Fragrant Indoor Plants Add A Lovely Scent To Your Home—Naturally

Everyone loves walking into a room that smells wonderful. But artificial fragrances can be potentially toxic, especially to children or pets, and adults with sensitivities, lung issues or breathing problems. Fragrant indoor plants can be a safer way to bring pleasing aromas into your home.

Houseplants have many benefits. They increase feelings of comfort and mental well-being, offering stress-relief, healing properties and even a productivity boost. Plants can naturally help clean the air, and fragrant indoor plants stimulate your senses.

Fragrant Indoor Plants That Smell And Look Wonderful

The sense of smell is incredibly powerful. Inhaling scents can trigger memories, evoke emotions and even change your mood.

Of course, choosing the best fragrant indoor plants is a subjective endeavor, as everyone has unique preferences and associations with particular scents, but the following houseplants are some of the most popular, aromatic options that are easy to find and care for.

Begonia

This popular houseplant can have colorful or succulent leaves and clusters of flowers in pink, red, yellow, orange or white. While there are numerous types of begonias, fragrant (or odorata) begonias have a mild, sweet scent that many plant owners adore. These plants have oval-shaped, glossy, evergreen leaves and tend to be easy to grow.

Fragrant begonias thrive in soil that contains peat moss, perlite and vermiculite and that is kept neither too wet nor too dry. They’ll be happiest in a spot with bright, indirect light and abundant humidity.

Geraniums

Scented geraniums are sometimes compared to roses. While they do have a rosy aroma, the leaves of geraniums also smell citrusy, fruity and a little bit spicy. There are also varieties that smell like apples and cinnamon, peach, strawberry or mint.

The soft, warm scent of these fragrant indoor plants and their ability to flourish make them a favorite option. Just brush your hand against the foliage or rub the leaves between your fingers to release the plant’s fragrance.

Jasmine

Not all varieties of jasmine are scented, but the ones that are tend to smell rich, sweet, fruity and musky. Some of the best-smelling jasmine varieties include gently-scented Arabian jasmine; the heavier-fragranced common jasmine; Spanish jasmine, which has a sharp but not overpowering scent, and the highly-fragrant pink jasmine.

Indoors, jasmine plants should get about six hours of intense, indirect light daily. The plants proliferate quickly, so pruning them after they flower will keep them healthy.

Lavender

This soft and unassumingly pretty plant has a fresh, light, floral scent. Lavender is a perennial plant with known health benefits, such as supporting good sleep, reducing pain and inflammation, improving mood and having antimicrobial and antiviral properties.

These fragrant indoor plants will grow best in a pot that is only an inch or two larger than the root ball with lean soil near a bright south-facing window.

Mint

You can grow many types of aromatic mint plants inside your home and even use them in cooking and baking. Peppermint has a sweet smell. Chocolate mint has a cool peppermint scent with a warm cocoa undertone. Eau de Cologne mint, also known as orange mint and bergamot mint, smells citrusy.

These plants are attractive and grow well year-round indoors, even when you harvest leaves from them. You can even collect several varieties to use in your kitchen or throughout your house.

Orchids

Orchids are another beloved houseplant that offers several aromatic varieties. For instance, Brassavola nodosa, commonly called Lady of the Night, has a room-filling fragrance similar to freesia or lily-of-the-valley. Brightly colored Rhynchostylis gigantea or foxtail orchid has a sweet, citrus scent. Walker’s Cattleya (aka Cattleya walkeriana) has fragrant vanilla to cinnamon-scented flowers that open very flat.

Taking care of orchid plants indoors can be simple when you learn what they need to thrive. They do well with shallow planting in moist, well-draining conditions. They prefer bright, indirect light, but too much light can scorch the leaves. Placing them in an east or south-facing window is ideal. Cooler temperatures at night help them bloom, and it is beneficial to let them dry out a bit between waterings.

Oregano

This aromatic herb is another favorite to grow in kitchens. The plants can thrive indoors when they receive lots of direct light. You can purchase plants or grow oregano from seed and start harvesting leaves within about three months. Potting soil blended with coarse sand in a small clay pot is ideal for these fragrant indoor plants.

Other aromatic herbs you can grow in the house include rosemary, thyme, basil and parsley. Growing herbs indoors can add beauty, flavor and delightful fragrance to your home all year long.

Of course, as good as they may smell, not all plants are safe for curious kids or animals who might try to eat them. So, investigate potential hazards of plants you might bring into your home and keep them out of reach if they are toxic.

This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for additional stories.