Wild Bergamot
Monarda fistulosa
Worth a spot by a path or door for the scent, reaching 2–4 ft, flowering as it blooms Jun through Aug.
- Full–part sun
- Dry–average
- 2–4 ft
- Blooms Jun–Aug
Virginia · Zones 6–8
Fragrant Native Plants in Virginia
Native plants with scented flowers or foliage — the ones that make a garden smell as good as it looks. Virginia sits in a landscape of Blue Ridge, Piedmont & Tidewater, and the natives that thrive here are the ones built for its humid, four-season character. The list below — led by Wild Bergamot and Short-Toothed Mountain Mint — is filtered to species genuinely native to Virginia and the wider flora of the Mid-Atlantic and hardy through zones 6–8. Fragrance is easy to overlook on paper and unforgettable in person, so plant the scented natives where you will brush past them — along a path, by a door, beside a bench. Some carry it in the flowers and some in the crushed leaves, and many of the aromatic-leaved species double as deer-resistant. Site them in sun, where warmth lifts the scent into the air.
The plants
10 native species for Virginia
Each one native to your region and hardy in zones 6–8 · see this collection in other states.
Short-Toothed Mountain Mint
Pycnanthemum muticum
Fragrant in flower or leaf — site it where you'll catch it, silvery bracts flowers — it blooms Jul through Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Dry–average
- 2–3 ft
- Blooms Jul–Sep
Woodland Phlox
Phlox divaricata
Fragrant in flower or leaf — site it where you'll catch it, lavender-blue flowers; it flowers in Apr and May.
- Part shade
- Average
- 10–15 in
- Blooms Apr–May
Scarlet Beebalm
Monarda didyma
Carries a fragrance you'll want within reach, for clay and loam ground; it flowers in Jul and Aug.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 2.5–4 ft
- Blooms Jul–Aug
Spotted Joe-Pye Weed
Eutrochium maculatum
Fragrant in flower or leaf — site it where you'll catch it, 2–4 ft wide — it blooms Jul through Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 4–7 ft
- Blooms Jul–Sep
Swamp Milkweed
Asclepias incarnata
Worth a spot by a path or door for the scent, reaching 3–4 ft — it flowers in Jul and Aug.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 3–4 ft
- Blooms Jul–Aug
Spicebush
Lindera benzoin
Worth a spot by a path or door for the scent, chartreuse-gold flowers, and it flowers in Mar and Apr.
- Part shade
- Average–wet
- 6–12 ft
- Blooms Mar–Apr
Common Milkweed
Asclepias syriaca
Fragrant in flower or leaf — site it where you'll catch it, dusty mauve-pink flowers; it flowers in Jun and Jul.
- Full–part sun
- Dry–average
- 3–5 ft
- Blooms Jun–Jul
American Elderberry
Sambucus canadensis
Fragrant in flower or leaf — site it where you'll catch it, happy in clay and loam soil, and it flowers in Jun and Jul.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 6–12 ft
- Blooms Jun–Jul
Prairie Dropseed
Sporobolus heterolepis
Worth a spot by a path or door for the scent, for sand, rocky, and loam ground.
- Full sun
- Dry–average
- 2–3 ft
- Fall color
Sourcing
Where to find these in Virginia
Seeds & live plants on Amazon
Seed packets, plugs, and starter plants for many of these species ship to your door.
Browse on AmazonSome links here are affiliate links — we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. The surest source of locally-adapted stock is a native-plant nursery or a native plant society sale in your area.