Fragrant Plants

Sweetly fragrant spikes of tiny white flowers are produced from spring to fall on this little known but easy to grow and tough deciduous shrub. Its intensely fragrant flowers attract a host of pollinators and it is considered to be an especially good honey plant. Sweet Almond Verbena, a 2008 Florida Plant of the Year, is a vigorous and pest free, heat and sun loving loving large shrub to small tree. Plant it with Sweet Olive, Gardenia, and Banana Magnolia to have outdoor fragrance nearly year round in zones 8-9. Item# 11894

Large clusters of pure white lightly fragrant flowers shine brightly against a mound of deep green glossy foliage throughout the year under warm tropical conditions. Even if it wasn't fragrant it would easily be worthy of growing for its beautiful form, foliage, and exceptional flower power. This makes a wonderful hanging basket or container specimen for a covered patio or porch and is considered to be root hardy in zone 9 at least. Provide light shade or cool filtered sunlight (although it is reported to somewhat sun tolerant) in well-drained average moist, mildly acidic soils for optimum performance. Item# 11666

If pollinated, the exotic white and purple flowers produce tangerine sized, large golden yellow fruit with a sweet and tangy but acidic tropical tasting orange flesh that surrounds the small seeds. Sweet Sunrise Passion Fruit is a vigorous growing selection of Passiflora edulis var. flavicarpa. and the ripened fruits can be juiced or eaten fresh. Provide a full to mostly sunny site for optimum vigor and flowering in a well-drained fertile soil. The nectar rich flowers attract larger bees for pollination like bumblebees and carpenter bees. Two different cultivars are required for cross pollination. Item# 11812

Clusters of 6-8" wide night fragrant white flowers with long thin narrow petals and a wavy circular hymen are borne in summer atop the sturdy 2-3' high stems of this heirloom garden favorite. Tropical Giant Spider Lily is a vigorous clump forming, evergreen (to deciduous where freezes occur) bulbous perennial with large glossy medium green sword-shaped upright to arching foliage that readily multiplies into a dense clump of foliage and flowers. It makes an easy and low maintenance addition to the garden or landscape as well as an easy and forgiving container specimen plant. The lush, large sword-like, rich green upright to arching foliage is attractive even when the plant is not in flower. We ship large established plants growing in their own soil and container. Item# 1239

The Vanilla Orchid is an easily grown vining orchid that produces greenish-yellow flowers, and if pollinated, will be followed by the highly desirable 'beans' used to create Vanilla flavoring. Provide this easy to grow vine with a support, moderate to high light, and high humidity for best results. The flowers will need to be hand pollinated for fruit production. Item# 10433.

2" wide, sweetly fragrant, double white flowers are produced mainly in spring with occasional repeat and are held against a foil of deep green foliage edged in creamy yellow to creamy white. The Variegated Radicans Dwarf Gardenia is a low, mound forming, evergreen shrub slowly building to 1-2' high and about 2' wide making it an easy and low maintenance addition to the garden or landscape. *The plants can tolerate full sun but typically have the deepest green foliage where it receives some shade during the hottest portion of the day particularly in hot summer climates. Provide an acid, fertile, average moist soil with good drainage for optimum vigor and flowering. Rarely available in the nursery trade. The fragrant flowers attract bees, butterflies, and other smaller pollinators as well as the pollinating, hummingbird-like Sphinx moths making it a good choice for Moon Moth gardens. Item# 4072

Clusters of 3-4" long, tubular, waxy buds open to display the long-lasting starry white wonderfully fragrant flowers that are held against equally beautiful ovate foliage that is edged and randomly splashed in creamy yellow that matures to white and silver as well as often having a silvery overlay. Flowers on and off throughout the warmer months of the year to year-round in warm tropical conditions. Variagated Stephanotis or Madagascar Jasmine, a selection of Stephanotis floribunda, is an evergreen tropical twining vine that makes an easy container plant and is readily trained to small to medium sized trellises although it can climb to 12-15' high where it has a support. This is an old favorite and as Liberty Hyde Bailey states in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture "is one of the best greenhouse climbers" and "There are few plants that have all the good qualities of S. floribunda. It is a splendid grower, has good foliage, is very free flowering, and the flowers last well on the plant or when cut for decorative work." Provide a quality well-drained fertile soil in light shade to full sun. Stephanotis is an RHS Award of Garden Merit winner. Item# 9394

Large rounded clusters of medium to light pink, honeysuckle-like fragrant flowers are produced in early spring atop the still bare winter stems attracting larger butterflies, hummingbirds, and the hummingbird like Sphinx moths with its fragrance and nectar. Varnadoe's Phlox Pink, a strongly pink selection of the native Piedmont, Mountain or Pinxterbloom Azalea, Rhododendron canescens, whose flowers are more commonly a light pink to near white, at least here in the Pineywoods. This is a medium-sized deciduous native shrub and is often still fondly called Wild Bush Honeysuckle. Like most Azaleas, it will do best in an average moist, acidic, well-draining soil that is top dressed with a breathable organic mulch like pine straw. It can tolerate full to mostly sunny sites under good conditions but is generally best grown in an area that receives filtered to partial shade. Item# 13078

Originally touted as the "Blue Rose", this heirloom climbing or rambling rose produces large clusters of 1-1/2" wide, fragrant, deep purple flowers, often with white accents and nicely contrasting yellow stamens, with the flower color deepeing into blue-purple tones as they age. Flowering occurs in mid to late spring to early summer, with flowering occurring earlier in warmer zones. Vielchenblau Climbing Rose is a vigorous, nearly thornless, rambling multi-flora hybrid growing to about 10-12' high making it a good choice as a pillar rose or it can be trained along a fence or other sturdy support. Due to its reliable performance and moderate disease resistance it has been selected as an RHS Award of Garden Merit winner. While Vielchenblau is tolerant of *partial shade, a full sun location with good air circulation and a fertile, average moist soil with good drainage are preferred for optimum growth, disease resistance, and flowering. Item# 715

With a dwarf habit and one of the longest blooming seasons of any Gardenia this is definitely a prized garden shrub or indoor plant. Produces an abundance of the highly fragrant, double white flowers are produced throughout much of the year when kept warm and in good health.  Item# 717

Strongly fragrant 3" creamy white single flowers are held against the large deep green glossy foliage on this vigorous evergreen shrub with a naturally dense and rounded habit. The Vietnamese Gardenia is much easier to grow than many Gardenias as it is more tolerant of overly moist soils as well as drought once established and has high resistance to Nematodes and other pests. This is one of the most free flowering Gardenias in our collection! Item# 9592

Dense flattened clusters of dainty white tubular flowers top the narrow blue-green to green fragrant foliage in summer. The small nectar rich flowers of Virginia Mountain Mint, Pycnanthemum virginianum, attract a wide variety of pollinators, and are especially important to native bees. This is a rhizomatous native perennial that will readily spread especially in moist soils. It is native mainly to the northcentral and northeastern US and is typically found in moist soils but can tolerate drier sites where it is less likely to spread aggressively. Virginia Mountain Mint is tolerant of a wide variety of soil types from clay, to sandy, to rocky as well as calcareous soils. Item# 12355

Large clusters of lightly fragrant, 1 to 1-1/2" wide, 4-'petaled' white flowers often with light green accents are produced in mid to late summer attracting bees, hummingibirds, and other pollinators. The Virgin's Bower, Clematis virginiana, is a vigorous, deciduous, woody native vine climbing via tendril-like leaf petioles up to about 20' high where it has support. It is deer and rabbit resistant, is adaptable to soil types and moisture levels, as well as sunlight, although, plants grown in sun to part shade may flower more profusely. This is not to be confused with the invasive Sweet Autumn Clematis, Clematis terniflora, which has entire or smooth leaflet edges and the foliage is thick and leathery, whereas, Virgin's Bower, C. virginiana, has toothed leaflets and the foliage tends to be a darker green. Female flowers may be followed by densely 'bearded', long lasting seed heads. Note: These are seed raised plants which may have only male, only female, or both flower types on the same plant. Flower and overall plant images courtesy of North Creek Nurseries, all rights reserved. Item# 13179

Yellow trumpet shaped flowers are heavily accented by deep brick red in the throat and are produced in mass in spring to early summer with flowering coinciding with the arrival of migrating hummingbirds. The flowers have a fragrance similar to the candy Bit O' Honey that my mother often enjoyed as we were growing up. The flowers also attract larger bees and other pollinators. The Wabash Valley Crossvine, a selection of Bignonia capreolata from its northern most regions in Wabash County in southern Illinois and was selected by the late Dr. Wesley Whiteside and was introduced to the nursery trade by Ellen Hornig via Broken Arrow Nursery. It was selected at least in part for its reliable zone 6 cold hardiness. The Crossvine is a vigorous semi-evergreen, clinging native vine that produces pads at the ends of its tendrils that can attach to most surfaces without harming brickwork and masonry. These native vines make a low maintenance choice for fences, posts, arbors, and larger trellises. Item# 13055

Wanda Sue Angel's Trumpet produces double to single orange trumpets throughout the warm months of the year on a vigorous growing plant. Angel's Trumpets are fast growing tropical shrubs that act-like die-back perennials in the northern parts of their range but readily return from the roots in spring. Sure to attract hummingbird moths. Item# 11196

Clusters of pure-white, butterfly-shaped, fragrant flowers are produced in clusters in summer atop the tropical looking, rich green foliage and sturdy lush stems attracting both butterflies and the hummingbird-like Sphinx Moths. Cut the flowers and put them in a vase and they can perfume an entire room with their sweet heady fragrance. The White Butterfly Ginger, Hedychium coronarium, is a rhizomatous and slowly spreading, naturally evergreen tropical that acts like a die-back perennial in areas where freezes occur, reliably returning in zones 7B to 10. The Hedychium Gingers typically grow and flower best where they receive at least some direct sunlight for 3-4 hours during the day and generally have the best looking foliage where they receive shade during the heat of the day. A planting on the east facing side of a house, tree or other structure where they receive morning sun is often optimum. Provide an average moist to moist, average to well-drained, moderately fertile soil to keep this easy and reliable heirloom growing and flowering. Item# 1065