Fragrant Flowers
Flowers use scent to call their pollinators. Many of the strongest open at dusk for night-flying moths, which is why a garden can smell sweetest after dark.
Night Jasmine (Parijat)
पारिजात
Nyctanthes arbor-tristis
Parijat flowers open at night, fill the air with scent, and drop to the ground by morning. Their orange tubes were once used to dye cloth, and fallen flowers are gathered for worship.
Arabian Jasmine
बेली फूल
Jasminum sambac
Its waxy white flowers are strung into garlands and used to scent jasmine tea. Despite its name, it has been grown in South Asia for thousands of years.
Juhi
जुही
Jasminum auriculatum
A jasmine native to the Indian subcontinent, whose small white flowers are prized for garlands and for perfume oil.
Downy Jasmine
Jasminum multiflorum
Its leaves and stems are covered in fine, soft hairs, which is what “downy” means. Its starry white flowers open in clusters.
Yellow Jasmine
जाई फूल
Jasminum humile
A shrubby jasmine that grows wild in the Himalayas, with bright yellow flowers. Unlike the white jasmines, it blooms by day and has only a light scent.
Gardenia
ईन्द्र कमल फूल
Gardenia jasminoides
Gardenia’s creamy white flowers smell strongest at dusk, when moths come to visit. Each flower slowly turns yellow as it ages.
Dikamali Gardenia
हिङ्ग
Gardenia gummifera
A wild gardenia from India whose leaf buds ooze a sticky resin, called dikamali, that is used in traditional medicine.
Carnation
Dianthus caryophyllus
Carnations have a spicy, clove-like scent; their species name even means clove. Their fringed petals look as if they were cut with zigzag scissors.
Sweet Osmanthus
सिरिङ्गे
Osmanthus fragrans
Its tiny cream flowers are easy to miss but smell strongly of apricots. In China and Japan they flavor tea and jam.
White Ginger Lily
Hedychium coronarium
A ginger relative whose white, butterfly-shaped flowers pour out scent at dusk for moths. It grows wild in the Himalayas and is the national flower of Cuba.
Tagar (Crape Jasmine)
तगर
Tabernaemontana divaricata
Its pinwheel-shaped white flowers smell sweetest at night and are offered in worship. Despite the name crape jasmine, it is a relative of oleander, not a jasmine.
Raat Ki Rani
रातकी रानी
Cestrum nocturnum
Its small greenish flowers open at night and fill the air with one of the strongest scents of any plant. It is called night-blooming jasmine, but it is a relative of tomatoes.
Plumeria
चम्पा फूल
Plumeria sp.
Plumeria’s flowers smell sweet, especially at night, but hold no nectar. Moths follow the scent, find nothing to drink, and carry pollen from flower to flower anyway.
More in Looks, Scents, and Surprises
The garden is alive and changes through the year. Some plants flower, fruit, or rest only in certain seasons, so what you see depends on when you visit.
See them for yourself
Every plant here grows on our campus in Bhaktapur. Walk the garden on your visit.
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