Anise Hyssop
Agastache foeniculum
Fragrant in flower or leaf — site it where you'll catch it, for sand, rocky, and loam ground — it blooms Jun through Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Dry–average
- 2–4 ft
- Blooms Jun–Sep
Minnesota · Zones 3–5
Fragrant Native Plants in Minnesota
Native plants with scented flowers or foliage — the ones that make a garden smell as good as it looks. Minnesota sits in a landscape of Northern tallgrass prairie & North Woods, and the natives that thrive here are the ones built for its cold continental character. The list below — led by Anise Hyssop and Wild Bergamot — is filtered to species genuinely native to Minnesota and the wider flora of the Midwest and hardy through zones 3–5. 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
13 native species for Minnesota
Each one native to your region and hardy in zones 3–5 · see this collection in other states.
Wild Bergamot
Monarda fistulosa
Fragrant in flower or leaf — site it where you'll catch it, happy in clay, rocky, and loam soil — 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, 2–3 ft wide, and it flowers in Jul and Aug.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 3–4 ft
- Blooms Jul–Aug
Short-Toothed Mountain Mint
Pycnanthemum muticum
Carries a fragrance you'll want within reach, silvery bracts flowers, and it blooms Jul through Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Dry–average
- 2–3 ft
- Blooms Jul–Sep
Scarlet Beebalm
Monarda didyma
Scented enough to plant where you brush past it, for clay and loam ground, flowering as it flowers in Jul and Aug.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 2.5–4 ft
- Blooms Jul–Aug
Woodland Phlox
Phlox divaricata
Fragrant in flower or leaf — site it where you'll catch it, 10–15 in tall; it flowers in Apr and May.
- Part shade
- Average
- 10–15 in
- Blooms Apr–May
Chocolate Flower
Berlandiera lyrata
Scented enough to plant where you brush past it, 1–2 ft wide, flowering as it blooms May through Sep.
- Full sun
- Dry
- 1–2 ft
- Blooms May–Sep
Spotted Joe-Pye Weed
Eutrochium maculatum
Carries a fragrance you'll want within reach, good through zone 8, and it blooms Jul through Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 4–7 ft
- Blooms Jul–Sep
Showy Milkweed
Asclepias speciosa
Carries a fragrance you'll want within reach, reaching 2–4 ft; it flowers in Jun and Jul.
- Full sun
- Dry–average
- 2–4 ft
- Blooms Jun–Jul
Common Milkweed
Asclepias syriaca
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
- Dry–average
- 3–5 ft
- Blooms Jun–Jul
American Elderberry
Sambucus canadensis
Fragrant in flower or leaf — site it where you'll catch it, 6–12 ft wide, flowering as it flowers in Jun and Jul.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 6–12 ft
- Blooms Jun–Jul
Spicebush
Lindera benzoin
Worth a spot by a path or door for the scent, hardy in zones 4–9, and it flowers in Mar and Apr.
- Part shade
- Average–wet
- 6–12 ft
- Blooms Mar–Apr
Prairie Dropseed
Sporobolus heterolepis
Worth a spot by a path or door for the scent, cold-hardy to zone 3.
- Full sun
- Dry–average
- 2–3 ft
- Fall color
Sourcing
Where to find these in Minnesota
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.