Scented candles are nice to have around the house, but it’s hard to beat the fragrance of natural botanicals. Houseplants are natural air purifiers, and they bring calm and beauty into the home. If you’re looking for a plant that can live indoors and also has a pleasing fragrance, there are quite a few to choose from.
Whether you’re a fan of foliage or flowers, there is more than one option for houseplants that smell nice. Some have beautiful blooms that bring perfume to the indoors, while others have aromatic foliage all year long.
From herbs to orchids, the possibilities are plentiful. Plants are available for most home environments and conditions, and they range from simple cultivars excellent for beginners to more challenging types well suited for the advanced gardener. Here are some of our favorite fragrant houseplants that you can grow inside to add beauty and aroma to your home.
Arabian Jasmine ‘Grand Duke of Tuscany’
Arabian jasmine has some famous uses. It’s used to fragrance jasmine rice, and the blooms are often used to make Hawaiian leis. These flowers have a sweet, fruity, and heady jasmine perfume, and it makes sense that the oil they produce is also popular in perfumery. They are tropical vines that can grow large outdoors, but if they are confined to a container, they will be easier to maintain.
‘Grande Duke of Tuscany’ is a spectacular variety. The double-petal blooms are creamy white and resemble small gardenias. They are large for the species in general and form clusters of three to twelve. This type tends to be shrubby in growth, so it works well in a container. Keep it near a window, and give it plenty of moisture, especially in the summer.
Crimson Cattleya Orchid
Orchids are gorgeous, but they tend to get a reputation for being high-maintenance. While this may be true of some species, cattleya orchids aren’t quite so complicated. In fact, they are relatively easy-going and flexible and tolerate some direct sun, unlike most.
Nicknamed corsage orchids and cattleyas, these flowers often appear in floristry. Although they produce only a few blooms annually, they are long-lasting and smell heavenly. Their large, ruffled petals and flamboyant labellum make them a conversation piece during the spring season.
Gardenia ‘Buttons’
Gardenias have few rivals when it comes to fragrance. Their creamy, waxy white blooms release their perfume in the early evening and can easily fill a room with it. Glossy green foliage looks nice year-round, and they flower in the summer, sometimes in two flushes.
‘Buttons’ is a small cultivar that works well in a container. Make sure to give this one a lot of sun exposure for best performance. This variety has an extra strong scent and is tolerant of a wide range of conditions.
Porcelain Flower
If you’re good with orchids, a porcelain flower or hoya should be next on your list. These fragrant epiphytes require similar care and environment and make great houseplants. These vines are great climbers and look equally attractive in hanging baskets. They are generally easy to care for, as long as you’re careful not to overwater.
Hoya carnosa is one of the more fragrant hoyas, although most are at least somewhat fragrant. The waxy evergreen foliage is attractive even when flowers are not present. Outdoors in Zones 10-11 can reach heights of up to 20 feet, but indoors, they will stay closer to three feet. Clusters of star-shaped blossoms appear between spring and fall.
Oncidium Orchid ‘Sharry Baby’
Oncidium orchids are also called dancing lady orchids, as their blooms resemble fluttering skirts. They prefer bright light or partial shade with a few hours of exposure in the morning. More light will mean a better blooming season. They are happy with average room temperatures, though they need a temperature shift to form buds.
‘Sharry Baby’ is famous for its strong, chocolaty fragrance, which is warm and cozy. It’s commonly thought to be the most famous of oncidiums and one of the most popular orchids overall. It’s also a winner of the Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit.
Stephanotis
Stephanotis goes by many names, and by any of them, it smells just as sweet. This fragrant flower is particularly popular with brides and houseplant enthusiasts. The small, waxy, white blooms are similar to jasmine and have a rich, white floral perfume. It’s a vine that prefers something to climb on.
Bright, indirect light is ideal for your stephanotis, but some sun in the early part of the day will promote more flowering. It likes consistent, mild temperatures and well-drained soil, as it is prone to root rot. Give it extra humidity, as you would an orchid. This makes a nice bathroom window specimen.
Plumeria ‘Aztec Gold’
Semi-succulent plumerias are good houseplants as long as you have a warm, sunny spot for them to inhabit. This is another plant that commonly finds its flowers in the Hawaiian lei, and for good reason: they smell amazing!
Every variety has its own distinct fragrance, from floral to spicy and everything in between. ‘Aztec Gold’ smells like peaches and butter to me—warm and delicious! The blooms come in spring in large clusters of gold with white-edged petals. These are easy to propagate and grow quite large over time but stay manageable in a container.
Improved Meyer Lemon
Citrus trees have some of the sweetest-smelling blossoms, and they can make delightfully fragrant houseplants. They are simply lovely to boot. They also provide fruits that have aromatic rinds and have glossy, evergreen foliage. Most citrus trees will only grow outdoors in warm climates, but some make excellent potted plants and will thrive indoors.
Meyer lemons are extra sweet for a lemon because they are hybrids mixed with a mandarin orange. The small fruits have dark yellow skins and make dynamite lemonade. The blossoms appear in spring and are delicate and white with a touch of purple at the base.
Paperwhites ‘Ziva’
Paperwhites are related to daffodils in the narcissus genus. You can force these bulbs to bloom indoors over the winter holidays and have a strong and distinct aroma. Set these bulbs in a bowl with stones and water and watch as their roots and shoots quickly appear.
Indoors, these will grow and bloom within one to two months, depending on the time of year. Once they finish, you simply discard them outdoors as they won’t come back and don’t store well. ‘Ziva’ is a classic white variety with a yellow cup. It’s well known to be one of the most fragrant varieties.
Hyacinth ‘Apricot Passion’
Another bulb that you can force indoors, hyacinths are a spring staple. When it comes to fragrance, these are at the top of the list. They will thrive in partial shade, but the more sun they receive, the better they flower. You can grow these suspended above water, with no soil, just like paperwhites.
Hyacinths come in a wide range of colors. ‘Apricot Passion’ is a pale peachy shade with single florets clustered around a thick stem. Once you’re done growing them indoors, put them in the garden, and they will return next spring.
Scented Geranium ‘Grace Thomas’
It’s the houseplant’s foliage rather than the flowers that are fragrant in this next entry. Scented geraniums are lovely blooming plants, but the flowers are not the main attraction. The leaves have a lemony aroma, so this one smells good all year. Keep this in a sunny spot for the best performance.
‘Grace Thomas’ is an award-winning variety, boasting the RHS Award of Garden Merit. Its bright green flocked leaves are coated with fine, velvety hairs, and pink flowers bloom in spring and summer.
Patchouli
Another plant with aromatic foliage, patchouli, is a tropical that makes a great indoor specimen. This member of the mint family has large, toothy leaves that release a spicy, earth scent. They also bloom in the fall, and the small white blossoms are highly fragrant.
You probably know this plant for its essential oil, which is popular for several reasons. It doubles as a perfume and an antiseptic, making it nice as a skin oil. Insects don’t like the scent, and it tolerates lower light conditions, so it’s easy to care for.
Lavender ‘Little Lady’
If you have a sunny bedroom window, you have the perfect place to keep lavender plants. Well known for its soothing and relaxing scent, lavender has fragrant foliage and flowers. It likes a lot of light and poor, well-drained soil. Make sure to mix some coarse sand in with the potting mix, and don’t fertilize this one.
‘Little Lady’ is a dwarf variety that thrives in a container. Its large, bright purple flower spikes have plenty of Mediterranean charm. It doesn’t require much humidity, so it works well in all rooms of the home, even those with drier air.
Peppermint
The cool, refreshing scent of peppermint brightens up the kitchen and any other space with a sunny window. Mint plants are easy to grow indoors or out, and their classic aromatic foliage doubles as a tasty herb. It makes excellent iced tea, and you can’t make a mojito without it.
Peppermint produces flowers in late summer if provided with enough sunlight. This hybrid has bright green leaves with attractive purple stems. The blooms are purple as well.
Rosemary ‘Spice Island’
Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs to smell and taste. I love a loaf of rosemary sourdough bread, and it’s the perfect complement to potatoes. It’s highly drought tolerant, so even if you forget it for a while, it will be just fine. It’s easy to care for and has low maintenance.
‘Spice Island’ is a nice variety to keep in containers and inside the home. It’s compact and shrubby. From summer through fall, it will produce a great number of small, fragrant lavender flowers. The foliage is the main attraction, though, as it is highly fragrant year-round.
