Often, houseplants are chosen for their visual beauty in the form of leafy green foliage plants or colorful blooms. However, many scented plants thrive indoors, serving as natural air fresheners that fill the air with a variety of distinctive aromas. Start by experimenting with one scented plant per room. While some plants provide just the barest hint of aroma, others have sweet perfume that may become overpowering when combined with other scents.
Depending on the variety, scented geranium (Pelargonium spp.) comes in a number of pleasing fragrances that make an indoor living space smell good. Large plants include apple (Pelargonium odoratissimum) and old-fashioned rose (Pelargonium graveolens). Nutmeg (Pelargonium x fragrans) is a dainty, spice-scented plant. Other types offer various fruity, citrus and spicy scents. Scented geranium can also be grown outdoors and is hardy in USDA zone 10 through 11. If you have plenty of bright light, gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides) will fill your house with sweetly scented, pure white blossoms during the dark days of winter. Outdoors, gardenia grows in USDA zone 8 through 10.
A hardy plant with fleshy, deep green, leaves, Hoya, (Hoya spp.) provides waxy blooms with a light, sweet fragrance. Hoya grows outdoors in USDA zone 10b through 11 but also makes a nice houseplant. String of beads (Senecio rowleyanus) has strings of bright green, pea-like leaves, is a vining plant that thrives in a hanging basket indoors in any zone or outdoors in USDA zones 12 and 13. The small white flowers provide a cinnamon-like aroma. Winter jasmine (Jasminium polyanthum), suitable for growing outdoors in USDA zone 6 through 10, provides masses of fragrant white flowers throughout the dark days of winter. As a houseplant, very little jasmine is needed to scent a large room.
Planted in a pot with good drainage and located in full sunlight, marjoram (Origanum Majorana), suitable for growing outdoors in USDA zone 9 and 10, produces a delightful fragrance and you can snip the leaves for cooking. Mint (Mentha spp.) which grows otudoors in USDA zone 4 through 9, is another hardy, sun-loving herb that can fill a room with a pleasant fragrance. Mint comes in several varieties, including peppermint (Mentha x piperita), spearmint (Mentha spicata) and pineapple mint (Mentha suaveolens "Varietata"). Each provides a slightly different fragrance. Another fragrant herb is pineapple sage, (Saliva Elegans), hardy in USDA zone 5 through 8, produces spiky red blooms and pineapple-scented leaves.
Several trees that can be grown as houseplants provide a pleasant, citrusy aroma. For example, lemon eucalyptus (Eucalyptus citriodora) reaches impressive heights in the tropics, but a container keeps growth in check for indoor growing. Lemon eucalyptus grows in USDA zone 9 through 10, if planted outdoors. Dwarf varieties of citrus trees such as Meyer lemon (Citrus × meyeri) or Kaffer lime (Citrus hystrix), which grow in USDA zone 9 through 11 outside, also make lovely houseplants that are highly decorative and produce clusters of fragrant flowers that make a room smell good.
- Missouri Botanical Garden: Pelargonium (Scented-Leaved Group)
- Utah State University Extension: Indoor Plants: Nature's Air Freshners
- Lemon Herbs: How to Grow and Use 18 Great Plants; Lemon Herbs: How to Grow and Use 18 Great Plants
- The Complete Houseplant Survival Manual; Barbara Pleasant
- Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs; Claire Kowalchik, William H. Hylton, Editors
- University of Florida IFAS Extension: Gardenia Jasminoides1
- Four Winds Growers: About Four Winds Growers
- The Old Farmer's Almanac: Lemons and Oranges
- Colorado State University Extension: Herb Gardening
- Cal Poly: Lemon-Scented Gum
- Visage/Stockbyte/Getty Images