsugekka’, with single white flowers and golden stamens, or ‘Yume’, with very fragrant pink-and-white flowers and a record bloom.

Although the autumn camellia tolerates drought reasonably well once established, it is rather more sensitive to cold (-10 °C), especially if prolonged.

Camellia sasanqua ‘Yume’

• Requirements

Like all camellias, sasanqua requires acidic soil. Chalky soil is its enemy! A light soil rich in humus and remaining cool makes it happy. Heavy, waterlogged soils in winter should be avoided. Sunny exposure is possible in northern France; further south, prefer partial shade. In all cases, protect your camellia from cold, drying winds.

• Fragrance

The scent can evoke jasmine tea or lily, but not all varieties offer the same intensity.

→ Discover our autumn-flowering Camellias and our factsheet: Planting, pruning and caring for Camellias

Chalef – Elaeagnus ebbingei

Although it may seem discreet at first sight, the chalef really makes itself noticed in autumn. It is not its small cream bell-shaped flowers that draw attention but the powerful scent they give off. Ideal for hedges, topiary or even containers, this shrub with evergreen foliage bears dense leaves, green with a silvery underside in the typical form, or bright variegation, as in ‘Limelight’, or ‘Gilt Edge’. Orange edible fruits follow the flowering. Very hardy, tolerant of wind and sea spray, this fast-growing shrub reaches 1.7 m to 3–4 m. Its branches may bear some spines.

Elaeagnus ebbingei

• Requirements

Undemanding about soil type, chalef will even grow in poor, dry, chalky soil. A richer, fresher substrate also suits it. Comfortable in sun or partial shade, it is also ideal for creating windbreak hedges by the sea.

• Fragrance

Very powerful, especially compared with the size of its flowers, it can be smelled from afar. A chalef hedge perfumes the whole garden in autumn with

→ Discover all our chalef varieties and our factsheet: Planting, pruning and maintaining Elaeagnus.

Scented osmanthus – Osmanthus heterophyllus

At first glance scented osmanthus resembles a holly, but it stands out for a powerful late-season fragrance. Its glossy foliage is strongly spiny and evergreen. Green in ‘Gulftide’, it offers variegation with ‘Tricolor’, or purple foliage in ‘Purpureus’. The compact, bushy shrub bears bright white flowers in autumn, followed by midnight-blue fruit. Very easy to grow and adaptable, osmanthus tolerates sea spray, is disease-resistant and has a fair level of hardiness (-10 °C to -15 °C). This makes it a shrub well suited to beginner gardeners. It responds well to pruning but is rather slow-growing.

Osmanthus heterophyllus ‘Tricolor’

• Requirements

Plant osmanthus in a light, rich, well-drained and cool but non-chalky soil. Avoid soils waterlogged in winter or too dry in summer. Comfortable in sun in northern regions, it tolerates partial shade further south, provided it receives enough light to flower well.

• Fragrance

Detectable several metres away, its scent is dominated by jasmine and gardenia notes, with hints of apricot and peach.

→ Discover our range of osmanthuses and our factsheet: Planting, pruning and caring for Osmanthus. 

Fragrant shrubs for winter

Bodnant viburnum – Viburnum bodnantense

When it flowers on bare wood, between November and February, Bodnant viburnum brings a touch of cheer to the greyness. Its bright pink buds open into numerous clusters of pale pink, sweetly scented flowers, surprising at this time of year. Its foliage, deciduous and strongly veined, takes over in spring in bronze tones before greening during the season and turning deep purple-red in autumn. Varieties Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’ and ‘Charles Lamont’ are quite similar. Both easy to grow and hardy (-15°C), they have medium vigour and the shrub eventually reaches 2.5 to 3 m.

Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’

• Growing requirements

Plant Bodnant viburnum in sun or part shade, in any fresh, deep soil. It can tolerate some lime, but not excessively. Shelter from cold winds.

• Fragrance

Its fragrance is surprising in mid-winter, and its vanilla notes, combining heliotrope and carnation, are particularly noticeable when temperatures warm slightly.

→ Discover our wide range of viburnums and our factsheet: Planting, pruning and caring for viburnums.

Mahonia – false holly

Hardy shrub, Mahonia produces scented winter flowers in terminal clusters of bright yellow, which are then followed by decorative midnight-blue berries. Foliage, thick and leathery, is deeply divided and spiny. Evergreen, it colours nicely red as temperatures fall. Some, like Mahonia aquifolium ‘Apollo’, do not exceed 1.5 m, while others can reach 5 m, such as Mahonia × media ‘Charity’. Easy to grow, this exotic-looking shrub is equally suitable for beds, beneath deciduous trees or even in containers.

Mahonia

• Growing requirements

While it prefers neutral to acidic soils, Mahonia can accept some lime, particularly species aquifolium. A fresh, light, well-drained soil suits it perfectly, though it can cope with less ideal conditions. In the south place it in part shade or dappled shade; further north it can tolerate a sunnier position. In all cases avoid heavy, waterlogged soils.

• Fragrance

Both sweet and floral, it blends notes of honey and narcissus, dominated by scents reminiscent of lily of the valley.

→ Discover our selection of mahonias and our factsheet: Planting, pruning and maintaining mahonias

Wintersweet – Chimonanthus praecox

Deciduous, upright shrub whose winter flowering is one of the most fragrant, Chimonanthus blooms from December to February on bare branches. Its small waxy yellow bells, flushed with purple at the centre, only appear after several years’ growth. In season the shrub bears dark green foliage and forms a mass about 3 m high, ideal for showcasing colourful early-season blooms in the foreground. It can also scent a terrace when grown in a pot. Cultivar ‘Grandiflorus’ displays more intensely coloured flowers and slightly longer leaves. Slow-growing, chimonanthus is hardy to around -15°C.

Chimonanthus praecox

• Growing requirements

Chimonanthus tolerates ordinary soil, even alkaline or heavy, provided it is well drained. It grows well in part shade or in sun, but prefers positions without scorching midday sun.

• Fragrance

Powerful and clearly perceptible, even in cool weather, its scent is fairly complex. Notes of hyacinth, honey, spices and jasmine are present.

→ To learn all about this shrub, see our factsheet: “Chimonanthus: planting, cultivation, pruning”

Some tips to enjoy scents in the garden

Scent in garden can be a real asset but, if used poorly, it can go unnoticed or, conversely, become overpowering.

Here are some tips to make the most of it :

• Use shrubs with scented flowers that bloom at different times of year, in order to scent garden throughout year.
• If several scented shrubs bloom at same time, do not place them side by side. Some scents do not blend well.
• Place favourite scents close to house or on a path, so you can enjoy them fully.
• Plant scented shrubs in line with prevailing winds. Scents will reach you more easily.
• For plants with very strong fragrance, take care not to risk causing discomfort or nausea. Placed near seating areas or house windows, they can, for some people, become unpleasant.
• Bear in mind that strength of a scent, for same plant, can vary with temperature, humidity or even time of day (or night). Some days are therefore more favourable than others for enjoying scents.