Venus Hosta - the previous owners planted it and it is very fragrant when it blooms in August (later than most other hostas).

Agree with the lavendar and rosemary as well.

I got a lemony catmint that is very fragrant, but is invasive.

Also, bee balm.

Lily of the valley

Anonymous wrote:So sweet bay magnolia easy small tree and very fragrance

+1 - ours is blooming right now next to our patio and smells amazing. A sweet lemony scent.

Anonymous wrote:David Austins are gorgeous but the DMV is black spot heaven. You will need to spray to keep them healthy. I gave away my 20 DA roses for this reason.

I wish I was your friend. Not everyone in this area has big problems with blackspot. And I am happy to deal with the annoyance of blackspot for the scent and beauty of those flowers.

David Austins are gorgeous but the DMV is black spot heaven. You will need to spray to keep them healthy. I gave away my 20 DA roses for this reason.

David austin roses are amazing. But deer love them. Plant them in a container by your front door to see if they get left alone. You might get lucky.

In my last home, I started a flower cutting garden. Roses are great for their long season but they require constant care. Gardenias can freeze. Magnolias are divine but require a lot space as they secrete a chemical that kills neighboring plants.

What in learned is that you need to start with plants deer don’t like and make pockets of space to plant inside those areas something deer might like. I have fragrant daffodils (Winston Churchill smells like jasmine) and hyacinth (very fragrant) and peonies. These bloom out in spring and then the roses come in. Lilacs are also great- but you want something that reblooms and they take years to establish.

Good luck! Also- just go ahead and get a DA rose. Put it in a pot and pamper it. Choose one for fragrance and pots. It will be lovely and inspire you for later.

Most of the recommendations before are terrible invasive. If OP plants lily of the valley, they will bloom for a week and take over everything. My recommendations below are super fragrant, well behaved and suitable for a small yard. Please google the pics and growing conditions, as I can't link pictures anymore.

phlox divaricata 'blue moon' cultivar. Smells amazing and fresh. I hate Home Depot, but they had them for $6 in the spring.
Gelsemium sempervirens - same, $10 at Home Depot, smells sweet and fresh
"My Mary" Native Azalea - smells like creme brulee and cinnamon rolls
rhododendron viscosum - smells very sweet. If your yard is wet, this is a good choice
Clethra alnifolia Sugartina - very sweet, stays small, blooms in shade
calycanthus floridus 'Athens' - super fragrant, blooms in shade, smells like bubblegum
Magnolia virginiana Sweet Thing 'Perry Paige' - smells like lemon, is evergreen, and grows like a shrub. It's a great choice for small spaces.
Hamamelis virginiana - love the smell (sweet spicy) and it blooms in the late fall
Asclepias syriaca - spreads but it's easy to contain. Smells like vanilla. Hard to find, but Asclepias exaltata is the most fragrant milkweed and blooms in shade.

If you like gardenia and jasmine, the native azaleas are similar in smell: Rhododendron periclymenoides (Pinxter Azalea), Rhododendron arborescens (Sweet Azalea), Rhododendron prinophyllum (Early Azalea), and Rhododendron viscosum (Swamp Azalea)

I also use some incredibly fragrant native Florida plants in containers and keep them in the sunroom over the winter.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd add these DEER resistant plants (the reality of this area) to list:
My favorite is lily of the valley
the sweet nicotianas (tender annuals that self seed and/or grow from own roots): bloom late afternoon into early morning and are just lovely scent and plant Moonflower vine for same
sweet allysum (though not a smell I like!)
All the culinary rosemary, sages and thymes among the herbs that look pretty in the gardens (and bloom)
Dianthus
Monarda (beebalm)
Russian sage (get the newer "dwarf" varieties
Cheerfulness daffodil very fragrant

Please don't plant Russian Sage--it's invasive:
http://www.colostate.edu/Dept/CoopExt/4dmg/Weed/non.htm

as is nicotianas: http://texasinvasives.org/plant_database/detail.php?symbol=NIGL

as is sweet alyssum: http://www.invasiveplantatlas.org/subject.html?sub=18750

as is dianthus: http://www.wildflower.org/expert/show.php?id=771

It says right on your link that Russian sage is not invasive, that it's better than Mediterranean.

Big whoop. Everything else suggested was invasive.

Sh*t labeled a "noxious weed" or "invasive" in other parts of the country will be invasive and noxious weeds here.

Why plant anything invasive in any case? Not everything "non-native" is invasive. You're just too dense to realize this. However, we've got dozen of native alternatives.

I appreciate your effort, and whole-heartedly agree that no one should plant invasive species, and everyone should choose native when possible. However, you have to be correct to or people will stop listening. Some things are invasive in other areas because they over perform but in other areas they barely survive. It can't become invasive it can't thrive. So most annuals that do not self seed, cannot become invasive.

You cite a Texas resource about NICOTIANA GLAUCA, a woody, evergreen shrub to 3 meters high with erect sparsely branched stems. Long tubular yellow flowers that produces many seeds that are dispersed by wind and water. It is invasive everywhere it grows, but it has a hard time growing around here (DC area), begin on the edge of our zone. So it is a poor choice either way.

PP as referenced sweet nicotania: Nicaotania alta or sylvestris, which is a small annual flowering plant in this zone (herbacious perennial in zones 10 and 11 only) and dies in October, is unlikely to reseed in this area, maybe in warmer coastal areas or further south.

Similarly, you site another Texas invasive, the dianthus pink, Dianthus ameria, aka Deptford Pink, which is invasive. However, other species of dianthus, while not native, are annuals and are not invasive. https://www.invasiveplantatlas.org/subject.html?sub=12196

The bottom line for everyone is to know what you are planting and research it before you buy it.

Peonies
Daphne