I absolutely think scent is an important part of the garden, and wouldn’t dream of a garden without jasmine nicotiana, mignonette, ambrosia, stocks, heliotrope, jasmines, patchouli, roses, Asiatic lilies, catmints, and sweet woodruff.  I must have sweet alyssum, lavender, and scented geraniums of all kinds!

I also need sweet grass and artemisia and white sage for smudging.  I want orris root, vanilla grass, and Clary sage as fixatives for my potpourris.  I need pennyroyal and mountain mint to repel insects, and to perfume the air as I step on them or brush by.

And speaking of stepping on plants for scent, think of all the old-time strewing herbs that offer such luscious fragrances:  lemon, tangerine or camphor southernwoods, tansy, silver artemisia, and sweet annie.  There are dozens of creeping thymes:  lemon, orange, caraway, coconut, lavender, nutmeg, and more!

Scented geraniums are essential, and we grow dozens of scents:  lemons, rose, peppermint, apple, nutmeg, lime, ginger, etc.  These have a variety of leaf sizes, heights, and forms.

There are exotics like Moon lily, Angel trumpet, night-blooming jasmine, and sweet violets.  We even have a fragrant begonia!

Lemon grass, lemon verbena and anise hyssop cross over from the culinary herb area, but they belong in “Fragrant Plants”, too!

Although we do try to group plants in a fragrant display, look for them throughout the sales area.  After all, most herbs are in fact fragrant!