FRAGRANT FLOWERS: Angel’s trumpet blooms are stunning and have a sweet heady scent (Image: Nitas/Getty)
Autumn is on its way but it can still be mild enough to sit outside and enjoy the late summer evenings. Cup of tea in hand, being surrounded by nature’s scents and colours can be the perfect end to a long day.
Some flowers only release their fragrance as dusk falls – the official term is ‘verspertine’ plants. The sweet scents are designed to attract nocturnal pollinators, like moths, but also create the ideal environment to help you unwind.
They’re best planted around a patio, near windows or next to a path, so you can enjoy their perfume more easily. Here are five of the best night-scented plants, suggested by gardening expert Harry Bodell from PriceYourJob.
LOVE YOUR GARDEN
1. Angel’s trumpet (Brugmansia)
These exotic evergreen shrubs can grow to 2m tall and have large, pendulous flowers in shades of white, yellow, pink, orange, red or green. Most varieties have a strong fragrance that is most noticeable in the evening. However, take care if you have pets or young children as they are poisonous if ingested.
2. Evening primrose (Oenothera)
This biennial flowering plant is known for its striking yellow flowers, as well as the seeds which have medicinal and edible uses. Often found on roadside verges and railway cuttings, evening primrose is a good choice for wildlife-friendly gardens. As the name suggests, the flowers open at dusk to release a sweet, honey-like scent.
3. Honeysuckle (Lonicera)
A feature of many British gardens, varieties of honeysuckle can be seen scrambling up walls, fences and pergolas. Some are evergreen, others are winter flowering but most have small fragrant trumpet-shaped blooms in colours from creamy white through to red.
Lonicera is one of the best night-scented plants and often used in perfumes and scented candles. Its fragrance is a heady mix of jasmine and vanilla with a strong scent of nectar.
4. Night phlox (Zaluzianskya ovata)
A neatly domed, compact evergreen that is smothered with scented white flowers in summer. Due to its small size, it is a great option for window boxes, hanging baskets and flowerbeds. Flowers are tightly curled up in buds during the day, but open up into star-shaped blooms with a sweet almond/vanilla scent.
5. Tobacco plant (Nicotiana)
These long-flowering, half-hardy annuals are loved by pollinators and many varieties are scented. Stems carry clusters of long, tubular flowers in shades of white, pink, purple, red, yellow and green. A little droopy by day, come evening the flowers open into star-shaped blooms and release a heady incense fragrance.
Night-scented flowers
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A 9cm potted Angel’s trumpet ‘Single White’ (Brugmansia suaveolens) costs £12.99 at Thompson & Morgan. Delivery by May 2026.
A packet of 150 Evening Primrose seeds seeds (Oenothera biennis) costs £3.29 at Crocus. In stock.
A 9cm potted Late Dutch Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum ‘serotina’) costs £17 at Yimbly. Save 10% with the code Summer10. In stock.
A packet of 150 Johnsons’ Night Phlox ‘Midnight Candy’ seeds costs £3.29 on Amazon. In stock.
A packet of 1,000 Tobacco Plant seeds (Nicotiana x sanderae ‘Fragrant Cloud’) costs £1.49 at Thompson & Morgan. In stock.
Prices correct at the time of publication.
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