Tropical Scented Shrubs

Climate

• Most tropical shrubs require mild weather year round and little to no freezing temperatures. If you live in an area that experiences cold winters, you should plant tropical scented shrubs in containers you can overwinter indoors. A few shrubs, though, tolerate short periods of freezing weather, including the Lady of the Night (Brunfelsia Americana). The medium-size bush produces flowers that get very fragrant in the evening. The Sweet Mimosa (Acacia farnesiana) bush produces fragrant canary yellow flowers that bloom even during freezing weather.

Container Choices

• Some tropical plants thrive in containers. Glory Bower (Clerodendrum bungei) produces fragrant blooms that resemble pink balls made up of hundreds of tiny flowers. Spider lilies (Crinum pedunculatum) add interest to a container garden with their lily-shaped, fragrant blooms. The plant tolerates both sun and partial shade, giving you more options for where to place the container. Another showy, fragrant flower that grows well in containers is gardenia. Vietnamese gardenia, also known as the Kailarsenia (Kailarsenia Vietnamensis), is a bushy plant. It produces large white flowers that put out lots of fragrance. Bush gardenia (Gardenia augusta) grows well in containers. It produces striking white fragrant blooms that turn creamy yellow as they age.

Dwarf Specimens

• A few tropical shrubs work well as dwarf specimens, ideal if garden space is at a premium. The Dwarf Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow (Brunfelsia pauciflora compacta) grows as a compact shrub up to 10 feet high with dramatic blooms. The fragrant flowers start out purple and eventually fade to a mauve and white color after a few days. The Yellow Bird of Paradise (Cesalpinia Mexicana) produces scented yellow flowers on a compact bush. It sometimes is trained to grow as a tree. The bush is drought-tolerant, making it perfect for regions that get little rain.

Wildlife Friendly

• Bees and butterflies flock to some tropical scented shrubs. The Almond Bush (Aloysia virgata) produces an abundance of small white flowers with a strong scent of almond that attracts butterflies and bees. The bush grows up to 12 feet in height. Yellow flowers with a honey scent make the Sweet Mimosa (Acacia farnesiana) bush a popular choice to attract pollinating bees and butterflies. The thorny plant makes a decent-size bush, but you may need to prune it to keep it from taking over the garden.