I've got lots of fragrant roses. Agastache is fragrant too if you brush against the leaves. I've got some fragrant violets but you have to get close to smell them. Hyacinths are great too if they don't get zapped by a late frost.

As a rose person, let me suggest many Rugosa roses as hardy & fragrant in your zone. Also an annual in Z4 that I have in a pot every year just for its fragrance is Marine heliotrope. Don't forget the lilacs & Linden trees.

Thank you!
Does anyone know if magnolias or any begonias have a scent? I would love to try them, But the begonias I have had are scentless. Also, I purchased a peach tree, and from the branches I still think it is alive. Do peaches have any scent to them as they bloom? Thanks

I don't recall much scent from my peach blossoms. My cherry tree (I have Danube) has a wonderful cherry scent when it blooms.

Clethra alnifolia (summersweet) is one of the most fragrant shrubs for zone 4. It blooms late summer when most of the other fragrant plants (ie. lilacs) are long finished blooming.

Many of the bearded iris have a wonderful scent. I don't have the perfumer's "nose", but the variety of scents seem to range from almost licorice-like to lilac to chocolate to a high end musky perfume. I have pink iris ordered from Schreiners years ago that you just want to bury your face in.

Iris are also easy care, good performing perennials for our cooler climates.

Common sweet alyssum is fragrant too - usually buy a small flat every year although it does self seed freely here and there are generally lots of volunteers.

Many people find the smell of boxwood obnoxious, but I don't find it particularly so - it's that scent that keeps the deer away. This will be my second season for trials on the "Green Mountain" variety. The snow just melted away from them and they look good so far (to the point where I'm trying to decide how many more of them I can use).

There's a variety of nicotiana (annual) that's supposed to be fragrant, but I haven't had any luck with it from seed.
I grow jasmine as a houseplant and when it blooms in the summer it smells great! I also grow Casablanca Lily which is very nice (but strong) smelling. It's been too long to remember, but I think the volcano phlox has a nice smell too.

I'm in 5a and have a Korean Spice Viburnum. Its regarded as the most fragrant shrub. A co-worker has a mature one in 4B...

Cleathra (summersweet) is another fragrant plant.

I have Korean Spice Virburnum also, and it is VERY fragrant during its bloom time. A lovely, spicey, scent.

A large and deep purple iris smells like grape Kool-Aid. Not my fav.

Easter lily in particular, has a strong scent, as do many other lilies.

Russian Sage, and other sages also have scents that waft around the yard. Sort of medicinal.

I grew heliotrope from seeds from umm, what was that place?
Boetcher garden in Vancouver Island? Was disappointed in the so-called fragrence. Loved the garden, however.

All time favs are sweet peas. Not the hybreds, but old fashioned ones with the scent still intact.
Pondy

Citrus trees often produce really nice scents when flowering. The Meyer lemon is a common and very nice looking choice.

It would, of course, be container grown as it won't survive our winters. Put outside in summer and inside by a sunny window in winter.

As long as you use a fast draining potting mix and take care to keep the mix on the dry side of moist particularly indoors it should be fairly care free.

I found this posting a bit late, but I can highly recommend flowering crabapple trees for a heavenly scent in the spring. I have had good luck with dwarf Sgt. Crab, Red Baron, and a beautiful double pink Van Eseltine crabapple.

thanks for the help... I have since purchased 5 mockoranges that smell wonderful, as well as 3 citrus trees, lavender, and hostas. all of these smell great!

Duluthinbloomz4, what is the name of your pink Schreiner's iris?

My mother has a Mock Orange that is about 12' tall and you can smell the fragrant white flowers from quite far from the tree. I am a sucker for the sweet smells of Mock Orange, Jasmine, and Lilacs...

I would really like to grow some Jasmines here in West Madison- are there any hardy varieties that will thrive here?

hello, glad to hear that someone else enjoys the scents of all of those plants ( I have all of the ones mentioned).I am sorry to say that I don't believe any are hardy to the climate here. I purchased a star jasmine on clearance at my local lowes. I also bought some mega gro, at jungs garden center, I believe you have one as well. I sprayed some on and it just bloomed and grew like crazy! I am bringing it in during the winter. I have a warm sunroom that will be heated, and it will also get lots of humidity. I hope you have as much luck as I do! if you have any other q's please ask!

About 10 years ago I planted a hedge of a dwarf korean lilac named "miss kim" when that hedge blooms it can be smelled over the entire neighborhood and even inside the house. I also grow a native milkweed plant. When it blooms en masse it is absolutely the sweetest smelling plant ever. Those would be my suggestions and both are hardy in WI.

I've overwintered a jasmine and a gardenia in the house going on about nine years now. I've found they do best with cooler temps in winter. I have an unheated room (on bitter cold nights temps dip to low 50s) with west facing windows that seems to suit them nicely.

tj

We also have a native milkweed that is very fragrant. It blooms after the lilac, iris and peony are done, and as it finishes, right about now, the white and yellow sweet clover blooms. Elderberry has a mild but pleasant scent and is flowering right now. These are all hardy in or native to Wisconsin.

I have 2 Carol Mackie Daphnes that have a wonderful scent, can smell it from the entire front yard and throught the open windows. I've heard they can be a little hard to grow but I have had no problem on the east side up against the house.
also Miss Kim lilac

We have a bunch of Milkweed growing with Sweet Wiliams,Phlox,Heliopsis,Lilies along a walkway to our house,the scent is sweet as can be with butterfly's plenty.

lp

I love growing HERBS, if for no other reason that just to have them around, so that when others visit my gardens, & they touch or brush up against them, they are enticed by the wonderful scents, while they view of all the other flowers & plants, etc.. [*FAVORITES*= ROSEMARY, DILL, FENNEL, CILANTRO, LEMON BALM, SAGE, MARJORAM, BASIL/S= Sweet, Lemon, Lime, Licorice, Cinnamon, Thai, etc., MINT/S= Peppermint, English Tea Mint, Apple Mint, Grapefruit Mint, Chocolate Mint, etc., GARLIC CHIVES, AGASTACHE, MONARDA, EPAZOTE, etc., etc.]

DAMES ROCKET (Wild Phlox) is a very appreciated re-seeder here, with its' lovely lilac scented early blooms, & it has never been invasive for me ever.

Also, I love growing DATURAs for their wonderful scents & huge blooms, especially at night! (Poisonous!)

In addition, I adore growing BRUGMANSIAS as well, although they are not winter hardy in WI, so each fall I remove all the remaining flowers & leaves, & trim all the branches down to approximately 4' or so, & then belt together all the 'trunks', then have my 'muscle-men' bring the plants indoors, & store them in a cool, but not freezing basement, for winter, & then bring them out again in the spring, after all frosts have past. They do get HUGE & HEAVY after a few years of this, & they take a LOT of fertilizers to get them to the fantastic 10'x10' 50+ bloom bushes/trees (& to maintain them = Nitrogen + Phosphorous + Potassium + Magnesium + Lime + Sulfur). (Poisonous!)

Here is a link that might be useful: Brugmansia

for those who are growing Jasmine and wintering them inside, which Jasmine do you have? I tried with a vine, but the vine was difficult to bring inside - did you trim them?

Datura and garden phlox are very fragrant

I second Lilacs / Syringa. There´s actually a plant selection guide for your area: http://learningstore.uwex.edu/Assets/pdfs/A3825.pdf

Viburnum is still king with fall color, blooms and berries.

i know folks love their lilacs but they look like an overgrown weed to me other than the couple weeks of bloom.

they are so overplanted I get to still enjoy the fragrance without having a single one in my yard

In Green Bay Clove Current Bush (Ribes Oderatum) is fantastic in the spring for a month or so. As is lilac, though only for 2 weeks or so. Nicotiana annual in summer and fall. Lavender all the time, Dianthus Firewitch fragrance is amazing, some Mock Orange shrubs, lily of the valley for a little while in spring, Sweet Woodruff is an excellent ground cover with a fragrance that I capture by cutting, drying and putting in sachet bags - it is much more fragrant after drying.