Wild Bergamot
Monarda fistulosa
Carries a fragrance you'll want within reach, lavender flowers; it blooms Jun through Aug.
- Full–part sun
- Dry–average
- 2–4 ft
- Blooms Jun–Aug
Michigan · Zones 4–6
Fragrant Native Plants in Michigan
Native plants with scented flowers or foliage — the ones that make a garden smell as good as it looks. Michigan sits in a landscape of Great Lakes forest & dune, and the natives that thrive here are the ones built for its humid continental, lake-moderated character. The list below — led by Wild Bergamot and Swamp Milkweed — is filtered to species genuinely native to Michigan and the wider flora of the Midwest and hardy through zones 4–6. 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
11 native species for Michigan
Each one native to your region and hardy in zones 4–6 · see this collection in other states.
Swamp Milkweed
Asclepias incarnata
Carries a fragrance you'll want within reach, 3–4 ft tall; it flowers in Jul and Aug.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 3–4 ft
- Blooms Jul–Aug
Woodland Phlox
Phlox divaricata
Carries a fragrance you'll want within reach, 12–18 in wide; 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, 2–3 ft tall; it blooms Jul through Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Dry–average
- 2–3 ft
- Blooms Jul–Sep
Anise Hyssop
Agastache foeniculum
Fragrant in flower or leaf — site it where you'll catch it, spreading 1.5–2 ft, flowering as it blooms Jun through Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Dry–average
- 2–4 ft
- Blooms Jun–Sep
Spotted Joe-Pye Weed
Eutrochium maculatum
Carries a fragrance you'll want within reach, 4–7 ft tall, flowering as it blooms Jul through Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 4–7 ft
- Blooms Jul–Sep
Scarlet Beebalm
Monarda didyma
Worth a spot by a path or door for the scent, happy in clay and loam soil, flowering as it flowers in Jul and Aug.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 2.5–4 ft
- Blooms Jul–Aug
Spicebush
Lindera benzoin
Scented enough to plant where you brush past it, for clay and loam ground, flowering as 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, dusty mauve-pink flowers; it flowers in Jun and Jul.
- Full–part sun
- Dry–average
- 3–5 ft
- Blooms Jun–Jul
American Elderberry
Sambucus canadensis
Fragrant in flower or leaf — site it where you'll catch it, happy in clay and loam soil, flowering as it flowers in Jun and Jul.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 6–12 ft
- Blooms Jun–Jul
Prairie Dropseed
Sporobolus heterolepis
Scented enough to plant where you brush past it, good through zone 8.
- Full sun
- Dry–average
- 2–3 ft
- Fall color
Sourcing
Where to find these in Michigan
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.