Shrubs With Good Smelling Flowers to Plant in the Sun

USDA Zones 2 and 3

• Few species are available for U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zone 2, but the purple leaved sand cherry, an April bloomer, is one. It grows to 10 feet tall and stands up to urban pollution. In USDA hardiness zone 3, where cold winters are no surprise to the residents, lilacs and shrub roses dominate the list of full sun, fragrant flowering shrubs. Among the different lilacs for this zone is the Meyer lilac, a Chinese variety growing to 8 feet high. Used for hedges and screens, this shrub flowers best in full sun. Other lilacs for zone 3 are the late lilac and cultivars of the common lilac. Shrub roses that handle zone 3 include various forms of the hybrid rugosa rose and the William Baffin cultivar of the kordessi rose, a climbing rose that also takes shrub form.

USDA Zone 4 and 5

• Carolina rose and shrub rose are a pair of flowering bushes that will handle whatever USDA zone 4's climate throws at them. Over a dozen butterfly bush cultivars, including Royal Red, Pink Delight and Butterfly Heaven, provide aromatic flowers in USDA zone 5's sunny sites. Attracting butterflies to your property, these shrubs grow as large as the potentially 12-foot tall Honeycomb variety. Bluebeard shrubs, hardy orange and shrub roses are suitable for this zone. Monge, Little Boy Blue and Sensation are common lilac cultivars known for scented flowers. The cherry plum cultivar Newport has sweet smelling April flowers. This shrub grows to 20 feet, has purple leaves and works well in small group plantings, according to the Missouri Botanical Garden.

USDA Zone 6 and 7

• Fragrant white flowers are the April highlight of the Sargent crabapple, a Japanese shrub that grows in USDA zones 6 and 7. Place it in the sun with room to grow, as it matures to heights of 8 feet, but spreads out as much as 15 feet. Opt for Minuet or White Knight, two cultivars of weigela shrubs that grow within both zones. Sapphire berry is a Himalayan shrub for USDA zones 6 and 7, featuring cream white clusters of perfumed flowers that turn into gorgeous, blue berries in autumn. The lilacs and shrub roses are still candidates for these landscapes as well, with rose possibilities including Good Morning America, a 2-foot-high form of miniature rose that has yellow flowers.

USDA Zones 8, 9 and 10

• In the warmer zones such as zones 8 and 9, where humid conditions and hot summers are common, butterfly bushes such as Nanho Purple and Miss Ruby generate fragrant flowers in full sun. Mary Rose and Polar Joy are a duo of shrub roses that need sun and smell great. Zones 8 and 9 support different broadleaf evergreen shrubs with fragrant flowers. One is the India hawthorn cultivar Snow White, which needs full sun and grows to 6 feet tall. Snow White makes a good foundation plant or low hedge. The banksia rose cultivar Lutea, hardy between zones 8 through 10, grows to 20 feet as shrubby ground cover, but also will accept the support of structures such as pergolas and grow upright.