Do you remember scratch and sniff adverts during the 1980’s? Well, you can grow your own sniffs without needing to scratch them. Top of my pile is going to be scented Orchids but there are many other house plants with exotic scent.

Scented Houseplants

• Orchid dendrobium is the second largest group of orchids after bullbophylium. Many species and hybrids are scented including kingianum, loddigesii, monoliforme and nobile. I find the white varieties are strongest in the scent stakes. Star Class is a variety being strongly marketed this year

• Gardenia have glossy green leaves that set off the pearl coloured flowers of the seasonally named Snowball. The scent is nothing like a snowball unless it has been dunked in Channel No 5.

• Third and last choice in white flowers (from pale pink buds) has to be the popular Jasmine. A twiner often grown in a loop or on a framework the scent is powerful even ‘heaven-scent’ according to RHS adverts.

• Back to Orchids with Sharry Baby an Orchid Oncidium with a vanilla scent. (Vanilla is a spice made from Orchid seeds ). The flowers are small but there are going to be lots of them.

• Keeping it simple you can’t go wrong with Hyacinths either forced for Christmas time flowering or natural for later scented blooms. Newer multiflowered varieties have masses of bloom but I found they were not as strongly scented as selected individual flowers.

• Short in flowering time when indoors but strong on scent the Narcissus Pheasant Eye, Erlicheer, Cheerfulness or Paperwhite are hard to beat.