Create a Fragrant Miniature Garden

Gardeners know the feeling. When you work in a miniature garden, your senses are affected from all different directions. The soft clay feel, the sound of rustling leaves and the sight of bright flowers combine to create a rich, multi-layered experience. The smell of the fairy garden is, of course, one of the most memorable parts. If you close your eyes, can you spy on the scent of sweet flowers, sharp green grass, and fresh grass? Try it!

During this snowy, icy February, when many of us are stuck inside, I’m excited for the scent of the fairy garden. I have a lot of choices to list here, but I’ll share my top eight choices, including many winter plants and houseplants that can keep beautiful garden spaces and fragrances in your life all year round.

1) Mentha Ricquini, Mint Corsican

Also known as Corsican mint or “creeping mint”, this small, mat-forming plant tops my list for its versatility and delicious aroma. It can be used as a ground cover plant in a fairy garden, planted between fossils and rocks, or grown in an indoor container garden in the winter. You can also use the flavor of the leaves for food and tea.

2) Lavandula angustifolia, herb lavender

When it comes to creating a fragrant herb garden, nothing kills lavender! This beautiful, sun-loving, silver-gray plant grows upwards and shows flower spikes. In colder areas, you may want to add it to your indoor winter container garden. The aroma and flavor of its flowers can be used in oils, potpourri and DYY projects.

3) Lonisera fragrant, winter honeysuckle

Here is a classic winter flowering plant that is more suited to a real life garden than a miniature plant. But I had to include it for its delightful scent and amazing flowers! When planted in full sun, this giant shrub can grow to a height of more than 8-feet tall and wide.

4) Iris reticulata, dwarf iris

Earth and powdery, miniature iris has a beautiful scent that you won’t soon forget. This winter flowering plant warns flies that spring is on its way. 

5) Rosemary suggests, creeping rosemary

This miniature plant has a strong scent and a sleek, back-growing habit. Rock walls, rock gardens, miniature garden ground cover and think of this for your plate! Rosemary is an accessible and easy-to-grow plant for novice gardeners.

6) Lobularia meritima, Dwarf Sweet Elysium

For tiny flowers, Sweet Ellis gives a strong scent! Expect a sharp, honey-like scent from this mat-making plant, grown as a winter plant in a frost-free, mild climate.

7) Electruthus ambonicus, Cuban oregano

Large gardens are an ideal location for this perennial evergreen. It is a winter flowering plant that grows up to 19 inches tall, and is known for its scent of menthol or camphor which many call the "wick plant".

8) Thymus serpillum, mother of thymus

You don’t want to cook with this little thyme variety, but you want to smell its fragrant leaves. Depending on the choice of the gardener, it is grown in flat or small huts. In a miniature garden, this compact plant makes a nice law-not-like.

There you have it! Eight plants that will bring a sense of fragrance to your miniature or life-size garden. I hope this brings the scent of spring to your winter container gardens, patios, indoor containers and mild climate yards.