Judging by the tsunami of “likes” on our Facebook page, you all love fragrant plants. Fuel that passion with these 16 shrubs that we promise will fill the air with haunting, romantic fragrance. Some sweet and others spicy, laden with showy flowers or with sneaky little blossoms you never see coming. All of which will greet you from a block away. (Let’s make it 17–because who can resist the seductive fragrance of a Royal Star Magnolia in bloom!) For fragrant shrubs perfect for zones 8-11, click here.
Spring Bouquet Laurustinus
Zones: 7 – 11
Beautiful evergreen shrub with lightly fragrant pinkish-white flowers.
Chestnut Hill Cherry Laurel
Zones: 6 – 10
Glossy foliage on a dense, vase-shaped form; stalks of fragrant white flowers appear in spring.
Dwarf Nikko Deutzia
Zones: 5 – 8
A wonderful spring accent becomes quite showy when covered by double, fragrant blooms.
Jelena Witch Hazel
Zones: 5 – 8
Rich coppery-orange, fragrant flowers apear on the bare branches of winter-blooming shrub.
Kleim's Hardy Gardenia
Zones: 7 – 11
More cold-hardy than other varieties, this fragrant gardenia has a dwarf habit and white, star-like flowers.
Ruby Spice Summersweet
Zones: 4 – 9
A compact shrub with aromatic spikes of rose-pink flowers held above glossy foliage.
Golden Lights Azalea
Zones: 3 – 7
Extremely hardy selection which provides a massive display of fragrant, golden-yellow, single blooms.
Ignatius Sargent Rhododendron
Zones: 4 – 8
Large trusses of showy, fragrant flowers appear on this dense evergreen shrub.
Henry’s Garnet Sweetspire
Zones: 5 – 9
Fragrant flowers in very early summer add to the year round interest of this award winning plant.
Eternal Fragrance Daphne
Zones: 6-9
A compact, tidy shrub with clusters of blush-pink flowers that last for months.
Black Tulip™ Magnolia
Zones: 5 – 9
This is the darkest, most dramatic tulip magnolia of any on the market, with rich, deep burgundy-red 6 inch fragrant blooms.
Fragrant Sweet Box
Zones: 7-9
A fragrant shrub that thrives in dry shade! Delicate blooms are followed by bright red berries.
Darkstar® Purple Leaf Sand Cherry
Zones: 3 – 9
A dense, compact, and upright sand cherry variety with marron foliage and a fragrant spring bloom.
CranRazz Nectar Bush
Zones: 5 – 10
Bright, fragrant cranberry-red flowers adorn long flower spikes reaching up to 8″ long.
Flower Carpet® Amber Groundcover Rose
Zones: 4 - 10
A profusion of semi-double peachy amber flowers that are fragrant - a first for the Flower Carpet® series of roses.
Blue Shadow Fothergilla
Zones: 4 – 9
Honey-scented flowers bloom on the branch tips of this mounded shrub with blue-green foliage. Beautiful fall color, too!
