Shrubs with scented flowers or foliage. Each plant page gives the flowering time.
42 plants from our verified database, by name. A plant is only listed when the data this list relies on is not in doubt. How our data is made
Kolkwitzia amabilis 3 m × 3 m after 10 years
A large deciduous shrub with arching branches that are smothered in pale pink, yellow-throated bell flowers in late spring. It is very undemanding:…
Sambucus nigra 4 m × 3.5 m after 10 years
A native, very fast-growing, spreading shrub or small tree that carries large, creamy white, strongly scented flower plates from late spring and…
Juniperus scopulorum 'Blue Arrow' 3.5 m × 60 cm after 10 years
A very narrow, steel-blue column that takes up little ground yet draws a vertical line you can see from across the garden. It wants full sun and…
Caryopteris × clandonensis 90 cm × 1 m after 10 years
A low, mounded deciduous shrub with aromatic grey-green leaves that covers itself in a haze of blue flowers in late summer and early autumn, when…
Viburnum × bodnantense 2.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
An upright deciduous shrub 2 to 3 m tall that carries strongly scented pink flowers on bare branches from late autumn to early spring, when little…
Viburnum × burkwoodii 1.8 m × 1.8 m after 10 years
A dense, semi-evergreen shrub whose white flower clusters open from pink buds in April and carry a sweet scent a long way, so plant it near a terrace,…
Buddleja davidii 3 m × 3 m after 10 years
Its fragrant summer flowers attract butterflies and work well at the back of a sunny border. Give it freely draining soil, prune in spring, and remove…
Amelanchier canadensis 3 m × 2 m after 10 years
An upright, multi-stemmed deciduous shrub or small tree that is covered in white flower clusters in April before the leaves open, ripens edible,…
Calycanthus floridus 1.8 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
An unusual, dense shrub whose maroon, strap-petalled flowers open from late May into early summer and smell of strawberry and pineapple; the bark…
Vitex agnus-castus 2.5 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
A loose, spreading shrub with a Mediterranean feel: grey-green, aromatic, hand-shaped leaves and fragrant lilac flower spikes from midsummer into…
Leucothoe axillaris 50 cm × 70 cm after 10 years
A low, slow evergreen with glossy leaves for shady spots on acidic soil; the forms on sale turn red to maroon in autumn and hold that colour all…
Cytisus scoparius 1.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
An upright shrub of whippy, almost leafless green stems that disappear under pea flowers in May: the species is yellow, while the hybrids sold by…
Juniperus communis 2.5 m × 80 cm after 10 years
A native, slow-growing evergreen with prickly needles and blue-black berry-like cones, planted in gardens mostly as its slender columnar cultivars for…
Syringa vulgaris 3 m × 2 m after 10 years
A large, long-lived deciduous shrub grown for its strongly scented flower clusters in spring. It copes well with sun, heat and limy soil, and with…
Santolina chamaecyparissus 50 cm × 90 cm after 10 years
An evergreen subshrub with silver-grey, finely cut, strongly aromatic foliage that grows into a tight little dome and carries yellow button flowers in…
Thuja occidentalis 'Danica' 40 cm × 50 cm after 10 years
A dwarf arborvitae that forms a regular, dense, slightly flattened globe without any clipping, with bright emerald green sprays held vertically. It…
Leucothoe fontanesiana 1 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A low evergreen shrub with arching stems and glossy pointed leaves that turn bronze-red and burgundy in autumn and winter, with small white bell…
Viburnum farreri 2.2 m × 1.7 m after 10 years
An upright, open-branched shrub that flowers on bare wood before the leaves: clusters of white, almond and vanilla scented flowers opening from pink…
Deutzia scabra 2.5 m × 1.8 m after 10 years
A tall, upright shrub with arching branches that is covered for about two weeks in early summer with lightly scented flower clusters, white or flushed…
Abelia × grandiflora 1.2 m × 1.2 m after 10 years
A semi-evergreen shrub with arching branches and glossy leaves that carries small, white, pink-flushed, scented bell flowers from early summer until…
Santolina rosmarinifolia 60 cm × 80 cm after 10 years
A Mediterranean subshrub with bright green, thread-fine aromatic foliage that forms a dense cushion and is covered with pale yellow button flowers…
Osmanthus heterophyllus 2 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
An evergreen shrub with glossy, dark green, spiny leaves that look like holly, bearing tiny white flowers in autumn whose scent carries a long way…
Pieris japonica 1.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A slow-growing evergreen shrub with scented white or pink sprays in spring that recall lily of the valley, and new shoots that are bright red or…
Viburnum carlesii 1.3 m × 1.3 m after 10 years
A slow-growing, dense, rounded shrub that carries snowball-like clusters of white flowers opening from pink buds in April, into early May; their…
Viburnum tinus 2 m × 2 m after 10 years
A Mediterranean evergreen viburnum with dark, glossy foliage that flowers from late autumn in mild winters, otherwise from late winter into spring:…
Magnolia 'Susan' 2.5 m × 2 m after 10 years
A compact, slow-growing magnolia that opens its slender purple-red, paler-centred, lightly scented flowers before the leaves in April and early May,…
Syringa patula 1.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A dense, slow-growing, compact lilac that flowers after the common lilac, in late spring to early summer: purple buds open to pale lavender,…
Syringa meyeri 1.2 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A slow-growing, dense, rounded dwarf lilac with small leaves that is covered in strongly scented, pale lilac-pink flower clusters in late spring. It…
Philadelphus coronarius 2.5 m × 2 m after 10 years
A large, upright then arching deciduous shrub grown for its white, intensely sweet-scented flowers in late May and June: plant it near a patio or seat…
Mahonia aquifolium 1.2 m × 1.2 m after 10 years
A slow-growing evergreen shrub with glossy, holly-like, spiny-edged leaves that copes with shade and part shade under trees, where few other shrubs…
Cornus alternifolia 2.5 m × 2.5 m after 10 years
The smaller cousin of the wedding cake tree: a multi-stemmed large shrub or small tree with horizontal, tiered branches, fragrant creamy white…
Ceanothus × pallidus 1.5 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A deciduous, summer-flowering ceanothus almost always sold as the cultivar 'Marie Simon': from midsummer to autumn its reddish shoots carry fluffy…
Viburnum × pragense 2.5 m × 2.2 m after 10 years
A fast-growing, dense evergreen shrub with glossy, dark green, veined leaves; in late May it carries flat heads of creamy white, lightly scented…
Syringa × prestoniae 2.5 m × 2 m after 10 years
A large, upright then rounded lilac that flowers a week or two after common lilac, in late May and June, with big conical panicles in pink, purplish…
Prunus × cistena 2.2 m × 1.8 m after 10 years
A small ornamental shrub with upright branches whose glossy reddish purple leaves keep their colour all summer, with pale pink, fragrant flowers in…
Juniperus scopulorum 4 m × 60 cm after 10 years
Rocky Mountain juniper is sold as narrow, columnar, blue-green or silver-blue forms (Blue Arrow, Skyrocket): in ten years they reach roughly four…
Rosmarinus officinalis 1.2 m × 1 m after 10 years
An evergreen, needle-leaved culinary shrub whose strongly aromatic shoots you can pick all year, and whose pale blue spring flowers are covered in…
Deutzia gracilis 1 m × 1.2 m after 10 years
A low, tidy deciduous shrub with arching stems that is almost hidden under pure white, lightly scented flower clusters in late spring. It suits the…
Diervilla sessilifolia 1.2 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A low, tough deciduous shrub that spreads slowly by suckers and grows in almost any soil, taking drought and even dry shade under trees, so it is…
Paeonia × suffruticosa 1.2 m × 1 m after 10 years
Tree peonies are slow-growing, very long-lived deciduous shrubs that carry flowers up to 20 cm across, often scented, in late April and May, in white,…
Buddleja × weyeriana 2.5 m × 2 m after 10 years
A vigorous, arching butterfly bush that swaps the usual purple for yellow, apricot or yellow and lilac scented flowers packed into ball-shaped…
Mahonia × media 2 m × 1.5 m after 10 years
A sculptural, upright evergreen with long, fern-like spiny leaves that carries sprays of fragrant yellow flowers from late autumn to the end of…
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