The World's Best Smelling Flowers in Full Bloom
UPDATED JUNE 2024
Our memories play a significant role in our lives; they are often triggered by a sense of smell. The general consensus in the psychological community is that the limbic system serves many more functions than previously understood. The intricacies of this bodily system are known to regulate the emotional self, the formation and storage of memories, sexual arousal, and developmental learning. Let our blog about the world’s best-smelling flowers remind you of the good smells. Discover the charm of a very fragrant flower, the allure of a fragrant flower, and the enchantment of nature’s most fragrant flower, like the heliotrope with its scent reminiscent of cherry pie.
Reminiscent of Good Times
Can you recall the times you passed by the exotic white blossoms of a magnolia tree in summer or the intoxicating scent of tropical blooms that seemed to follow you on holiday to the islands? Can you remember the sweet smell of Ouma’s old-fashioned pale pink roses growing wild in the backyard while you played, with life seeming endless in your tender years? It’s not surprising that the fragrant flowers of a garden are said to bring back many good memories, and they are one of the factors in creating a calm and peaceful air.
Flowers are appreciated for their beauty and their liveliness, their splendid forms, and the spectrum of colours that seems to have no end. Nevertheless, some types win over everyone’s heart and admiration because of their inimitable aroma, and powerful smell, which reminds us of that positive moment experienced in our lives. The lovely sweet scent of the lily-of-the-valley, the overpowering fragrance of wisteria, the soft aroma of jasmine, and the sweet fragrance of peonies and nicotiana can help calm your mind, body, and soul as you read on below to learn more about the worlds best smelling flowers. We have been so blessed at Fabulous Flowers to meet several passionate gardeners who plant their gardens to enjoy year-round feelings of experience for themselves, their neighbours, and family.
Frangipani
Frangipani (Plumeria Rubra) is native to the Pacific Islands, the Caribbean, South America, and Mexico—warm tropical areas. It's a prominent flowering tree in South Africa and very popular, naturally, due to its gorgeous fragrance and star-like petals. In Hawaii, frangipani is known as the lei flower. They grow well in Cape Town and can be seen in many gardens and parks. Frangipani is a lovely flower that grows in pink, red, yellow, and white shades, almost like it was kissed with a touch of brilliant gold in the center of every bloom. These blossoms make a beautiful addition to a dramatic bouquet, though they are often unavailable in cut flower stems. Frangipani has a delicate scent, a desirable tropical fragrance that seems more intense in the evenings.This flower reminds me of walks on a tropical beach with no care.
The frangipani blooms available at Fabulous Flowers have enabled us to create some of the most beautiful garlands and bridal bouquets. Our favorite sight is when they drop from the trees, in plenty, carpeting the earth so beautifully and fragrantly. This frangipani flower plant can reach up to a big shrub or even a small tree, with long, leathery, and fleshy leaves located near the branch tips. Unfortunately, their flowers have poisonous milky sap that could bring skin irritation in allergic cases, for which a doctor should be consulted. Let's not forget that the wood of the frangipani tree can be used in the making of musical instruments, tableware, and pieces of furniture for the decoration of interiors.
Sweet Alyssum
Lobularia maritima is one of the prettiest, sweetest-smelling flowering plants in all creation. It's a mat-forming plant with dense bunches of sweet-smelling, tiny flowers. Sweet alyssum requires minimal effort to yield its most beautiful, sweet-smelling aromas. It also proliferates from inexpensive seeds, reseeds itself, and looks great in hanging baskets.
Your garden will love this addition, as will rock garden and all your neighbors and visiting family and friends.
Fortunately, sweet alyssum is also one of the easiest annuals to grow. In South Africa, the plants should have full to partial sun and can survive even when the soil gets dry. But preferably for optimum results, they need moderate watering and well-drained soil, composted but well draining soil not too rich in nitrogen. Their seeds can be sown uncovered directly in the ground as soon as it thaws in the Northern Hemisphere or the pot. The plants will bloom from April to September, and in case you want to extend the flowering period, ensure that you deadhead the spent flowers to prevent seed protection.
Chocolate Cosmos
Chocolate cosmos, or Cosmos astrosanguineum, with unique reddish-brown flowers, a slight touch of vanilla, and a sugary smell, are similar to many chocolate candies: how delicious! Their heady scent is so tantalizing that it could make one want to taste it.
Chocolate cosmos are native to Mexico and herbaceous perennial in warmer and annual in colder climates. They can grow from 1 to 3 feet tall (30 to 91 centimeters) and thrive in the fullness of the sun to semi-shade. It's said by some horticulturists that six to eight plants should be put together to get an idea of the fragrance in its full effect; it naturally intensifies with the heat of summer days. We use them daily at Fabulous Flowers in our floral arrangements and bunches. They are wonderful and bring a kind of softness to any creative display.
Wisteria
In South Africa, wisteria pendant-like blooms spread their aroma through the air, a sure sign of spring. The profuse flowers of wisteria look like a cluster of grapes, and in some varieties, the clusters can reach up to 3 feet (91.4 centimeters) in length. Wisteria is a vigorous climber, reaching quite a height by twining its way up support. Regular pruning makes this viable in suburban gardens, with the most spectacular show late in spring to early summer when in flower. The purple or white-hued prolific petals of the wisteria will drop within a few days, so it's best to pause, relax under the lovely shade, and enjoy this beauty while you can.
The fallen petals pop quietly with each step and emit a soft, beautiful aroma.
Being deciduous, they drop their leaves and so allow the winter sunshine onto patios, terraces, and into the house. The plants are also long-lived and may reach a great age. Gardeners love the gentle perfume of wisteria during spring, but this gregarious vine takes no note for the rest of the year. Wisteria loves to climb and wander as if investigating homes, arches, and walls while enjoying privacy and partial shade next to pergolas or arbors during summer. It could be trained on a trellis to offer a splash of color and texture in one's home or office.
Sweet Peas
Sweet peas (Lathyrus) have been cultivated for over 300 years worldwide and are valued both for their beauty and the feelings they evoke. The beautiful sweet pea is one of the most fragrant flowers, and colorful flowers. Colors like red and pink, yellow to white, and a combination of colors appear in the sweet pea flowers. A raceme of sweet peas bears from one to seven flowers, each approximately two inches (51 millimeters) in diameter.
Sweet peas can grow to a height of between 4 and 6 feet (1.2 to 1.8 meters), and though a few bush varieties are not as tall, they still occupy quite some space.
Plant the sweet peas in April for the best results in your suburban region. Early spring is okay otherwise. You'll be able to enjoy the flowers from spring through summer, although they don't care for the intense summer heat. Choose a sunny, wind-free spot in your garden. If sowing or planting climbing sweet peas, provide net-covered support in a north or south-facing direction or wire mesh in a north or south-facing wall.
Plant them 15 cm apart and water regularly to keep the soil moist. Soak the seeds overnight in cotton wool before planting. No other experience can beat the beauty of going to your garden, picking a bunch of fragrant sweet peas to give to a friend, or next to your own garden bed. The more you pick, the more abundantly the plant will bloom.
Poppies
Poppies have great importance every year, especially in the UK and Commonwealth, as they symbolise the remembering of war veterans and those who passed away in the wars.
For example, Iceland poppies are perennials grown in South Africa as winter annuals. The full sun and well-prepared beds with good drainage soil should have compost and well-matured manure. In addition, these flowers are beautiful when the sun backlights their translucent, crepe-like yellow-orange, pink, red, and white petals. Also, they sway gently in the wind; it is quite calming to watch them. Beyond this, tests have shown that these graceful annuals can transform dull winter gardens into vibrant spring shows.
Now is the perfect time to plant poppies for them to weave their magic into border garden during spring. Pop your poppies in close together, and you will have a spectacular show of colour, your little poppy field.
The scent of a bundle of poppies is heavenly. Each time we receive one from Fabulous Flowers farm, I just put my face into part shade the bundle and inhale the glory of their heady fragrance.
Tuberose
Tuberose is a perennial plant, and its extracts are used widely as a note in perfumery. It is also listed among the best-selling florist flowers across the globe. At Fabulous Flowers, we make full use of these beautiful stems that we incorporate and use to deliver wedding bouquets, arrangements, and bunches every day. They are always well taken care of and treasured. For centuries, tuberoses have spread their passion, fragrance, and beauty around the globe. Their intensity of purity inspired their use as funeral flowers in some parts of Asia and in Victorian times.
They continued to be a wedding favorite in even more recent times and an inspiration behind thousands of decorative candles around the globe. Many traditional brides in Hawaii wear tuberose blossom leis, and tuberoses are popular decor and personal adornments for weddings in India and Western cultures. The book "Language of Flowers" is also a highlight of the Victorian era, which ascribes to the tuberose 'dangerous pleasures.' Young girls should avoid this flower at all costs to protect themselves from the stirring of erotic desires.
Freesia
The Freesia is one of the most fragrant spring flowers, symbolising sweetness, friendship, and trust. But there is also something more in these merry flowers; they carry hope.
Freesias are tiny treasures sure to win the heart over; they are recognized and grown worldwide for the many cheerful colors and fabulous fragrances that linger long in a vase, perfuming an entire room and bringing spring into your house. At Fabulous Flowers, we look forward to spring when they are available in abundance to include in our beautiful arrangements and bouquets. Freesias remain one of the most sought-after cut flowers commercially today, and the plants are also cultivated for their perfume and used in some of the top fashion brands worldwide. Today, the freesia essential oil is widely used in soaps, scented candles, potpourri, and body oils.
Lavender
That's the reason we associate lavender with peace and relaxation. Lavender flowers suggest purity, silence, devotion, serenity, grace, and calmness. Being the color of royalty, prosperity, and spiritual attaining, purple boasts refinement, luxury, and nobility. It is also related to the crown chakra, which is connected with higher purpose and spiritual connectivity. Lavender flowers and the oil obtained from them have a long history of use in herbal medicine. A handful of applications involve use showy flowers in traditional floral arrangements and wreaths and the extraction of lavender oil. Organic lavender essential oil will help babies to calm down, and through the use of a diffuser, it will help them go to sleep. Even adults under stress are comforted by holding some bunch when trying to fall asleep.
St Joseph Lily
This stunning trumpet-shaped lily is one of our favourite varieties at Fabulous Flowers. The blooms are large and fragrant, mainly in the evenings. They symbolise purity, innocence, transformation, rebirth, and devotion.
Give eternal pleasure, staying longer in a vase. Because of their grace and beauty, they are a favorite either in a vase or mixed with other blooms. We use them quite extensively for weddings and funerals, too. All our florists love working with them as they have a natural curve that is constantly enhancing an arrangement's symmetry or quirky creativity.
Hyacinth
The charming blossoms of this small plant grow from a bulb and are compressed into a spike of bell-shaped fragrance. As a house plant, they are very popular because of their exquisite aroma. They come in many white flowers, blue, lilac, pink, purple, among others. They are also commercialised for cut flowers but are very tricky to be included in bouquets since the length of their stem is too short. We include them in bridal bouquets due to the good luck they symbolise and small floral arrangements whenever possible.
Soak up the reminder of sweet-smelling flowers that everything is good in life. Believe that all will work out for your highest and best suitable.
The World's Most Fragrant Flowers: A Fragrant Journey
The sweetest of the world’s flowers assist us gloriously in reminiscing over some greatly valued memories and feeling at peace and joy inside. Be it the tropical allure of frangipani, the sugary aroma of chocolate cosmos, or the quietening effect of lavender, these fragrant flowers light up our lives with exciting and sweet scents. Daphne flowers, known for their delightful fragrance, beautiful appearance, and suitability for cutting, are another excellent choice. Flowering shrubs, with their ornamental qualities and low-maintenance nature, can also perk up any yard with their showy blossoms. At Fabulous Flowers, we celebrate these botanical wonders by using them in our delightful arrays and designs, filling your home and special occasions with all its sophistication and comfort. Let those fragrant blooms inspire you high, reminding you of the beauty and sweetness that life contains.
