Gardeners have by now said goodbye to their roses, lavender and lilies, bracing themselves for six scentless months. Those who take their green thumbs indoors, however, can fill their homes with the fragrance of jasmine, orange blossoms and gardenias — to name a few.
"There are a lot of plants that you can grow that will bloom inside and give a nice fragrance," says Michael Loos, curator of collections at the Cleveland Botanical Garden.
One of the most intense scents comes from the night-blooming cereus, a type of cactus. "It has an extraordinarily fragrant white flower," Loos says. "One blossom will smell the whole house up." It's also one of the easier flowers to cultivate. From December to February, the plant should be in fairly dry soil and kept in a cool place, perhaps by a window. It will then flower for six to eight weeks in the spring.
Another option, night-blooming jasmine, is actually in the tomato family, though its distinct scent would indicate otherwise. "It has very insignificant-looking green little flowers, but when they open up they will be very intensely scented like jasmine," Loos says. The plant likes "as much sun as you can give it and pretty much moisture all the time," he adds.
The sambac jasmine plant is also suggested by Loos because it blooms more dependably than a regular jasmine plant. Placed in full sun — either on the sill of an east- or west-facing window or near a south-facing window — it will thrive.
One of the more unusual scents comes from the flowers of the asparagus fern. "Of all things, it smells like Coffee-mate," says Nick Cicco, a general manager at Petitti Garden Center in Strongsville. The fern will do fine in low to moderate sun — as long as its home is humid. "It's always best if you can put them over a kitchen sink or in a bathroom window," Cicco advises.
Other flowering plants include stephanotis, which requires only an east- or west-facing window; gardenias, which crave bright light and plenty of water; and the hoya, a wax plant with a light, sweet fragrance that requires bright light, but is not as fussy about humidity.
Tropical trees — lemon, grapefruit and orange — demand southern exposure. "You're not going to sit those in the corner by the armoire," notes Vicki Mentrek, manager of the Heights Garden Center in Cleveland Heights. The blooms give off a sweet scent and the fruit is edible — if not always enjoyable. "We have found the oranges to be incredibly sour," she warns.
To care for tropical plants, Mentrek suggests either daily spritzing or weekly showering (make sure the pot has drainage holes)."A lot of people give their plants little drips every day," she says. "If you water them once a week really well, that'll do it." Cicco agrees that humidity is vital to tropicals transplanted to Cleveland. "In the winter in Ohio, the humidity of an average gas-heated house is less than the Sahara Desert," he says.
Not all plants must produce flowers to be fragrant. The scented geranium was hybridized in London during the industrial revolution to combat the stench of smoke and coal dust. "There are all different species," Loos says. "And they vary from sweet, fruity fragrances to citrusy to kind of pungent, herby nutmeg." The plant does best perched in a bright window.
For those whose first priority is to rid their house of bad odors, Loos offers a solution: Two or three large spider plants or dracaenas will filter cigarette smoke and other smells out of a room. The plant eventually sheds the toxins in the form of dead leaves.
On the most basic level, all plants are beneficial because they release oxygen into your home. "Plants are just a good thing to have," Loos says.
