8 Sweet-Smelling Plants That Will Fill Your Porch with Beautiful Fragrance This July

Beyond their visual appeal, fragrant plants add an extra dimension to a garden, patio or porch. Arriving home to their scent on a mild evening is always welcoming, and their aroma can be a pleasant surprise when you brush past them in the garden.

Throughout my horticultural career, I have had the pleasure of cultivating countless scented plants in the private, commercial, and therapeutic gardens I have curated, as well as in my own outdoor spaces.

From container plants to climbers and shrubs, I have amassed a list of some of the best fragrant flowers to make your porch smell incredible in July and provide a special greeting to you and your visitors.

Sweet Pea

Perhaps one of the most cherished garden flowers, sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus) are a delight both when grown for a vase or left in the garden to perfume the air. With varieties bred for their scent and pastel or vibrant colors, there is a sweet pea for everyone.

When diligently picked and deadheaded, sweet peas can provide continuous blooms in milder areas and last all summer long, making your porch smell wonderfully enticing in July. However, in hotter parts, sweet peas can unfortunately go over much more quickly and may require succession sowing to deliver nonstop flowers.

As deep-rooted, non-clinging climbers, sweet peas require deep containers and tying to supports. From rustic DIY teepees to trellises and ornate obelisks, there are many styles to choose from. Suitable for a porch planter, LeJoy Garden 6.3ft metal obelisk is available to purchase from Amazon.

Star Jasmine

Another climber and a firm favorite of mine is star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides). A perfect plant to make your patio smell nice, this evergreen climber produces pure white flowers that smell delightful in the evening.

Favoring full sun and warmth, star jasmine can be grown directly in the ground or in a large container, making it ideal for a porch. My current porch is sadly too shaded to grow it, so instead we have one trained up and over a south-facing metal arch where it thrives.

Suitable for cultivation in US hardiness zones 7 to 10, you can purchase star jasmine vine from Plant Addicts. For those requiring a planter for their scented porch climber, the 18.5-inch-diameter Veradek Mason Series Demi Planter is available from Amazon.

Flowering Tobacco

Thriving in a sunny or partially shaded spot with moist, well-drained soil, the annual flowering tobacco (Nicotiana) is an excellent choice. Perfect for a porch so you can enjoy its evening fragrance, if you water regularly and deadhead its spent blooms, you can enjoy its scented flowers from summer through autumn.

Options range from one of the best fragrant flowers, woodland tobacco (Nicotiana sylvestris), with its prolific, white, trumpet-like blooms, to the equally scented jasmine tobacco (Nicotiana alata) available in white, pink and lime-green shades.

Commonly grown from seed or purchased as young plants from a local garden nursery, you can purchase Indian Peace Pipe Nicotiana (Nicotiana sylvestris) from Botanical Interests.

Scented Pelargonium

Also known as scented geraniums, pelargoniums are tender perennials with a height of 1-3 feet, though often grown as annuals.

They produce intensely fragrant foliage that, when brushed against or crushed, release evocative scents such as lemon, mint, and rose. Furthermore, beautiful flowers from light pink to deep purple appear from late spring until the fall.

Flourishing in full sun, scented pelargoniums grow well in both borders and containers and the compact cultivars are a good plant for a small porch.

Furthermore, being easy to propagate from cuttings, you can grow your collection to share with friends and family. With its citrusy scent, Citronella Geranium (Scented) is available to purchase from Burpee.

Mock Orange

A low-maintenance and forgiving shrub, mock orange (Philadelphus) generally produce their fragrant white blooms in early summer. However, Philadelphus ‘Manteau d'Hermine’ tends to flower longer than others and often well into July.

A compact variety, ‘Manteau d'Hermine’ can reach a maximum height and width of 3 feet and is well suited to growing in USDA Zones 5 through 9. Producing cream-white double flowers with a delicate orange-blossom scent, it would be a welcome addition to any porch.

Perfect for relaxing and enjoying the scent of one of the best flowering shrubs, the allen + roth by POLYWOOD Oakport Adirondack Chair is available to purchase from Lowe's.

Rose

A rose in bloom is one of summer’s delights, and with types ranging from climbers to patio and in an assortment of colors, the choice is endless. That being said, for me, nothing quite beats a scented rose.

Bred in 1986 and named after the influential garden designer and horticulturist, is David Austin’s Rosa ‘Gertrude Jekyll’. Available as climbing and shrub types, ‘Gertrude’ as she is affectionately known in our household, produces large, bright pink rosette-shaped flowers with a strong, old-rose scent.

Thriving in the ground or a container and in both full sun and partial shade, ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ is suitable for growing in USDA zones 4 and above.

As a repeat-flowering rose, diligent deadheading and fertilizing with a rose-specific feed, such as Miracle-GRO Water Soluble Rose Plant Food available from Amazon, will help ensure continuous blooms throughout the summer months.

Chocolate Cosmos

Not to be confused with the hugely popular annual cosmos, chocolate cosmos (Cosmos atrosanguineus) is a lesser-known scented perennial prized for its chocolate-colored blooms.

Chosen for its striking flowers and delicious chocolate-like aroma, this tender Mexican perennial is one to be treasured and cosseted through winter, when it is considered hardy in USDA zones 9-11.

Growing to around 24-30 inches tall and 18 inches wide, chocolate cosmos does well in a container when given full sun and watered regularly. Chocolate cosmos seeds are available to purchase from Amazon.

Night-Scented Stocks

For an unusual scented plant to make your porch smell incredible in July, why not try night-scented stocks (Matthiola longipetala subsp. bicornis). An annual with grey-green foliage and star-shaped flowers that smell delightful in the warm night air.

Requiring full sun and moist soil, night-scented stocks take around 8 weeks to bloom from sowing, and, if sown in successive batches, they will produce flowers for months on end. With their pink-purple flowers, evening-scented stock seeds are available to purchase from Amazon.

Reaching a final height of 12-18 inches, these annuals are ideal for the front of a border, a trough, or a container. Measuring 36x15x15 inches, you can purchase this premium metal planter box from Walmart.

What to Shop

Hedging plants can make a real difference to your front or backyard, especially as an alternative to a bare fence or wall. Providing softness, movement, habitats for wildlife and privacy, hedges have multiple benefits.

However, for an extra dimension, why not consider a fragrant shrub for one of your garden boundaries? For more information on which scented plants are suitable for creating a hedge, consider our specialist feature on fragrant hedge plants for natural and uplifting boundaries.

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