Annuals
PHOTOGRAPH BY VINSON MOTAS/GETTY
Evening stock (M. longipetala): Small lilac colored blossoms with powerful lily-like perfume; excellent for window boxes and pots; 12 by 9 inches.
Flowering tobaccos (Nicotiana alata, N. sylvestris, N. suaveolens): Plants with tubular white flowers, fragrant mostly at night; 2–6 by 3 feet.
Four-o'clock (Mirabilis jalapa and M. longiflora): Multicolored trumpet flowers cover bushy 2-foot-high plants; white flowers with orange-blossom scent; 2 by 3 feet.
Fragrant amaryllis (Clidanthus fragrant): Sweet-scented yellow crocus-like flowers in mid-summer; 8 by 8 inches; perennial bulb in zones 9–11.
Heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens): Large violet or white flowerheads with a vanilla-cherry pie scent; 12 by 12 inches.
Mignonette (Reseda odorata): Powerful vanilla-raspberry fragrance from small yellowish flowers; attracts beneficial insects; direct sow in early spring; 12 by 9 inches.
Night phlox (Zaluzianskya ovate): Unusual snowflake flowers are strongly fragrant at night; 1 by 2 feet.
Peruvian daffodil (Hymenocallis species): Especially Sulfur Queen; white or yellow spidery summer-blooming bulb; 18 inches high; perennial in zones 8–10.
Petunia (Petunia): Many modern varieties have little fragrance, but old-fashioned white or purple vining types release a strong lily-like fragrance at dusk; 1 by 1–3 feet.
Stock (Matthiola incana): Spicy clove-scented flower spikes; excellent cut flowers; thrives in cool weather; 2 by 1 feet.
Sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritime): Low-growing groundcover with honey-scented white flowers; highly attractive to beneficial insects; 6 by 8 inches.
Tuberose (Polianthes tuberose): Extremely fragrant white flower spikes; late-summer bloom; 3 by 1 feet; perennial bulb hardy in zones 8-10, grown as an annual in cooler climates.
Virginian stock (Malcolmia maritime): Small red or purple flowers with powerful scent; prefers cool weather; 16 by 6 inches.
Wallflowers (Erysimum asperum [biennial] and E. perofskianum): Short spikes of yellow or copper flowers; 12 by 10 inches.