Gee, I don't know about Lilies in your zone, but the timing of your question is perfect. Just this morning I was in awe from the fragrance from my 3 Lily plants. I have only grown Asiatics in the past which are not fragrant. This is my first year with Orienpets. Terrific! THe ones I have, fwiw, are called Garden Pleasure. Mine get 4-5 hrs sun. Do you have that much?

Lilies! I didn't think about lilies, what a great idea! In fact, I am going to a friend's house tonight and she has a lot of lilies, I'll have to stroll around and see which ones have the most fragrance. But, Orientals won't grow here, I don't think. Asiatics will and species lilies. No Asiatics are fragrant?

Yes, I think it gets that much sun, but not a lot more.

Absolutely - lilies! The Oriental lilies are highy fragrant, they will perfume the whole sitting area. I've overwinted Oriental lilies in pots in the garage in the past, that may be a solution for you if they are not hardy in the ground in your area.

As far as annuals go, Heliotrope are fragrant, as are petunias (especially blue, pink, and white cultivars), petunias are particularly fragrant on a muggy evening. Datura is another good annual for fragrance, but open at dusk/overnight.

Don't overlook fragrant foliage - often just brushing against foliage or stepping on a leaf will release fragrance. The leaves of "Biokovo" geranium (grouncover type) are highly fragrant, and so are herbs (e.g. mint - which I grow in a pot to keep contained).

Regarding "other sensations" - sounds can be very relaxing. One of the most relaxing sounds to me is ornamental grass rustling in the breeze. So consider adding a few clumps of ornamental grass.

One of the best "visual/audible" grasses, at least IMO, is Chasmanthium latifolium, the Northern Sea Oats.

Coolplantsguy: I *love* Chasmanthium. Hardly anyone ever mentions it on the board, and I often wonder why. It's beautiful and very useful in dry part-shade locations where it's difficult to grow a lot of other plants.

Forgot to mention lavender, a great fragrant foliage plant.

Yes, I've overwintered lilies in the garage too. easy. I bought them in the fall wanted to see the actual color before I planted them in a bed.

If you go with lilies, keep in mind the short bloom time that they have.

My aunt grows Four o'clocks and they smell up the entire area in the evening.

I inspired myself to bring a single lily in the house for a vase. Ahhhhhhh...

Another idea, but only as a wintered-over-indoors pot, is brugsmansia. Doesn't exactly speak Japanese, but fragrance is great Aug-Oct. Well... in your zone that timing probably won't be the same. z3... that is hard to relate to.

You might have better responses in the northern gardening forum.

Great ideas above - and I love mxk3's idea of sound in the garden also. I once had a pot of bamboo on the patio and I LOVED the sound it made.

Alyssum is an absolutely wonderful fragrant annual - not sure if it will grow in that much shade, but I would definitely give it a try. Reseeds nicely too.

I have an evening-blooming jasmine that is heavenly! It is not hardy even in my zone, but I've been overwintering mine in the house for about six years.

There are some daylilies that are quite fragrant, and phlox too. I'm having a mental block trying to think of things that do well in more shade....

I would grow some herbs too - basil is wonderful!!

:)
Dee

Lilacs & Hyacinth for May
Abelia- SUPER fragrant
Valerian in June
There's fragrant daylilies, but I don't know that they waft throughout the area- I think you gotta get up-close-and-personal with even the most fragrant of them. I have a yellow that is a mid-late bloomer in July/August that is simply delightful.
Gee, I guess I'm out of smelly things when mid-summer rolls around. Must rectify that...
Oh, actually, if you have an arbor of some sort, grapevines are wonderful.

Think about using Hosta plantaginea (and the hybrids derived from it which are also fragrant). Temperennials like night jessamine (Cestrum nocturnum) are worth trying too. I get one or two flushes of bloom from this plant during a season, and it is fantastically fragrant).

By the way, you may be unnecessarily excluding some plants from consideration if you consider your garden to strictly be in zone 3. Given how winters have been getting milder, the old classifications are outmoded. If the average low for a winter season is in the -20 to -30F range in your area, you're zone 4, regardless of whether or not there are occasionally colder or milder winters.

Mmm, some great ideas here, thank you. I also found out last night that some Oriental lilies do indeed grow here. I love some of the ideas, including the ones about sound - I was thinking that but hadn't quite figured out how to do it. Those Northern Sea Oats look very cool. eric, I will check that group of hostas for sure.

Average low - I don't know what our average is but in the 14 years I've lived here, it has been lower than -25 every year, lower than -30 most years, and three or four years lower than -40. I used to consider us zone 4 but have recently changed the rating in my own mind to 3, as have many friends. We've just had too many harsh winters recently and lost too many plants. I now tend to plant for zone 3 so I can feel more confident of survival. When I do plant a less hardy specimen, I go into it knowing it may not survive.

Thank you all for the suggestions, I'm saving this thread!

Eric reminded me - one of my favorite hostas is Guacamole. It's not all that much to look at, just your standard hosta, but the blooms are large and very fragrant. I've kept this one in a pot so I can enjoy it on my patio.

:)
Dee

I don't know if either will be hardy for you, but peonies and buddleias are my two favorite fragrant plants. Peonies have a short season, but ehir beauty and scent make up for it. And once my butterfly bush starts to bloom, that whole corner of my garden smeels like honey.

In terms of other sensations, some people like chimes which are on sale everywhere now. Chimes tend to drive me crazy but some people love them. Also, I'm not sure how natural you want to be but another idea might be a fountain. They come in all varieties from complex underground piping systems to some simple (but not "natural") plug in varieties. Someone smarter than me probably knows how to build one with no electriciy. I bought a fountain at Lowe's made of fake rocks for around $200.00. It was so easy to lift, even I could do it and easy to set up if you have an outside plug. You need to be a little creative to hide the wire but you can just bury it yourself. It also can stay out all year in New England (don't need to store inside in the winter). I was a little skeptical how the fake rocks would look but was assured I could return it. I put it in the patio area near a wall made of real rocks and it blends in just fine. Everyone who sees and hears it loves it (unlike chimes). I love the sound of running water and for me, it would be something for a meditation garden area. Just my two cents.

Re: Chimes

If you have neighbors in close quarters, please reconsider the chimes. They drive some folks crazy. Neighbor of mine who has since moved used to have them, and on a breezy night even with the windows closed I could sometimes hear them . They didn't drive me batty, but I can't say I enjoyed the constant chiming - just want to offer the point of view that others within hearing distance of chimes may not appreciate them (and keeping on good terms with the neighbors if possible is always a good thing....)

I agree with mxk3 - if you have close neighbors, think twice about the chimes. I like them myself... sometimes, lol. Actually, my neighbor has some which I enjoy, so I don't have my own, but on very windy days the darn things drive me nuts, lol.

Another option is bamboo chimes. They have a deeper, more hollow sound which may not be so grating (for those that find regular chimes grating, that is!) Also, if you get a heavy set, they don't move as easily in the wind, so they don't always ring(?) as much or as readily.

:)
Dee

Some nice fragrant perennials that are hardy in your zone - certain Daffodils, Hemerocallis, Peonies

Convallaria majalis - Lily of the valley

Asclepias syriaca - common Milkweed - these spread by runner, best in a wild area, but the fragrance is heavenly

A lot of Phloxes (P. divaricata, maculata, and paniculata)

Hosta 'Royal Standard' and 'Guacamole'

I love wind chimes and have over a dozen that hang in a "chime tree" which is an American Linden (Tilia americana). It is very fragrant in early July, esp. at night when it wafts in the window. It is deciduous tree so in the winter when it has no leaves, they chime a lot, but people have their windows closed (and we have fairly large lots); in summer, the leaves fill in thickly and block the wind, so they don't chime very much at all.

You might want to consider removing the shrub Honeysuckle if it is invasive in your zone; although the fragrance is lovely, they are generally one of the extremely invasive Asian species.

One thing you might try is Jasmine tobacco, nicotiana elata. The variety I have is a white flowering annual that I bought originally as plants from Select Seeds. The original 3 plants have reseeded in their pots for 4 seasons now. They have a lovely Jasmine smell in the evening.