Thanks, I thought it might be damping-off but I have never had a problem with it in the past so I really didnt know what to look for.
Caren
Your most fragrant plants by ranking
I haven't tried very many of the less hardy plants listed above. What I've had grow here in a small apartment garden with varying degrees of sucess...hyacinths, daffodils, oriental lilies, heliotrope, peony and my unsung hero alyssum--tiny but I love the honey scent when it gets warm. I miss the 20 year old lilac bushes at my parents home. I think I'll try a hardy gardenia and night phlox this year.
I love night phlox! I just got a bunch In the fragrant RR thanks BG! ;-)
You should all try some "evening scented stock". To die for fragrance. Flowers and greenery aren't much to look at, but oh that evening fragrance. Funny how it seems to drift across my deck in waves. I went out one evening the first season I grew it, and there was this incredible fragrance. I came in to get my husband and when we went back out it was gone. He of course made a snide remark about my sense of smell. I went back out a few minutes later and there it was again. I picked some of the flowers and brought them inside. My whole house filled with that fragrence.
I grow it in containers and it comes back up the following year from seed.
Dave, I can sympathize with you, being across the St. Lawrence from Ontario near Brockville. Very cold climate here. My garden here is fairly new, but favorites I have grown recently are:
Rosa Rugosa Alba
Flowering nicotiana
Alyssum
Peonies
Lilacs
Floribunda Honey Perfume
Hyacinths
mints
Rosemary Offinicianlis
Probably a lot of them I can't think of at this time
BAM
Sorry, I meant Andycdn!!! Big goof!
I keep hearing everyone say cestrum, but as long as it's in the neighbor's yard. I can't think of anything "headier" than gardenia. Is cestrum more overwhelming than that?
Nice thread. Didn't notice many references to citruses. Oh they are lovely. not too strong, not too faint where you have to stick your nose right in to to enjoy the perfume.
ohhhhhh great thread!! My simple list has already been covered, but I greatly appreciate the ones I need to look into for my back yard "Fragrance Garden" :)
Susan
I found a cupple more I may want to add Texas Mountain Laurel 'Sophora secudiflora' and Chaste Tree 'vitex angus-castus' I havnt smelled them yet but I have been thinking about adding them to my yard. Both have a grape-kool aid sent. What to you all think?
I love:
lily-of-the-valley
Virginia stock
night scented stock
lilacs
evening scented primrose
mock orange
antique lavender sweet pea cultivars
hyacinth
sweet alyssum
creeping thyme (love the muskiness of this)
thai basil
... and one scent I cannot stand is that of the pawlonia tree's blossom. Cloying, over-sweet.
Jasmines
Brugs
Tuberose
Roses
Gardenia
in that order
Hi all. I just joined Dave's site 2 days ago and so far have had a wonderful time just looking up stuff in the Plant files. Then of all things, I run across a forum about my most favorite thing, fragrant plants. I live in central Alabama and can't grow some of the tropical things I'd like to but love brugs, especially the yellow ones, gardenias, especially the miniature ones, petunias, jasmine, lilacs, all the early spring bulbs and for the first time, I'm going to try stargazer lilies this year. Anyone got them? Anyway, glad to be here. Looking forward to new friends and good advice.
Hey, SpringinAL. Welcome!
Have you looked at PlantFiles yet? It's one of the green tabs at the top of this page. Go there, then click on "search plants" and in the "cultivar" window type "stargazer." You'll see what's listed, who grew it and what they had to say about it, photos taken of it, and what vendors sell it. Have fun!
Welcome, where is Clanton (exactly).. I live just outside Macon. Beautiful weather here for last several days. There is a plant swap coming up in central Georgia in May. Elaine
Hey there. Thanks for the welcomes. Clanton is 50 miles south of Birmingham. It's fairly small, around 7 or 8000 but close to the big towns if you want to venture there. I lived in Bham for awhile, but much prefer this half country, half city existence. My yard is big enough here to satisfy my growing needs. hahaha. Anykway a plant swap huh. That would be so cool. Wonder if Alabama does that. I've noticed there's not an Alabama forum nor a southeastern forum. Whats up with that?
Spring,, there is an AL/FLA swap.. It is listed in the forum (roundups)..Understand about the big town business. We lived outside Atlanta and also Memphis and it is soooo nice to be out in the country. You need to start one of those Alabama forums. I don't have star gazer lilies,,yet,, have same named dayliles and just started growing brugs and dats. Think they are addictive like daylilies.. Elaine
EF, Oh I love brugs too. Have only one at the moment, but it bloomed beautifully last year. Can never remember the name of it. Its a pretty pink. What is a bat?
Dats,,, daturas, cousins of brugmansias,,, sorry should have typed it all. Going to Florida for a couple of weeks..
Elaine
Oh der...I knew that. Thought you had bat instead of dat. lol. I
m blind and use a screenreader and sometimes it pronounces things weird. I have never tried to grow those. I guess because they aren't perennials. I should give it a try though.
Hi,, I have some datura seeds... will send you some when I get back.. Think I have some triple purple and double white in my "seed refrigerator". They make huge seed pods that you can save and replant. Hugs, Elaine
Berrygirl, now i'm starting to stalk you, lol. I've had good luck with zone 7b and August Beauty gardenia, unfortunatly there are at LEAST 2 August beauty's out there, one has large blossoms and is a large leafed cultivar and the other has small blossoms and small leaves and ya see a Lot of stem, unattractive but heavenly in bloom. Both do well in a sheltered location. I put them beside houses or near airconditioners, avoid the draft, and dig a LARGE hole 4 across and 3 down, 1/2 pine bark shredded and 1/4 sand and 1/4 clay, reduce the mulch and sand if you have dirt and not red clay [lucky you], pop the plant in about 1 to 2 " above soil line and mulch well 1 inch above root ball 2 to 3" above soil, water well for a couple of years and summers when there is a drought, fert reg after bloooming, Good luck
I'd have a hard time picking , but near the top of the list
Winter honeysuckle
cologne bottles
pansies
petunias
tuberoses/ outside
oriental lilies/outside seriously allergic, have to tend to them well before bloom time or leave it
Garden Party rose, well most roses
Rober's lemon rose geranium
blue balsam mint
wild azalea, canascens [sp}
Halls honey suckle, trying it in a pot to see if it will bloom in captivity
lilac
peony
Clematis Armondii, allergic but love it
wet boxwood
rosemary
thyme
lemon thyme
cherokee plum
lotus
waterlily
most German irises
that's about all I can think of at the moment that really rate
I plant for fragrance, butterflies and beauty. They don't all bloom at once, but there is always something of fragrance in the yard.
Most of my flowers are night fragrances, all rather strong and 'heady' but oh, the fragrances are simply wonderful! Many of these tropical plants are poisonous.
Night fragrances: 'wafting' & intoxicating. Delightful near a bedroom window:
Brugmansia - delightful, Insignis (baby powder) and ?? Cyprus Gardens (lemon) All parts are deadly hallucinogenics.
Brunfelsia Americana
Brunfelsia Gigantia - a great favourite!
Brunfelsia Jamaciensis (sp)
Brunfelsia Lactea
Brunfelsia Nitida,
Cestrum Nocturnum - can be overwhelmingly 'heady'. Not good near a bedroom window!
Nyctanthes Arbor-Tristis (Tree of Sorrow). Similar fragrance to Cestrum Nocturnum but not as wafting. Lovely flowers lasting only one night.
Day fragrances or night/day fragrances:
Aglaia odorata. Lemon fragrance
Artabotrys Hexapetalus & Siamensis vines.
Cananga Odorata - Ylang Ylang tree - Chanel #5 is made from its flowers. Wafts beautifully
Cestrum Diurnum - shrub/tree white, milk chocolate fragrance - butterfly nectar
Citrus - Lime, alas, my large tree died due to the hurricanes we had last year!
Fagraea Ceilanica. (I wish I’d bought the Berteriana rather, as its even more fragrant)
Freesia - Springtime only though I still have some blooming right now (late April - our beginning of Summer)
Gardenia Belmont – large flowers and oh sooo fragrant night and day.
Hedychium Coronarium - shrub. A welcome fragrance at the front door
Jasmine Sambac Grand Duke of Tuscony shrub/vine
Jasmine Sambac Maid of Orleans shrub/vine
Jasmine Sambac Arabian Nights shrub/vine
Jasmine Sambac Mysore Mulli Passiflora Alatocerulea (Belotti) vine. Shrub/vine
Lavendar Wish I could keep them alive here!
Lemon verbena small shrub - oh I love this one! sooo clean and fresh
Osmanthus Fragrance shrub/tree –ripe apricots
Parma Violets. Lets see how long this one lives in the heat here! Marvelous fragrance!
Passiflora alatocerulea (Belottii) vine.
Passiflora Quadrangularis vine.
Plumerias – trees
Portlandia Grandiflora. Same fragrance as Cestrum Diurnum, milk chocolate.
Quisqualis Indica - vine (Rangoon creeper)
Stephanotis Floribunda. its ok - everyone says its beautiful and strong. Maybe my nose needs help!
Tabernaemontana Holstii and others in the family. Shrubs fragrance is devine! And wafts too.
Telosma Cordata vine- mix of roses and violets. Lovely little yellow bell-like flowers,hidden behind leaves
Tropical Viola Odoratas. They grow like mad here, seeding prolifically. I'm delighted!
Viola Odorata's. I struggle to keep them alive and have to keep ordering new ones! I love them.
wow great list!!
I know this is odd and not a plant, however, I have it right now and the smell is earthy sweet..... I picked up two truck loads of recently shredded leaves from a local city that loads them into my truck and it is certainly hot inside that pile. It smells like the sweet tabacco smell my grandfather smoked in his pipe. It's in the driveway and I can smell it in the back yard. ohhh and I like the smell of the opened pine mulch bag too.. Kinda like the christmas tree smell.
Susan
Susan, not odd at all. I love it when I open alllll those bags,,, especially nature's helper.. b in Ft. Lauderdale, thanks for that wonderful list of good smellin' flowers. Spring, I will send you some seeds of daturas, if you want. Elaine in Lizella
I love to open a box and smell the lily bulbs packed in cedar shavings. :)
Here's another one...the smell of freshly upturned dirt. lol. Can't beat it.
Springinalabama,
Up here in Ohio's farm belt the air is full of the smell of fresh turned earth. Other smells I love: "green" air -- the breezes we start getting in March that smell alive -- no longer smell dead.
When the corn pollen starts filling the air we get warm, humid nights filled with that semi-sweet, yeasty smell. That's the smell of high summer here. It plays hell with my hay fever, but it's yummy. :)
Other great smells (to me) -- freshly-mown hay, freshly mown grass, the air right after a thunderstorm, the smell of the woods down south when the mimosas bloom, fresh-cut sasafrass, the sweet air that blows out of groves of birch trees, hemlock woods after a rain storm, the neighbor's barbecue. :P
-Joe
:)
Wild honeysuckle.. Blooming here now :)
Susan
Here too- I love it!!
it's just to bad it is such a rampant weed, i leave some for the smell and for gathering the flowers for medicine and flavoring, try parsnips baked in butter, chicken stock, a little brown sugar and a handful of honeysuckle flowers, about 20 to 30 for a serving for 4. Something else :o) I have to retract my comments about hesperis, other day i had a chance to weed part of my patch and the smell about knocked me over.
I like the smell of chrysanthemums and crushed juniper berries- reminds me of when I was a kid.
Hedychium ginger blooms (have over 40 varieties each smells different)
Foliage on Alpinia and Zingiber gingers
Brugmansia (versicolor Apricot and Charles Grimaldi are to die for)
Osmanthus fragrans
Michelia figo
Plumeria
Phaius tankervillaea (nun's orchid)
Cestrum nocturnum
Gardenias-all kinds
chocolate mint
English mint
Rosemary
Myer's Lemon blooms (any citrus)
All of my antique roses
Moonflower
Natchez Crepe Myrtle
honeysuckle
any true Jasmine
Oakleaf hydrangea
Hoya
tuber rose
4 O'Clocks
Easter Lilies
Eucalyptus
Heliotrope
Cherry blooms
Coreopsis
buddleia
lilacs (miss them from when I was a child visiting my grandmother)
hyacinth (they were wonderful)
Wow 40 fragrant gingers! Great list.. This will be my first year growing moonvine. I didn't know it was so fragrant. :)
How about Magnolias? I've seen some blooming now and they smell incredibIe. love those blossoms but hubby doesn't want a big one taking up so much space, so maybe a little gem one day.
Susan
Peonies
Lilacs
Petunias
soulgardenlove-
I have a Magnolia named Ricki- I bought her last year at the nursery because I coudn't leave that scent behind! It is the most beautiful smell. I usually don't make impulse purchases of trees! Now Ricki is in a place of honor on a hillside in my backyard. She bloomed prolifically again this year, although I didn't expect her to. A great plant, with the scent of .... Lily of the Valley mixed with Festiva Maxima peony. Beautiful!
mmmm, Ivy, Ricki sounds Lovely! :) I'll certainly keep my nose open for her :)
Susan
A plant has to smell especially good (or be edible) to get into my garden. My favorites are:
lilac,
peony,
monarda,
phlox,
lily of the valley
petunias en masse
lavender,
jasmines
basil,
Mr. Lincoln Rose
sweet pea
for starters. I am still trying to coax ginger into staying alive; blooming comes later. We are in Zone 3.
In addition to above:
clerodendrum phillippinum-cashmere bouquet
michelia alba-
