Five scented plants for October: Autumn Fragrance

CERCIDIPHYLLUM JAPONICUM (KATSURA TREE OR CANDYFLOSS TREE)

As the days get shorter and colder and flowers in the garden become few and far between, we head indoors, pull on an extra sweater, add a log to the fire and fill our home with the scents of warm apple cider and pumpkin bread fresh from the oven. The spicy aromas of cinnamon and nutmeg are seemingly synonymous with this change in the seasons. Outside we associate fall primarily with the changing colors of the leaves, the ripening of berries and the harvesting of pumpkins and gourds, but we are also intrinsically aware that there is a change in the air. What better way to lift the spirits than to have beautifully fragranced plants in your garden? 
 
The fragrances of fall include caramel, vanilla, cloves and honey. Doesn’t that sound like a delicious recipe worth stepping outside for? This selection of trees, vines, shrubs, perennials and even hardy annuals will entice you out into the garden, as the intoxicating scents of flowers and leaves waft remarkable distances across the autumn air. For some of these plants, fall is their peak season; for others this is simply the continuation of spring and summer interest. 

Fill your garden with these sweet smelling plants to keep the fragrance of fall floating around your garden all season. Make sure you fertilize to maximize the fragrance.

Here are our top plants for autumn fragrance.

1. ROSA (ENGLISH ROSE) ‘MUNSTEAD WOOD’

We tend to think of roses as being mid-summer flowerers, but many shrub roses continue to have second and even third flower flushes throughout the year and ‘Munstead Wood’ is no exception. Its deep dark red, highly scented, multi petalled flowers appear in flushes until the first frosts.
Furthermore, it’s a medium size shrub so best placed towards the front of the border to fully appreciate its scent and beautiful colour flowers. Although, a word of warning; watch out for its stems because they’re very prickly!

• Grows up to 1.5m tall and 1m wide
• Moist but well-drained
• Full sun or part shade
• Sheltered or exposed

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2. ABELIA X GRANDIFLORA (GLOSSY ABELIA)

Next up is a graceful, semi-evergreen small shrub perfect for a cottage style garden. Come summer it will start to produce masses of small, scented, pinky white flowers. Also, the joy of this shrub is that it will continue to flower on and off until first frosts.  In addition, it’s also a quick grower so you can save money by buying a smaller size pot.

• Grows up to 4m tall and 4m wide
• Moist but well-drained
• Full sun or dappled shade
• Sheltered site

3. ELAEAGNUS X SUBMACROPHYLLA (SILVERBERRY)

This tough, leathery leafed, shiny, dark green evergreen shrub is used mostly for hedging or screening areas of the garden.  What’s not so widely known is that the tiny, creamy white flowers appearing in the autumn have the most delicious perfume which fill the air and is enough to lift anyone’s spirits on the coldest of days.

• Grows up to 4m tall and 4m wide
• Well-drained or moist but well-drained
• Full sun or part shade
• Exposed or sheltered

4. CERCIDIPHYLLUM JAPONICUM (KATSURA TREE OR CANDYFLOSS TREE)

If you’re out and about walking on a sunny autumn day and catch the scent of caramelised sugar in the air, chances are you’re smelling the scent given off from this pretty medium size deciduous tree.  The heart shaped leaves will wow you in the autumn as they change colour from yellow to orange, to smokey pink to red. Also, they will delight you in the spring as new leaves emerge tinted bronze and pink. Due to their size they are an ideal specimen tree for the larger size garden.

• Grows up to 10m tall and 5m wide
• Well-drained soil or moist but well-drained
• Full sun or partial shade
• Sheltered

5. HIPPOCREPIS EMERUS (SCORPION SENNA)

This bushy rounded shrub used to be called Coronilla emerus and they deserve to be more widely grown in gardens for the fact alone that they flower for weeks on end during the colder months of the year. What’s more, is their dainty yellow flowers have a wonderful vanilla scent. This variety is deciduous and takes its common name from the fact that its seedpods look like a scorpion’s tail!
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• Grows up to 2m tall and 2m wide
• Well-drained
• Full sun
• Sheltered

​6. HEPTACODIUM MICONIOIDES (SEVEN SON FLOWER)

Here’s another unusual deciduous shrub that deserves to be more widely grown in the UK. But don’t be fooled by its exotic looks, because it’s actually fully hardy and ideal for a small garden.  It has elegant, hanging leaves, is quick growing and easy to look after. An added bonus is that it produces highly scented creamy-white flowers late summer into early autumn.

• Grows up to 8m tall and 4m wide
• Moist but well-drained or well-drained
• Full sun or part shade
• Sheltered

How many do you have room for?