Beautiful shrubs you can grow as houseplants
Flowers are admired for their beauty, exquisite shapes and seemingly unending spectrum of colours, but some varieties are most loved and respected for their amazing scents. If you add some good smelling flowers, herbs, or shrubs to your lawn, terrace or balcony, then you are sure to have a better smelling place to relax in. Make this a family project and teach the kids or grandkids how to plant vegetation. Consequently, while you are teaching them how to do that you will also be making your place smell better. Scented plants cover a wide range of species including: herbs, roses, climbers, shrubs and trees. Although most herbs are fairly hardy fast-growing plants, this is not the case for all scented plants. As is the case with most plants, their needs will vary according to the species. For example, Lavenders are relatively tough, fast-growing, plants that will survive with minimal attention in most situations. However, care and attention to watering, feeding and pruning will give you far better results.
Here are a few plants you can consider planting:
Jasmine: Jasmine is one of the most popular fragrant flowers from the tropical regions, popular through out the world. It comes in over 200 varieties, including hybrids. The blossoms are usually small, night-blooming, and have great fragrance. Jasmine is particularly popular in many Asian countries. In India, it is considered sacred and usually used to make decorative garlands for weddings and other ceremonies. Please note that there are some rare varieties of hybrid jasmine that are not fragrant. Jasmine tea is a very popular tea from ancient China, which has a very nice scent that can relax and refresh you with an instant calming effect.
Plumeria or Hawaiian Frangipani: They come in different colours and varieties. The fragrance of plumeria is one of the best, loved by mostly everyone. The perfumes scented with the frangipani are very popular and you can also find essential oils made of fresh plumerias. Please note that there are certain beautiful, hybrid varieties of plumerias that are not fragrant, but the most popular ones are those with the high fragrance. The flowers are beautiful by their own, and they are commonly used in Hawaii to make garlands know as lei.
Roses: Being one of the most popular flowers in the world, most of the roses come with great fragrance. Whenever the plants flower, they fill up the entire garden with high, refreshing scent. You have a great selection when it comes to choosing roses for your garden. Most of them come with nice and refreshing fragrant flowers, which look very beautiful too!
Parijat: Nyctanthes arbor-tristis: Parijat flowers are much similar to jasmine flowers in appearance. They are small, white flowers with very high and attractive aroma. The unique feature of parijat flowers is that they have bright orange coloured stems which contrast nicely with the white petals. The flowers look somewhat similar to jasmine, and sometimes they are also referred to as night-blooming jasmine flowers. Parijat trees bloom at night and during the spring season, they are usually full of beautiful, fragrant flowers. Parijat flowers are considered very sacred.
Gandharaj: Gardenia: Gardenia flowers, popularly known as gandharaj flowers in India are especially known for their unique and high fragrance. The word 'gandharaj' can be translated as ‘king of fragrances’, which tells you how much fragrant the flowers are. Gardenia flowers are medium sized, beautiful white flowers produced in evergreen shrubs that are native to tropical and subtropical regions, and they are perfect for ornamental gardens.
Nishagandhi: Epiphyllum oxypetalum: The word ‘nishagandhi’ is Hindi and it means the flower that scents at night. Epiphyllum oxypetalum are actually native to America. The plants are cactus species that blooms at night. The flowers are large and unique shaped, with a very large stamen. In India, these flowers are considered sacred, but there is also a myth that says the flowers can attract snakes at night. However, there is nothing comparable with the pleasant fragrance of this flower along with its unique beauty, so it is also called ‘The Queen of Flowers’. The beautiful white flowers wilt by the morning, retaining the fragrance in the surroundings.
White Butterfly Gingers: Hedychium coronarium: The white butterfly ginger flowers look much like beautiful white butterflies. They have shiny and silky petals that look so bright at night. Apart from their beauty, the flowers are very fragrant and they stay fresh in the plants for a couple of days. The flowers have very delicate stems and petals, but they are so pretty and lovely garden flowers. It is very easy to plant them and propagate them, as they naturally propagate from their roots itself.
Tuberoses: Polianthes tuberose: Tuberoses are among the most pretty and fragrant flowers, and they are produced in clusters. The flower clusters include many small, white flowers that have a highly attractive scent. They are perfect for beautiful gardens, and they are used around the world for ornamental flower decorations including the making of floral garlands. Tuberose lei is popular in Hawaii even for weddings and other celebrations. In India also, tuberose garlands are popular for weddings. These flowers are also considered sacred in India.
Nandyarvattam or Tabernaemontana divaricata 'Flore Pleno': Nandyarvattam, as known in India, has the scientific name Tabernaemontana divaricata ‘Flore Pleno’. The flowers are pure snow white in color, with very delicate yet silky petals and have great attractive fragrance. The Tabernaemontana plants are shrubs with evergreen leaves and they have a milky sap. When the plant starts flowering, so many buds will come together resulting in a beautiful looking, fragrant flower for your garden! It is believed that the petals of Tabernaemontana flowers have medicinal uses. If someone had irritation in their eyes, it was always advised to wash the eyes with the morning dew drops from these flowers and they always had a cooling effect which instantly provided relief. Placing the petals over closed eyelids can also help.
Lavender: Last but not the least, lavender includes some 39 species of ornamental plants, out of which some plants produce flowers that have great fragrance. The most fragrant ones are hybrid varieties and their leaves and flowers both have really nice scent that can make gardens aromatic. One of the most fragrant lavender species is the hybrid Lavandin lavender. –TTN
(The above list of flowers may not be necessarily be in an order based on their fragrance, because it is difficult to compare the fragrance of flowers as they are all uniquely scented)
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