[Rich72]

Hi all. Had a major garden reshuffle this year. I have been growing veg in pots for last 3 years and now I have an allotment I am left with empty pots and baskets at home this year. I have made a herb garden out of a pallet. Can anyone one give me hints of what flowers to put in my empty tubs. I really wanted a tropical feel to the patio, to remind me of relaxing holidays but I also want something heavily scented and attractive to the bees.. Any advice will be great fully received .
Ps I have a few small lavender plants dotted around

Rich

[mumofstig]

This is a lovely Nicotiana affinis    You can buy seed cheaper on ebay

I grow it every year in the tubs by my front door  

The coloured bedding Nicotiana you see in the shops just don't smell as sweetly as this one does. if your tubs are somewhere sheltered it sometimes regrows, as it is a tender perennial but the seeds grow very quickly/easily.

[compostqueen]

Heliotrope (cherry pie) smells fab 

Night scented stocks smell gorgeous but are not lookers but they can be sowed in situ once you've placed your other plants in the tub. They are spindly, weedy looking jobs but they should be hidden by the other plants. The smell is amazing in the evenings 

[Babycat]

If you have the space for a crawler, jasmine and honeysuckle give off great smell.  If you have space for a shrub,  a lilac or an oleander if you are somewhere sunny. 
Look for a white, cream, apricot, yellow rose which give off a sweeter/fruitier smell than red/pink roses.  Try to find an open cup rose, like a rugosa, which is easier for the bees.
Dont forget the classics like summer flowers which come in seed packets and can fill a good sized tub all summer with a variety of colours.
Iris and dahlia look tropical and are good for pollinators. Scabiosa come again each year.

dont forget to provide shelter for pollinators in the form of bug houses etc.

Please post pictures when you can,  sounds exciting!

BB

[Rich72]

Thanks guys.
Babycat, I had a honeysuckle when I moved into my house. I loved it but it died. I built a bughouse a couple days ago, seen a bee on it already. I have some scabious (loads of it actually, spreads like nobody's business) and have dug some up and moved it around.
Can you recommend something sweet smelling and attractive to bees for my hanging baskets?

[Babycat]

Depends on your style.  You can get loads of scented trailers like begonia but not sure how bees feel about those.  Likewise,  if you go a little 'rustic',  a sweetpea tumbliong down can also look very nice.

My baskets are all about the colours and not very smelly.

Re scabiosa - you might also like achilleas which come in vibrant red, orange, pinks to offset them.

I got a small bedding plant in BandQ last year that had the most outrageous vanilla icecream smell and I am happy to see the ones I left in a large rose planter have survived the winter.  I have NO idea what they are called but they look a little like lily of the valley.  Will try to find out for you when I can ID them when flowering...

BB

[sunshineband]

Right now there are skimmias in flower (about 3ft across) on our patio in pots and they smell lush. In the summer their deep green leaves are a great background for some of the stronger coloured or white flowers

[sclarke624]

I have a skimmia and its smell always reminds me of Persil washing up powder.  WhichI like.

[Babycat]

For a quick fix,  I was in ALDI today on a chocolate mission and they had flower seed mixes of 20 varieties in various themes.  If you wanted to fill an area this year and dont mind some of them being perennials,  then there are some nice options.  The mixes are also bees friendly 

x BB

[robbodaveuk]

If you have a big enough pot and want the tropical look with an evening fragrance to die for, go for a brugmansia (Angels Trumpet). They are fast growing, easy to grow and a proper eye catcher. I have three of them out all summer and people come to visit, just to see and smell these flowers.

  Dave.

[mumofstig]

where do you overwinter them, though Dave......mine look very dead in the cold greenhouse 
Luckily my Oleanders look ok 

[robbodaveuk]

When it gets too cold for them outside, I bring therm inside in the unheated conservatory. But first I cut them back brutally. I cut the rootball right down to about half it's original size then get a saw on the top half till I am basically left with a big 'Y' shape, then pot them up in smaller pots,. I have a small 200watt heater that I put in the conservatory  if the temperature outside drops below about -5 C and just give them enough water now and again to keep them damp. They will carry on growing like this and this year I still had a couple of flowers on in December.

  Dave.

[Agatha]

I got an everlasting wallflower (Erysimum 'Winter Orchid') this time last year & it hasn't stopped flowering since.  Scent is not quite as strong in cold weather but lovely in summer & the flowers are great all year.

Or you could try other herbs which smell when you touch them & the bees love the flowers.

[devonbarmygardener]

We grow buckets and buckets of night scented stock in succesional sowings for our patio as it just smells divine when you are actually able to sit out of an evening - weather and temperature permitting!
The weather in this country does annoy me at times!

Also sweet peas - any packet that says 'heavily fragrant' - if no mention of fragrance then don't bother - I like a flower with substance as well as looks. I grow loads of sweetpeas - both for the garden and for the allotment as merged with the beans they aid pollination by attracting the bees.

Incidently has anyone noticed that there seems to be more seeds in a packet of sweet peas this year???
Normally I seem to get between 15 and 21 seeds maximum per pack - so I normally buy about 5 or 6 packets. This year I bought 5 packets and they all had 40+ seeds in each one so this year I will be beautifully inundated with flowers

Chocolate cosmos smells precisely of that which is nice.

Agree with Agatha re: everlasting wallflowers - we always have these and in the spring, normal wallflowers smell fantastic too.

Wisteria is a great climber and smells great.
And a garden wouldn't be a garden in my eyes or nose - without roses

Emma

[Rich72]

Thanks for your thoughts guys. I have been looking at roses because I love the smell but I don't know the first thing about them. Anyone know which is best for scent? I would ideally like a red one