The Only Flower You Need To Make Your Patio Smell Good

For many homeowners, the patio is an outdoor oasis — a place to enjoy a morning coffee as the weather warms up, to escape from the busyness of the day, or to spend time with friends or family. Naturally, you want to make it not only visually appealing but wonderfully fragrant as well. The problem is that often patios are limited on space. You might consider planters filled with lavender, jasmine, or gardenias, but one flower can bring an even stronger scent to your patio with just a few plants: freesia (Freesia spp.). They are one of the most fragrant plants you should include in a patio container garden. And as an added bonus, freesias make excellent cut flowers for all your floral arrangements.

Even if you've never experienced the freesia flower in person, you most likely are already familiar with its scent. The essence of freesia flowers is used in many perfumes. This flower has a lovely, intoxicating aroma of honey mixed with notes of citrus, fresh and warm, but not overpowering. The scent brings to mind a cottage garden on a warm summer day. Freesia plants produce long, arching stems with trumpet-shaped blossoms that grow along one side. Their blossoms come in a variety of colors, including white, pink, yellow, red, and even purple. What makes them perfect for a patio container garden is that you only need a few plants to fill an area with an abundance of fragrance. Think of them as the "little flower that could."

Freesias are extremely easy to grow in planters on a patio. They are similar to dahlias in that they are hardy to warmer regions (USDA Hardiness Zones 9 and higher), but in colder climates their corms should be planted in spring and stored in a cool, dark location over winter. Their corms can be planted about 1 to 2 inches apart and benefit from a deep pot because they develop long roots. In cooler regions, you should be planting freesia in spring after the last frost for beautiful summer blooms. Make sure you provide your plants with well-draining soil and plant the bulb-like corms pointy end up.

You will want to keep your planter of freesia in a location that gets full sun to partial shade. Once your plants start to grow, consider staking them to prevent your freesia flowers from flopping over when they bloom. For the best scent experience, you can place your planters near a seating area or patio door. Once the plants begin blooming, you can cut a few to place in vases on a patio table for added decor. If you plan on overwintering the corms, do not deadhead spent flowers and allow them to die back naturally. Be sure to continue watering until you are ready to dig them up. After the first frost, remove your freesia corms and store them over the winter to be planted on your patio the next season.