I need some ideas for my narrow spot next to my front stoop. I'd like it to be fragrant(obviously, who wouldn't, right?) It gets morning sun and I'd like it summer blooming.
This is the spot last summer with impatiens. I had nothing there this year but a huge pot of coleus.
So any ideas????
Hmmmm....Jen how narrow is it? Many of the Daphnes like a tiny bit of shade...also Butterfly ginger...you could plant some Nicotiana 'Fragrant Cloud' in there - she doesn't get as big as some of the others - although tall. Many of the cold hardy Gardenias don't like full sun i.e. Frostproof & Chuck Hayes....what else?? Lilies of the Valley....violets... What about a couple of Oriental Lilies...'Silk Road'
24" wide by 7 1/2' long
I had a Daphne there about 4 years ago and it up and died on me. Oh I loved it, the fragrance was amazing.
Violets were on my possiblity list
I'm surprised no one else has any ideas....
consider sweet alyssum.
Does it come in any other colors besides purple, white and pink? I'd have to direct sow it, how long to germination?
I have not seen it in other colors. I don't know about germination. I buy them as 6packs from garden stores.
Perhaps some Oriental Lilies? They tolerate partial shade well, and its helpful with many varieties to extend the life of the blooms. There are some nice, short varieties available if you don't want something tall.
I went to Stokes Seeds (stokeseeds.com) and plugged "fragrant" into their search box, and came up with a bunch of hits, including several snapdragons! Very interesting; I didn't comb the whole five pages, though.
Some petunias are particularly fragrant, and will do OK (not spectacular probably) in part shade, depending on the degree of shade. There are some perennials tolerant of part shade - some kinds of catmint (nepeta), anise hyssop (agastache), and geranium cantabrigense 'Karmina" that have really fragrant foliage, that I love to touch because of the fragrance released. Monarda (bee balm) does the same, and while it's mostly tall, there are some nice dwarf forms. All of mine is growing in part shade, because that's about all I have. If it's season-long color you're looking for, you could put in something really highly fragranced, like alyssum, and give the area some "pop" with the impatiens, too.
I winter sowed some Sweet William, I'll see how that works out.
I use "Snow Crystals" sweet alyssum. Best white I've grown. I buy the seeds from Swallowtail Garden Seeds. They do have other colors of alyssum. I also use "Laura Bush" petunias. It comes in 2 colors and the seeds can be found at Wildseed Farms. Both are fragrant, will grow in part shade but will do better with more sun, and the seeds are sown before last frost. If allowed, the petunias will seed in for next year. Thru the season, I give them an occasional trim. In the fall, I let them go to seed. Sweet alyssum will supposedly reseed but I haven't had much luck with that.
Some hostas are fragrant, too. I agree with the suggestion for the nicotiana, too.
This message was edited Apr 19, 2010 12:45 PM
Hi flowerjen.
I just discovered this thread & figured even if it was too late for this year, there's always next year.
Bluestone perennials (Garden Watchdog Top 5) has a wonderful feature called "Custom Plant Search". It's on the top left of their home page (in the area where you would choose perennials, bulbs, shrubs, etc).
Once you click on Custom Plant Search, you can put in your Zone, Sun conditions, Soil type (if you want), Type of plant & more. Down at the bottom, you can click on items like "Fragrant", "Hummingbirds" & so much more. It allows you to click on as many or as few items as you want. Then it brings up a list with beautiful pictures. If there are lots of plants, there will be letters at the top of the page in alphabetical order to let you skim through them.
I have used this feature many times to help me with my planning.
I have a ton of shade in my yard from large trees all around. One of the new shade plants I ordered this year from Bluestone was a Hosta So Sweet. I'ts a very small Hosta with fragrant blooms (bloom time is listed as late july).
By the way, good luck on the sweet william. They do smell wonderful!!
I LIVE on the Bluestone plant search. I LOVE them!
You too? I'm addicted!
Plus, I just received a large order from them about a week ago that I kept adding to until it was time to ship. I could have easily tripled it!
Yep def an addiction. I will be placing another order with them this week. The plants may start off a little small but they really take off.
