if I weren't feeling lazy, I would go "vestigating" to figure out what smells so delicious in my garden. but for now, I'm thrilled enough with walking around and getting a whif of something and wondering what delicious plant is treating me to its scent, where is it, etc. sometimes with 2-3 plants blooming simultaneously, the fragrances kinda blend and it's just one mysterious, sophisticated, intoxicating aroma coming from somewhere!
then add the scent of fresh cut grass, and it's just paradise.
Breathe deep & tell us what smells wonderful in your garden
Alrighy Nery's just braggin' now....LOL Hugs, my friend!!!
Sally - I feel your pain....my Duke Plumeria (from Hawaii, I may add) also fell off my deck railing last summer - snapped in 1/2...I like to cry when I saw it laying down on the ground. Course now I've got two putting on growth....I knew the bottom would but was unsure of the top 1/2 - those reds are difficult ones to root, I'd been told.
amen to red plumies being hard to root. I gave up on that long ago and just get them rooted from FL Colors. Duke is on my list and Siam Red.
among my best rewards for planting fragrant plants is looking at my kitty smelling plants here and there. of all my pets, he is the one that follows me closely around the garden and actually stops to smell stuff. No wonder he's so low stress, lol
pups, OTOH, just want to find a fresh place to pee on, grrrr
You Gardenia people! argh! lol! I don't know what happens with mine. I have two in a sheltered spot in my patio. They're always full of unopened buds and rarely do I get to see one open, usually with browned petals...what do you think I'm doing wrong?!
gardenias are most temperamental, IMO. when I stopped fretting over mine, they started acting civil. with gardenias, there is such a fine line between overdoing and underdoing, be it water, iron, etc. can't help ya but feel your pain
when I had just about lost my patience with them (and told them so) they started behaving...
Should I start yelling at them? lol
No....I believe in the Passive - "not listening" i.e. ignoring them!!!
Nery - if both keep growth on them - I'll share my Duke with you.
but...but....but!!!!!! Ignore??? But they're in pots, they'll dry up! No?
personally, I think yelling is more effective...
hahhaha...I'm in the mood for yelling today. Will give that a shot when I get home!!
When mine sulks I water it... Otherwise its carefree. I have finally found one I can't kill!
Caren
Maybe it's because mine are potted....
Gardenias and pots require a "special touch" IMHO....or buy them when they're fairly small (read 3 - 4" pot size) then they seem to acclimate better then buying the big ole pots of them and draggin' them home. Just my personal exp.
just went out to my rooting bed and potted up 8 gardenias.i put them in last june and am tickled pink.stuck 10 , got 8.took itty bitty ones,they'r about 2" tall .before anyone asks,i don't have any idea what kind they are.i bought a house in south arkansas in 1984 and it was there. took some more cuttings spring 2007.sure smells gooooooood!
Susan - having a case of total envy here...that scent, esp. at night, must be sheer heaven!!
The remaining of mine that are supposedly hardy are IN the ground finally - as of yesterday - Kleims Hardy and what someone believed to be Mystery that faired well in her yard (7A) - fingers crossed.
Susan....I SWEAR that when I enlarged your picture the smell of gardenias popped up in my brain!
Oh thank you! There's more to come! LOL I've got another variety right beside that one that will be blooming soon and 4 dwarf in the front yard that the DH gave me for Mother's Day that already have buds. I can hardly wait! That makes 8 in my yard. sniff sniff
Okay y'all ... what's the secret to rooting them? I've done it with water before but am not having luck this year. Do you just use rooting hormone?
101 , sorry i didn't get back to you sooner . cut back to just below lasts years end of growth, just below the brown node,that should give at least that one node + another new growth node and the new leaves on tip. carefully remove all leaves,trying not to peel them down the stem .if you have large leaves at the tip, cut them in half to minimize what the new roots have to feed. stick them in potting soil and keep damp,in part shade .no hot sun it may take some of them weeks to root , but as long as the stems look alive, they are ok. i don't have luck with rooting hormone. if i do use it ,i shred up weeping willow, in blender with a bit of water to process,pour into jar,with lid,refrigarate . that will last all season . there is a fungus that propagators get in nurserys under thier nails,so i wont use commersial stuff. oh, i forgot, strain the liquid off the willow and discard willow. i sure hope this works for you,just select your cuttings for proper length, sometimes shorter is better. i dont like to go over about 4 to 6 " on my cuttings. sally
101, forgot one thing, when you stick these in soil be sure to bury the 2 bottom nodes.the second one dosen't have to be but just covered .
Here comes more "whites"....South African Jasmine
Winter Jasmine
Lilly of the Valley
that's not fair ,chantell sally
LOL - which one ya talkin' about Sally?
both of the jasmines .is there a difference in scent ? i took some cuttings from a friends down in abbyville ga two weeks ago and they smelled ssssoooo good. don't know which ones they are, but seem to be rooting .she thought they were night blooming .what are you gonna get me hooked on next? what town , or city do you live close to?
LOL - these jasmines were gifts from a friend - none of which are hardy here....hmmm, actually there might be one ^_^ Scents are both typical jasmine but do differ slightly - Maid of Orleans is stronger then both...and I've heard that the NBJ is very intense - I've not had blooms on any of my NBJ yet so still waiting for that. I'll have to do another "sniff test" to see if I can describe differences a bit better.
Lilly of the valley isn't fair either!!!
Will they not grow out in Cali, Roberta? I'd give you the Lilies to have weather that would allow my plumies to stay outdoors year round, believe me!!!
LOL! My plumie stays out but it does die back in the winter, so it's not THAT great, you know? I don't know if I did anything wrong on the lilies, I planted 6 pips last winter, only half sprouted but died in no time...I still don't know if it was me, my weather, or the vendor!
This Margaret Merrill rose is heaven!!!!
Honey Dijon rose, not the mustard, smells so good. I wish they could bottle it!
Roberta - I'm not sure what to tell you....I'd never grown them before...received some at our fall RU (those are the ones that are in the pic) and then rec'd a few more at our spring RU. I'm embarrassed to say I didn't do anything special...matter-a-fact when they started coming up I was like Huh? WHAT did I plant there...thank God for DG's journal
Sounds like "sometimers" disease to me Chantell. Sometimes we remember & sometimes we can't! 8 )
I am not a Roseaphile but the Honey Dijon color is wonderful BeaHive! I can only imagine the fragrance ~ just beautiful!
LOL - oh I'm SURE I have it!!!
I cart my old christmas trees off to the woods and although not in 'bloom' the fragrance wafts over every now and again and it is wonderful and 'cooling' on a hot summer's day!!
The magnolia are perfuming the air around our yard this week.