Blossoming Annual Flowers: Filling Your Yard with Fragrances Every Year
Crank up the sensory experience of your outdoor space by planting these aromatic annuals! These beauty queens will mesmerize your nose, fingers, and eyes with their tasty herbal, spicy, or intoxicating scents, textures, and colors. Get ready to unwind with a garden that truly delights all senses!
A captivating garden offers more than eyesight-it tantalizes the nose with delightful fragrances, pleases the touch with inviting textures, soothes the ears with the harmonious sounds of nature, and, in some cases, offers a sweet taste (hello, edible herbs!). This garden season, let your porch, patio, or flower beds transform into a sanctuary of relaxation and sensory stimulation with these fragrant annuals!
Imagine sipping morning coffee or hosting evening gatherings with these blooms enhancing the atmosphere. Whether you prefer a lemony freshness, a sweet vanilla undertone, or a heady spice, there's a flower here for you!
1. Lemon Beebalm (Monarda citriodora) 🍋
Gaze upon the pink, uniquely spaced flowers of lemon beebalm, which stand tall on square stems from spring to mid-summer. Lemony perfume fills the air with its striking scent, and hummingbirds and butterflies swarm over the tubular blossoms. A native that demands good drainage and lots of sun, lemon beebalm may even reseed, given the right conditions.
2. Flowering Tobacco (Nicotiana alata) 🔥
Nighttime sets the stage for flowering tobacco, its tubular blossoms attracting moths and other nocturnal pollinators. Blooming from night till dawn, these flowers offer spectacular yellow, white, or red hues on three- to five-foot plants. Remember, aim for the true species rather than hybrids, as the latter often lose their enchanting scent.
Flowering tobacco is happiest in moist, rich soil with good drainage and thrives under either full sunlight or part shade.
3. Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima) 🍯
Golden-honey scents fill the air from spring to fall, as tiny flowers dominate sweet alyssum, planting themselves gracefully between stepping stones or in borders. Native to the Mediterranean coast, sweet alyssum doesn't disappoint when it comes to attracting pollinators and beneficial insects. It makes a beautiful selection for full to part sunlight and requires excellent drainage.
4. Marigold (Tagetes spp.) 🌽
Originally grown as a companion plant in vegetable gardens, fragrant marigolds have vibrant flowers, attractive foliage, and a spicy, floral scent. Marigolds come in a variety of sizes and colors, from yellow and red to deep orange and even purple. They reach anywhere from one to four feet tall and are ideally planted in full sun. If you're seeking more intel on growing marigolds, click here.
5. Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) 💧
Calming and soothing, chamomile has masses of bright yellow flowers with white petals, blooming all summer long. Adding a sweet fragrance to its appeal, chamomile is great for rock gardens, cottage gardens, or paths where its scent can be enjoyed. This plant thrives in full to part light and requires excellent drainage.
6. Basil (Ocimum basilicum) 🌿
A common herb in veggie gardens, basil not only offers a pungent aroma but also has a variety of cultivars with beautiful flower spikes in white, purple, or red and green or purple leaves. Growing to one to four feet tall, basil plants thrive in moist, well-drained soil and full sun. Prune basil back for bushier growth, and harvest the trimmings to enjoy in your favorite dish! Learn more tips for growing basil here.
7. Heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens) 🌟
Into the night, heliotrope shines, its vanilla-scented clusters of purple or white flowers captivating eyes and noses. Heliotrope's quilted, green leaves with prominent veins make this perennial, grown as an annual in colder regions, a real standout. To give heliotrope room to grow, offer this plant rich, moist, well-drained soil, full sun to part shade, and support for its climbing tendencies.
8. Calendula (Calendula officinalis) 👉
My favorite features of calendula are its delightful yellow, orange, or red disc-shaped flowers, which smell, heal, and make outstanding cut flowers. Easily incorporate these edible blossoms into your garden, as long as it features average, well-drained soil and full sun but some afternoon shade in hot weather.
9. Petunia (Petunia x hybrida) 🌼
One of the most popular bedding and container plants, petunia offers funnel-shaped flowers in a gorgeous array of colors. Petunias continue to bloom all summer long, especially when deadheaded. Though it flourishes in well-drained soil and full to partial sunlight, petunia is a true adaptor, tolerating drought, poor soil, and even shade. Check out these creative 13 ways to landscape with petunias!
10. Moonflower (Ipomoea alba) 🌝
Nighttime beauty comes in the form of moonflower, whose large, white night-blooming blossoms emit a sweet fragrance and attract nighttime moths. Add romance to your garden by growing this plant up a trellis near a window, patio, or seating area where you can enjoy the enchanting display. Moonflower demands full sun and moist, well-drained soil. As a perennial in zones 10-12, this plant can be overwintered indoors in colder regions.
11. Corkscrew Vine (Vigna caracalla) 🌿
Quirky, curling flowers resembling snail shells with a hyacinth-like fragrance make corkscrew vine a unique addition to any garden. As the white buds unfurl, they reveal a delightful purple-pink. Plant this vine in rich, moist, well-drained soil in full sun for a vertical accent. Corkscrew vine is a perennial in zones 9-11 but can be grown as an annual in colder regions.
12. Nasturtium (Tropaeolum spp.) 🔥
Fragrant, funnel-shaped flowers in orange, yellow, burgundy, or cream can be found on nasturtiums, which also boast attractive round leaves. This vibrant, easy-to-grow plant blooms all season long and offers edible flowers and leaves. For optimal growth, nasturtiums require moist, well-drained soil, full sun, and afternoon shade in hot regions. More info about growing nasturtiums can be found here.
These fragrant annuals not only beautify gardens, but they attract pollinators! Enjoy the amazing sensory experiences they offer!
Serena Manickam, a freelance editor and writer, is a market gardener in rural Virginia. With a degree in environmental science, Serena cultivates herbs and produce without pesticides and sells them at a local farmer's market.
Want to learn more about Serena and her endeavors? Check out her other posts!
- Serena's love for gardening extends to home-and-garden decor, incorporating fragrant annuals like lemon beebalm and sweet alyssum to create a harmonious fusion of lifestyle and fashion-and-beauty.
- By choosing to plant organic annuals such as marigold, basil, and chamomile, Serena promotes eco-friendly landscaping practices in her garden, appealing to both the senses and the environment.
- With pollinators in mind, Serena carefully selects flowers with attractive scents, like flowering tobacco and corkscrew vine, to promote biodiversity and ensure a flourishing garden ecosystem.4.infusing her garden with the aromatic allure of heliotrope and calendula, Serena creates a haven that invites relaxation and tranquility, a sanctuary further accentuated by the decorative qualities of these delightful annuals.
- Believing that every element of a garden, from soil to flowers, plays a role in the overall composition, Serena meticulously tends to her soil, ensuring it remains rich and well-drained for the blooming of her organic herbs and flowers.
- As part of her commitment to organic gardening, Serena opted to grow helmitrope, moonflower, and petunia as annuals in colder regions, demonstrating there is no compromise between sensory pleasure and environmentally-friendly practices.
