11 Most Fragrant Petunia Varieties to Grow This Season

Petunias are garden favorites for good reason. These versatile plants deliver months of color in beds, borders, and containers with minimal fuss. While their visual appeal is undeniable, some varieties offer another dimension of garden enjoyment: wonderful fragrance that’s especially noticeable in the evening hours.

Fragrant petunias bring an extra sensory element to patios, entryways, and sitting areas where their sweet scent can be fully appreciated. Many release their strongest perfume in the evening, making them perfect additions to moon gardens or outdoor dining spaces where you’ll be enjoying your garden after sunset.

Here are our favorite fragrant petunia varieties to plant this season.

‘Evening Scentsation™’

‘Evening Scentsation™’ lives up to its name with an incredible sweet fragrance that intensifies as evening approaches. This award-winning variety (All-America Selections Winner in 2017) produces stunning indigo-blue to soft purple flowers with unique perfume notes that combine vanilla, hyacinth, and rose scents.

The fragrance is most pronounced in the evening hours, making it perfect for planting near patios, decks, or bedroom windows where you can enjoy the sweet scent after sunset. The impressive blooms reach about 2-3 inches in diameter on plants that spread 12-18 inches, creating a beautiful carpet of color and fragrance.

‘Rainmaster’

‘Rainmaster’ combines impressive weather resistance with a sweet, noticeable fragrance that remains consistent even after rain. The medium-sized, creamy white blooms hold up beautifully in wet conditions (hence the name) without losing their delightful scent.

This variety’s ability to maintain its fragrance sets it apart from many other scented petunias. The plants grow in a semi-mounding habit that works beautifully in hanging baskets and containers, with the fragrance becoming most pronounced in warm evening air.

‘Rainmaster’ produces such an abundance of flowers that deadheading isn’t necessary for continued blooming, though it can help maintain the neatest appearance. The sweet, classic petunia scent has hints of vanilla and spice that carry well in still air.

‘Blue Storm’

‘Blue Storm’ delivers both visual drama and wonderful fragrance in one stunning package. The large, ruffled blooms in vibrant blue-purple hues produce a sweet, jasmine-like scent that intensifies in the evening hours. This variety is part of the Storm series, known for weather resistance and vigorous growth.

The truly eye-catching color is visible even from a distance. The plants trail well, perfect for hanging baskets and container edges where the scent can waft upward as you pass by. Unlike some scented varieties that only release fragrance at certain times, ‘Blue Storm’ provides noticeable scent throughout the day, though it’s still strongest in the evening.

‘Tumbelina Candyfloss’

‘Tumbelina Candyfloss’ offers stunning fully double flowers that look like miniature roses in soft pink tones. The fragrance lives up to the variety’s name—sweet with candy-like notes that combine with traditional floral petunia scent for a unique perfume experience. The double petals help hold and intensify the fragrance.

This variety forms a trailing habit that can cascade up to 30 inches from baskets and tall containers. The fully double blooms provide exceptional weather resistance, keeping their sweet scent even during light rain. As an added bonus, the thick petals help the flowers last longer than single varieties.

‘Daddy® Blue’

‘Daddy® Blue’ is a classic, fragrant grandiflora petunia with large, fragrant 4-5 inch blooms in a stunning pale blue to lavender shade with prominent dark purple veining. The flowers emit a sweet, old-fashioned petunia fragrance.

Part of the beloved Daddy® series, this variety combines impressive flower size with delightful scent. The large, lightly ruffled blooms create maximum surface area for fragrance dispersal. This makes ‘Daddy Blue’ an excellent choice for planting where its scent can be easily enjoyed. Grow it near windows, walkways, or seating areas.

Plants form a mounding habit that works beautifully in both containers and garden beds. They reach about 10-15 inches tall with a similar spread.

‘Wave® Purple’

‘Wave® Purple’ combines the outstanding garden performance of the Wave® series with surprising fragrance that’s often overlooked. The entire Wave® series has exceptional spread, drought tolerance, and no-deadhead blooming. ‘Wave® Purple’ stands out for its sweet scent that is most noticeable in the evening hours.

The rich purple blooms carpet the ground with up to 4 feet of spread per plant. This creates a dramatic color impact along with their sweet perfume. The slightly smaller flowers (compared to grandiflora types) are produced in such abundance that the overall fragrance effect is impressive. The smell is especially strong when several plants are grouped together.

‘Wave® Purple’ makes an excellent ground cover in sunny spots where you can enjoy both its sprawling habit and delightful fragrance as you walk by.

‘Dreams™ Appleblossom’

‘Dreams™ Appleblossom’ petunia features fragrant, soft pink blooms with darker pink centers. They fade to white at the edges, reminiscent of apple blossoms in spring. This grandiflora variety produces a sweet, delicate fragrance.

Part of the Dreams™ series is known for early flowering and weather resistance. ‘Appleblossom’ forms a neat mounding habit that works beautifully in both containers and borders. The plants reach about 10-15 inches in height with a similar spread, creating a tidy display of fragrant blooms.

The scent of this fragrant petunia is lighter than some varieties on this list, but it has a delicate sweetness that many gardeners find appealing. The combination of the soft, romantic coloration and gentle fragrance makes ‘Dreams™ Appleblossom’ perfect for cottage gardens.

‘Carpet Pink’

Part of the Carpet series developed for ground cover use, this variety produces masses of medium-sized blooms in a clear, bright pink that stands out in the landscape.

The plants form a low, spreading habit that quickly fills in spaces between other plants or cascades slightly over container edges. Their fragrance becomes most pronounced in the evening hours but can be detected during the day, especially when temperatures are warm but not extremely hot.

The sweet, classic petunia scent has light notes of honey and vanilla that carry well in still air. ‘Carpet Pink’ combines this delightful fragrance with exceptional garden performance, continuing to bloom without deadheading from spring until frost.

‘Surfinia® White’

‘Surfinia® White’ offers pure white blooms with bright yellow centers. These petunias have a surprising amount of fragrance for a trailing variety. Part of the first wave of vegetatively propagated petunias, Surfinias® revolutionized hanging basket displays. The white variety stands out for its clean, sweet scent that intensifies at night.

The brilliant white flowers reflect moonlight, making them perfect additions to evening gardens where their fragrance can be fully appreciated. Plants cascade up to 4 feet from hanging baskets. They create dramatic displays where both the visual impact and sweet scent can be enjoyed from below.

‘Supertunia® Priscilla®’

These lavender-purple flowers feature darker purple veining and edges with lighter centers, creating a bicolor effect that catches the eye from a distance. This vegetatively propagated variety also produces a sweet, noticeable scent that intensifies in the evening.

Unlike many Supertunias® that focus on performance over fragrance, ‘Priscilla®’ petunias offer both in abundance. The plants form a mounding-trailing habit that works beautifully in containers and hanging baskets, cascading up to 24 inches over the edges while the sweet scent drifts upward.

‘Supertunia® Priscilla®’ continues blooming without deadheading from spring until frost, providing months of both color and fragrance.

‘Headliner™ Strawberry Sky’

‘Headliner™ Strawberry Sky’ is one of the newest fragrant petunias, featuring unique strawberry-pink blooms with creamy yellow stars radiating from the centers. The stunning color pattern comes with a delightful sweet scent that has light fruity notes along with traditional petunia fragrance, perfectly matching its name.

Part of the Headliner™ series known for large blooms, ‘Strawberry Sky’ forms a mounding-spreading habit that works equally well in containers and landscape plantings. The plants reach about 10-12 inches tall with a spread of 20-30 inches, creating impressive displays of fragrant flowers.

The combination of unique coloration and delightful fragrance makes ‘Headliner™ Strawberry Sky’ a standout choice for gardeners wanting something different.