Good fragrant flowers for cutting, need help.

21 years ago

I grow a ton of roses, but after this year's fight with Japanese Beetles, I will be removing most of my roses at the end of the fall and replacing them with plants and flowers that I can actually enjoy, not kill myself over.

Are there any non-rose plants that you can suggest that have big fragrant flowers good for cutting? I was thinking about Irisis or Daylilies, but am open to suggestions.

Thanks!!!

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Comments (3)

Noni Morrison
21 years ago
LILIES LILIES AND MORE LILIES! orienpets (or OT's) trumpets orientals and other hybrids/ Asiatics too though they have little fragrance/ Some of the LA hybrid lilies do have fragrance. Buddleia's of all colors. honeysuckles. jasmine.
susiq
21 years ago
Philly,

I saw by your homepage that you're a rose hybridizer. How sad for you to have to do away w/ your roses!

Lots of Tall Bearded Irises have fragrances, check out the iris forum for discussions and vendor sources. Irises make great cut flowers for local use (your home, or selling to local florists or farmers markets), but don't ship well. The top bud(s) tend to age pretty fast, but other buds open up below and the stalk can still be used. On the other hand, Dutch Iris (from bulbs), and maybe the Siberians & other beardless varieties, DO ship well. Haven't grown enough of them to notice fragrance tho.

Some Daylilies have some fragrance, but they usually only last ONE day in bloom. Some of the posters here have had success using them as cuts, but I think it's tricky. The blooms ARE edible, (remove the stamens--the petals taste like lettuce), so if you have a chef who likes unusual, those might work. Again, I'm not sure how you'd harvest them for restaurants, either.

Gardenias, maybe various jasmines ?, lilacs in spring, some tulips, LOTS of daffodils have fragrance (and would bloom before the Japanese Beetles come along), maybe some azaleas, rhodies, other shrubs (Daphnes and sweet olives?).

Purple coneflowers have a lovely fragrance! They are so spikey, they "look" like they wouldn't be fragrant, but they are.

Buddleias are fragrant.

Down here, we are fortunate to not have JB's, but we get such extreme heat that most roses just go nearly dormant in summer. Maybe if I fertilized more I'd get more blooms, (well, DU=UH! LOL!), and did more TLC to my roses, but since I don't, then I only have rare summer blooms. Maybe you could take that approach--ignore them in summer, concentrate on them in spring & fall. That way, tho the bugs are there, maybe you could let them NOT "bug" YOU as bad.

Good luck,

Susiin NE TX.
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flowers4u
21 years ago
Philly - don't forget tall Phlox and tall dianthus...which in your zone should do very well! I have never used daylilies for cutting...they and bearded iris will multiply rapidly, so be prepared to dig and divide them in a few years! Lemon balm is a good filler and smells nice too...
Oh - don't forget lilacs along with your spring flowers!

I'm sure I'll think of more after I hit send!! :)
Wendy