We love growing our indoor gardens for their lush and colorful foliage, but houseplants with fragrant flowers and leaves add another element of freshness to a cozy space. Essential oils and scented candles just don’t compare to smelling the petals of new blooms—or even the aromatherapy boost of rubbing leaves between your fingers. And while spring and summer flowers add a welcomed fragrance to the growing season, there are also plenty of plant species that smell great year-round.
Read on to learn about the most fragrant houseplants to grow indoors to keep your space smelling fresh.
Jasmine
With its thick green leaves and beautiful white flowers, Jasmine is known for being one of the more elegant indoor plant options. This plant produces a sweet and delicate aroma, which is compared to fresh linen. It also comes in many varieties and most species should be kept in a room for high light, humidity and bloom.
Geraniums
Geraniums are one of the best-looking plants due to their flower spikes! This plant has scented foliage, making it quite different from other aromatic indoor plants on this list. They fall into many fragrance categories such as rose, citrus, peppermint, apple, lemon, orange, and coconut!
Lily of the Valley
Lily of the Valley looks truly stunning thanks to its unique, vine-shaped flowers. Its sweet, jasmine-like aroma also makes it the top choice of perfume makers around the world! Choose the lily of the valley for a pleasant aroma of the day!
Sweet bay
An attractive slow-growing shrub that can grow into a small tree, the sweet bay features bright green leaves with a savoury, herbal scent. Use the leaves in soups, stoves, and other delicious winter treats. One of the most fragrant flowers for home.
Lavender
Lavender is famous for its sweet, soft aroma and beautifully vibrant purple flowers. These plants grow best in hotspots and dry climates, so they only need to be watered once a month. They also require extreme light to grow properly, so when planting them, you make them in a field with great lighting like a window.
Orchids
Orchids come in all colours with all kinds of blooms. They also each have their own unique fragrance. To find orchids is a lovely scent you may need to go to a nursery that specialises in orchids.
Plumeria
Comes in a variety of colours and fragrances such as honeysuckle, raspberry, apricot, citrus, rose, and peach. With so many options to choose from, you will always have a plumeria that fits right into your needs and requirements! As it is a shrub, it needs a large space and direct sunlight to grow indoors.
Citrus
Dwarf citrus trees like calamansi (also known as calamondin) and Meyer lemon are a favorite among houseplant lovers—and not just because these cheery tropicals reward attentive gardeners with the literal fruits of their labor. Their small, white blooms give off a delicious scent that you can pick up across the room. Citrus trees need at least eight hours of full sunlight, so they’re ideal for a bright south-facing window, or give them a grow light made for citrus trees to keep them blooming and fruiting.
Hoya
Hoya carnosa, also known as wax plant, is a popular houseplant for its shiny green leaves—but its colorful, fragrant flowers are a beautiful bonus. Most varieties of healthy, mature hoya plants at least five years old can produce clusters of star-shaped pink blossoms. To increase chances of your hoya flowering, find a spot with lots of bright, indirect light and keep the plant there: They don’t like to be moved. Increase the humidity around your plant, feed it with half-strength houseplant fertilizer once a month, and in late winter, pinch back the stems to encourage new growth.
Gardenia
These lush houseplants are a little high maintenance, but they reward attentive plant parents with full, snow-white blooms that give off a heady scent. Keep yours in a spot with direct sunlight that’s away from hot air and cold drafts. Like hoya plants, gardenia thrives best in the same location and can become finicky if moved around. You’ll also want to give this plant moderate humidity, ideally by running a humidifier nearby (they’re divas, remember?) or by setting it atop a humidifying tray of pebbles and water. Snipping off woody stems will also help encourage flowering.