Actually, evening gardens are wonderfully fragrant-which is good since there really isn't much to see. White flowers tend to release their fragrance at night, to attract the moths which pollinate them. So a garden of white roses, jasmine, mock orange and nicotiana can be a heady experience. I scorned nicotiana until I ran across the old-fashioned varieties: n. alata and n. sylvestris. Never again will I have a garden that doesn't include these. There is no need for sight in a white flowered garden; you can tell where you are by the nose alone.
Two great sources for old fashioned scented flowers are Select Seeds and Shepherds.
Herbs, many of which are also attractive in the garden, are wonderful for fragrance. I use lemon thyme as an edging in one of my gardens. Weeding is an intense pleasure as my hands continually brush the tiny leaves and release the sharp tangy citrus. Pluck a sprig and the aroma lingers for hours.
My pastel garden is edged with lavender. Combined with the roses it gives off a scent worthy of the most expensive perfume. As a bonus, the strong scent of this herb seems to repel deer; since I planted the lavender they no longer snack on my roses. Try Richter's for some good herb information and a terrific selection of both plants and seeds.
I was surprised to discover that many plants that I never thought had an aroma in fact gave off beautiful scents. Some bearded irises in my garden smell of grapes; daffodils often give off a sharp, almost peppery tang. There are several cultivars of daylilies renowned for their fragrance. Even waterlilies are fragrant-something their Latin name (nymphaea odorata) should have clued me in to. Several of the species rhododendron are also aromatic.
Shrubbery can be invaluable in the fragrance garden. Viburnum carlesii gives off a scent so powerful that it lured me across a crowded campus one spring night. Mock orange (philadelphus) scents the entire yard during its brief season of bloom. And who hasn't gloried in the very air in which the lilacs bloom?
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