Scarlet Beebalm
Monarda didyma
Fragrant in flower or leaf — site it where you'll catch it, reaching 2.5–4 ft, and it flowers in Jul and Aug.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 2.5–4 ft
- Blooms Jul–Aug
Alabama · Zones 7–9
Fragrant Native Plants in Alabama
Native plants with scented flowers or foliage — the ones that make a garden smell as good as it looks. Alabama sits in a landscape of Gulf Coastal Plain & Cumberland Plateau, and the natives that thrive here are the ones built for its hot, humid subtropical character. The list below — led by Scarlet Beebalm and Wild Bergamot — is filtered to species genuinely native to Alabama and the wider flora of the Southeast and hardy through zones 7–9. Fragrance is easy to overlook on paper and unforgettable in person, so plant the scented natives where you will brush past them — along a path, by a door, beside a bench. Some carry it in the flowers and some in the crushed leaves, and many of the aromatic-leaved species double as deer-resistant. Site them in sun, where warmth lifts the scent into the air.
The plants
9 native species for Alabama
Each one native to your region and hardy in zones 7–9 · see this collection in other states.
Wild Bergamot
Monarda fistulosa
Carries a fragrance you'll want within reach, 1.5–2 ft wide — it blooms Jun through Aug.
- Full–part sun
- Dry–average
- 2–4 ft
- Blooms Jun–Aug
Swamp Milkweed
Asclepias incarnata
Fragrant in flower or leaf — site it where you'll catch it, happy in clay and loam soil; it flowers in Jul and Aug.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 3–4 ft
- Blooms Jul–Aug
Spotted Joe-Pye Weed
Eutrochium maculatum
Carries a fragrance you'll want within reach, good through zone 8; it blooms Jul through Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 4–7 ft
- Blooms Jul–Sep
Woodland Phlox
Phlox divaricata
Worth a spot by a path or door for the scent, reaching 10–15 in, and it flowers in Apr and May.
- Part shade
- Average
- 10–15 in
- Blooms Apr–May
Short-Toothed Mountain Mint
Pycnanthemum muticum
Carries a fragrance you'll want within reach, silvery bracts flowers; it blooms Jul through Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Dry–average
- 2–3 ft
- Blooms Jul–Sep
Spicebush
Lindera benzoin
Fragrant in flower or leaf — site it where you'll catch it, 6–12 ft tall; it flowers in Mar and Apr.
- Part shade
- Average–wet
- 6–12 ft
- Blooms Mar–Apr
Common Milkweed
Asclepias syriaca
Worth a spot by a path or door for the scent, for sand, clay, and loam ground, flowering as it flowers in Jun and Jul.
- Full–part sun
- Dry–average
- 3–5 ft
- Blooms Jun–Jul
American Elderberry
Sambucus canadensis
Worth a spot by a path or door for the scent, hardy in zones 3–9 — it flowers in Jun and Jul.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 6–12 ft
- Blooms Jun–Jul
Sourcing
Where to find these in Alabama
Seeds & live plants on Amazon
Seed packets, plugs, and starter plants for many of these species ship to your door.
Browse on AmazonSome links here are affiliate links — we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. The surest source of locally-adapted stock is a native-plant nursery or a native plant society sale in your area.