I don’t think I appreciated the value of landscape fragrance until the last few years in my garden. I was delighted a few weeks ago when I discovered, by nose alone, a newly blooming gardenia. Here is a list of fragrant plants that do well locally, in approximate order of blooming:

January

Fragrant wintersweet – Chimonanthus praecox
Winter honeysuckle – Lonicera fragrantissima
Paperbush – Edgeworthia papyrifera and Edgeworthia chrysantha
Tea olive – Osmanthus fragrans

February

Daphne – Daphne odora
Paperbush – Edgeworthia papyrifera and Edgeworthia chrysantha continue

March – April

Koreanspice viburnum – Viburnum carlesii
Coastal flame azalea – Rhododendron austrinum
Piedmont azalea – Rhododendron canescens
Alabama azalea – Rhododendron alabamense
Lily of the valley – Convallaria majalis
Sweetshrub – Calycanthus florida
Banana shrub – Magnolia figo (Michelia figo)

May

Confederate jasmine – Trachelospermum jasminoides
Rose – Rosa various varieties
Gardenia – Gardenia jasminoides

June – July

Southern magnolia – Magnolia grandiflora
Moonflower vine – Ipomea alba
Stargazer lily – Lilium x ‘Stargazer’
Flowering tobacco – Nicotiana alata
Summersweet azalea – Rhododendron viscosum
Ginger lily – Hedychium coronarium
Four o’clock – Mirabilis jalapa

August

Eleagnus – Elaeagnus umbellata
Tea olive – Osmanthus fragrans

September

Sweet autumn clematis – Clematis maximowicziana

October

Tea olive – Osmanthus fragrans (repeat bloom)

daphne

paperbush (edgeworthia)

gardenia

‘Stargazer’ lily