15 Fast-Growing Plants That Will Make Your Patio Smell Incredible

Though it might be made out of concrete, stone, or brick, your patio is actually one of the best places to bring plants in for a lush green space. It doesn't matter whether you have a large patio that can support small trees and shrubs along its border, or a small patio that can only handle a few potted plants. You can very easily grow a wide variety of fast-growing and fragrant plants that are going to make your patio smell absolutely amazing.

While a lot of gardening is about patience, there is always a little impatience in every gardener that wants more color and fragrance faster. Thankfully, there is a whole series of speedy plants that will grow quickly after planting and provide incredible scents once they've established. Citrusy lemon verbena, honey-scented sweet alyssum, earthy autumn sage, and cherry-pie-like heliotropes are all excellent examples of strong smelling plants that will grow quickly in your yard this spring.

The following list will cover the aforementioned plants, as well as several other flowers, herbs, and flowering shrubs that will really elevate your patio landscape. From their speed of growth, to what USDA hardiness zones are best for planting, and what kinds of scents you can expect, here are 15 fast-growing plants that will make your patio smell incredible.

Of all the fast-growing flowers to plant in spring for a lush garden in half the time, sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima) has to be among the fastest. Able to grow in hardiness zones 5 to 9, sweet alyssum will take between 8 to 10 weeks to germinate, sprout, and bloom. A low growing flower perfect for patio borders, the small white flowers of the sweet alyssum are noted for giving off a sweet, honey-like scent. Specific varieties, like Lobularia "Snow Princess" grow larger, more fragrant flowers that are perfect for pollinator attraction and are heat tolerant into zone 11. 

If you have a smaller patio where only a few small potted plants will do, lemon verbena (Alyosia citrodora) will be among your best choices. Known for its intense citrusy scent and wide range of use as a medicinal and culinary herb, lemon verbena grows on the warmer end of the spectrum, preferring the temperatures of zones 8 to 11. A plant that will grow quickly from seed, typically taking about 2 weeks to sprout, lemon verbena does take a season to fully establish, though its scent becomes immediately evident as does its beautiful green foliage.

Not all of the plants you place on or around your patio need to be spring and summer bloomers. Some, like winter honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima) will bloom in the late winter and into early spring in hardiness zones 4 through 8, providing a first sense of color for the warmer months ahead. In terms of fragrance, the strength of winter honeysuckle is in its botanical name "fragrantissima." The plant's scent is immensely strong, lemony, and sweet.It's a sunny fragrance that's sure to lift spirits on any cold, gray winter day.

With its wonderfully deep vanilla scent, star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) is going to be the literal star of your patio garden. This is an evergreen vine that produces a beautiful archipelago of white flowers set against a sea of green leaves. It can grow at a rate of up to 2 feet a year, and is best tamed when trained to something vertical like an arbor, trellis, or tall fence. If you keep its roots confined to a container and ensure that you prune it every few years, you won't run the risk of it overtaking your space

Owing to the fact that very few people grow their roses (Rosa spp.) from seeds, we're including them on this list of fast-growing plants because bare-root roses bought from nurseries will flower in their first season. Achieving a deep floral fragrance will depend greatly on the type of rose you choose. Old roses, damask roses, tea roses, and shrub roses are the types you should plant for more fragrant flowers. The bare roots will do well in large pots or along the borders of your patio. Climbing roses add visual drama if you have room for them.

From seed, whether planted in containers or in cool, moist earth, anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) will germinate and grow to full flowering maturity in 90 days. Thankfully, this quickness of growth does not extend to its wonderfully scented, conically shaped, purplish blooms. These flowers, which have strong aromas of anise (obviously), licorice, and mint, will last from midsummer all the way into fall. This means you can enjoy summer cookouts and fall fire pits on your patio without losing this fantastic scent too quickly. Anise hyssop will grow in zones 4 to 8 and max out around 3 feet tall.

Considered to be a moderate to fast-growing evergreen shrub depending on the climate it is planted in, gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides) is a member of the coffee family of plants and does its best growth in warmer climate zones 8 to 11. Most varieties mature at 3 to 6 feet tall over a period of 5 years. Gardenia makes an excellent border to anyone looking to add a little extra privacy to their patio. In terms of scent, the beautiful white gardenia flowers that bloom in the spring and summer are loaded with cream, earth, and citrus notes.

If you've been wondering what kind of colorful and scented plant you can put in the shadier corner of your patio, sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum) might be the answer. Capable of growing in zones 4 to 9, sweet woodruff can produce its dainty, white flowers in areas of full to partial shade. It is a quickly spreading ground cover that will advance roughly 20 inches per year, so placing it over a bare patch along your patio would be ideal. The flower's scent is a mix of vanilla and dried hay, something that stands out among woodier scented plants.

Also known as pansies, violets (Viola spp.) are a group of small flowers that come in a wide range of solid and mottled color schemes of purple, blue, white, yellow, red, and orange. Violets have one of the largest climate ranges of any flower, being able to grow from zone 1 all the way to zone 10. In terms of growth, violets can go from seed to bloom in the span of about 3 months. Varieties like sweet violets (Viloa odorata) have sweet scents of honey and vanilla, while Viola 'Alice Kate' has a more citrusy smell.

Basil (Ocimum basilicum) is one of the fastest-growing herbs. A Mediterranean plant that has a preference for warm weather, basil will germinate within 10-14 days and be ready for harvesting when 6 to 8 leaves appear. Those vibrant green leaves contain basil's scent, which is an unmistakable mix of citrus, pepper, and clove. Easy to grow in pots directly on your patio, make sure the basil gets plenty of sun for optimal growth. It can be grown in zones 2 to 11, though in colder zones it is only a summer annual.

There is a reason that bee balm (Monarda spp.) is one of the best plants that help pollinators do their job. Apart from growing large flowers of red, pink, or purple on long green stems, the minty citrus scent of the bee balm is hyper attractive to bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies. It can serve as an excellent border plant for a patio, owing to its tendency to grow about 4 feet tall. Reaching full maturity in about 3 months, bee balm can be grown across a wide variety of climates between zones 3 to 9.

There are over 25 different types of mint plants (Mentha spp.) that will grow exceptionally fast and fragrantly in containers on your patio. It is recommended that you grow mint in a container owing to just how fast and aggressively it can grow. Hardy between USDA zones 5 to 9, mint will pop up within 3 weeks of planting, and easily take over a garden bed via its underground rhizomes. Thankfully there are many fresh and delicious ways to preserve mint leaves, which are distinct for their sharp, cool scent that can create a tingling sensation.

Colloquially referred to as the "cherry pie flower" owing to its mixed scent of sweet marzipan, vanilla, and flowers, heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens) is a warm weather perennial that will grow in full sun to partial shade in zones 9 to 11. The vibrant purple flowers grow in clusters around a thick base of deep green foliage. From seed, it only takes around 3 months for the heliotrope to reach full maturity, capping off at a height of about 2 feet. The scent is strongest in the evening, making it the perfect plant for outdoor patio dinners during the summer.

If you want a fast-growing plant that not only makes your patio smell amazing but attracts a wide variety of pollinators to your yard, then you need to plant some autumn sage (Salvia greggii). A fall blooming shrub that will reach its full height of around 3-feet within two years, autumn sage will perform well between zones 7 and 9. The flowers are often purple or red and the fragrance of the foliage is similar to other salvia plants in that it is a strongly herbaceous scent with notes of mint, pine, and pepper.

Dianthus (Dianthus caryophyllus) are a sturdy species of patio that will grow in USDA zones 4 to 9. If you're planting these flowers from seed, it will take at least 12 weeks for them to be ready to bloom, making late winter an ideal time to sow if you want a spring garden bursting with color. This is quite fast for seed flowers, and like Dianthus 'Telstar Mix' and Dianthus 'Ideal Select Mix' are among the earliest to appear. Expect to catch scents of spice and clove the next time you enjoy a drink out on your patio.