I want to add a hydrangea to my garden but I would prefer one that is also fragrant. Are there varieties that have a noticeable pleasant scent?
There are some species and cultivated varieties of Hydrangea that are reported to be fragrant. Bear in mind that everyone’s sense of smell is different. I recommend seeking out examples when they are in flower and doing a sniff test in nurseries, gardens, or large parks and arboreta with a good selection. The ones that have a fragrant reputation are:
- Hydrangea quercifolia: the smell is a rich honey-vanilla to my nose. This shrub is also a wonderful magnet for honeybees, bumblebees, pollen wasps, and syrphid flies. Its inner flowers are fertile, while the more dramatic outer sepals are sterile. Cultivated hydrangeas have been bred to emphasize the sterile florets, while wild hydrangeas tend to have fewer of these and are more useful for pollinators. In my garden, all the pollinator activity is humming along on the fertile inner flowers beneath those sterile four-petaled parts of the inflorescence. The showy parts of a hydrangea so prized by humans for their beauty are not what interests the pollinators .
- Hydrangea angustipetala and its cultivar (‘Golden Crane,’ also called ‘MonLongShou’): said to smell strongly like jasmine or sweet alyssum; of the species, Dan Hinkley says: “The deeply scalloped sepals of the infertile florets surround a disk of striking chartreuse fertile flowers while emitting a faint but beguiling fragrance.” [Horticulture, Jun/Jul2009, Vol. 106, Issue 5]
- Hydrangea scandens: Dan Hinkley says: “As its name implies, it can be a sprawling shrub but far from what would be considered disheveled. The branches possess a pleasing burgundy-brown color and the lacy cream-colored flowers pack a powerful fragrance during March and April. Hydrangea scandens ‘Fragrant Splash’ adds a bonus of variegated foliage.” [Ibid.]
- Some hybrids of Hydrangea macrophylla x Hydrangea angustipetala
- Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Ayesha’: “one of the only Hydrangeas to have a delicate fragrance in bloom” [Great Plant Picks profile]
- Hydrangea anomala ssp. petiolaris (a climbing hydrangea)
- Hydrangea paniculata: “slight floral scent” or “mild fruity fragrance”
Close relations in hydrangea family:
- Pileostegia viburnoides: “In late summer, frilly cymes of heavily-scented flowers erupt amidst its foliage, filling the air of our woodland drive with a delicious aroma of honey. Not surprisingly, honey bees are highly attracted to the flowers that rely entirely on scent.” [Heronswood blog, August 29, 2018] However, not all noses smell alike. An article in Arnoldia [June 2, 1964] says “The floral odor is described as ‘fragrant’ or ‘ill-smelling.'”
- Decumaria barbara (woodvamp): a climber in the Hydrangea family, native to swampy areas of the southeastern U.S., with fertile flowers that are slightly fragrant or fragrant, depending on the source.
Based on the research above, Hydrangea quercifolia and Hydrangea angustipetala cultivars seem like the best choices.