There are many flowers that are ideally suited to lifting a small urban outdoor area like a balcony with a welcome splash of colour, and fragrance. Here are some species particularly famed for their fragrance.

The Mignonette has long been prized for its lovely sweet scent. The plants grow to between 12 and 18 inches tall, and have quietly understated flowers. Rather than the appearance of the flowers, it is the sweet smell of these compact blooms which make them so popular.

A time honoured favourite, the flowers of the Stock have an excellent fragrance. Growing between 1 and2 feet tall, the Stock has flowers that can be pastel in hue, or intense in colour, and grow on spiked branches emanating from the stem. The scent of these flowers has been likened to cloves ? sweet and spicy.

The Heliotrope is perhaps more commonly known as the Cherry Pie Plant, and has been awarded this sobriquet thanks to ? you guessed it ? a sweet scent not unlike that of Cherry Pie. Flowers can be anything from white to dark violet, with the paler flowers often having the strongest cherry pie or sweet almond smell.

Sweet Peas are perennially popular as both pot plants and cut flowers. There are a large range of colours in these flowers, which can be navy blue, crimson red, and lavender, to name but a few hues. The honey and orange blossom scent is probably a big reason for the continued popularity of the Sweet Pea.

The Petunia is a long flowering plant that is suitable for container gardening, and is easy to grow. The wide range of flower colours is accompanied by a pleasing fragrance that is most pronounced at dusk.

Sweet Alyssum is an exquisite little plant, often no larger than a few inches tall. The tiny flowers can be white, rose or purple in colour, and have a sweet, honey like scent. The fragrance of these flowers is evident all day long.

Until you have time to buy the pots, earth, seeds and equipment, you can lift your windowsill at home easily by looking to buy flower online. You can get a good look at what is available on the websites of established suppliers like Interflora.

Maricruz Tennill, the author of this article, has worked in the flower industry for many years. Interflora is the best service that allow you to buy flowers online.