My top two are Heliotrope and Sweet Peas.

I'm working on a presentation for the local hort society on seed starting techniques. I thought it would be fun to have a Fragrance theme and in addition to all the examples being a "fragrant plant", we are going to have a guest speaker talking about companion planting with fragrance. Attracting pollinators and deterring pests.

What's you top choices for scented plants from seed?
Which one's do you wintersow?

nicotana is at the top of my list

Love those Joanne. I grow both. Been having problems getting my sweet peas to germinate the last 2 springs. I'm going to try sowing them in the milk jugs mid-spring , see if that helps. I use to have beautiful sweet peas.

I grew Lathyrus belinensis last year got one from 12 seeds from T&M. Not one picture. I'm going to see if he is still alive. Very small blossoms but a gret smell when you get close.
Mini marine heliotrope.
These are from cuttings. A hanging white heliotrope, smells beter than the mini.

Allison, which variety/series do you like?
Springcolor, Have you tried planting 4 heliotrope plants in one 10" pot? I packs a lot of scent.

I like sweet alyssum along the flower bed too

Sweet Alyssum a good one too. I planted Nicotiana 'Tinkerbell' last year. Not one sprout! I will try again.
Allison, tips on growing nicotiana?
Joanne, good idea! I will give it a try. What heliotrope do you grow?

I have started Benary's Marine for the past few years. I get it from William Dam Seeds in Ontario Canada

How tall does that get? Never heard of it but, that doesn't mean much..

The plants are about 18"
www.damseeds.com

Tinkerbell did not smell for me.. and perfume purple.. no good either.. the best one I found was perfect mix.. pink, purple, and white.. smells great in the evening.. as for sowing.. if you want early flowers sow inside 6 - 8 weeks.. surface sow.. don't cover.. I usually just sprinkle them in a foil pan.. use a spray bottle to make sure they are in contact with the mix.. and pot them up once they are big enough.. but they are an excellent seed to winter sow outside.. you will get flowers much later.. but will still flower with plenty of time before fall.. I always have some self sow outside.. one of the easy ones to spot for me not to pull thinking it's a weed.. the broad leaf helps me pick them out

And don't they self seed wonderfully, Allison? One of my favorites, also.

yes they do.. I wish they would more here.. think the critters take a lot of the seed away

Do any of you grow stocks? I love the smell of them and sow them early to enjoy their perfume early spring in the greenhouse. I also like to have a small planter of stocks on either side of my garden swing. I have also sowed Evening Scented Stocks directly in the planter in May, but prefer the Stocks much better since they are fragrant anytime of the day.

I bought plants.. from seed they take forever to flower.. I have not started them soon enough to bloom by fall.. guess they need to be started now for next year.. unless I did something wrong

I start them in late Feb and they are in full bloom in Mid April. They perfume my greenhouse, which is awesome, since it is too early to put stuff out then. They can handle really cool temps too.

they do seem to like the cooler temps.. I will give it another try this year.. but they are wonderful

I do love alyssum (I like Snow Crystals best) and heliotrope, although I have a bit of trouble getting the heliotrope to grow from seed; may have to try that white one. I generally grow a few stock every year, and just because they smell so nice, but I don't get a lot of blooms from them. Any suggestions for increasing the yield?

have to deadhead .. and wait a while for new ones to show up.. unless someone has better info

My favorite fragrant plants from seed are herbs: Genovese basil, rosemary, lavender, orange thyme, cinnamon, thai, (Siam Queen) lemon (Mrs. Burns) and lime basil.

Love heliotrope, and plan on trying some from seed this year. Can't remember the exact variety....too lazy to walk downstairs to look.

One of my favourite scented plants is Dianthus monspessulanus... (whose name, I discovered recently, has been changed to Dianthus hyssopifolius; yikes, hard to keep up!) It's totally hardy, perennial, and quite unusual, as it has a very pronounced sweet perfume-y fragrance that wafts around beautifully (even in our dry air), as opposed to the usual clove-cinnamon Dianthus scent. I grew it from seed acquired in a trade many years ago. The flowers are a bit tatty and irregular but I forgive all due to the scent! Makes quite a nice medium-height groundcover too (slowly spreading).

One that I try from seeds, and am unsuccessful at growing: is the "chocolate" daisy.
Berlandeira lyrata----anyone grow it successfully from seeds?