Don't hate me...my brugs are all set to flush big time. I'm 99% sure this is Cypress Gardens and her scent is more than purdy.
Vi
Part Deux: Breathe deep & tell us what smells wonderful...
oooooo Vi, just gorgeous. Do you have it in a pot?
Yep, she's a great one for a pot, never have seen her get real tall, just 4-5'. I've had her 4 years now, tried her in the ground but she blooms better in pots. Even tho she's an old-time, non-fancy gal, I keep her for her robust bloom and great scent which is more lily than brug. She's one I slip into my sun room to enjoy until Christmas. She also usually turns peachy in the fall--will post again if she does.
Sooo pretty!!!! ^_^
Vi, that's awesome! I received a white brug at a trade and it already rooted, it's about a foot tall now. I wonder how long it takes a cutting to get to blooming size?
That's good information, V. I have many types now, and never sure which to keep in pots and which to plant. Helps me decide, though, if it gets to be 8' tall in the pot.............
all these wonderful Brug's look like they are in the warmer zones: Fla, Calif, etc.......How would a tar-heel (NC)in zone 7 enjoy (& obtain!) one?
Rob, hope you got your mail.
Fauna, with the drought here, I've been keeping mine mostly in pots so I can keep them watered well. Rosamond has always been my tallest at 8-9'. Now keep the taller ones close to the house for shelter from the dang storm winds, it broke my heart a few years back when she snapped in 2 while loaded with blooms.
Birdie, you have mail also.
hello everybody. We had heavy rains in Richmond the week prior Gustav and apparently the night blooming cestrum was particularly appreciative. My two plants are full of blooms and last night the intoxicating fragrance-fest started. ahhh. When I first planted NBC I was rather disappointed in its performance and I see many have had similar experience, but pls don't give up on this plant, it just needs a llittle time. In my garden it is a rather thirsty plant, so keep that in mind.
brugs area also working on another flush. rosa Sweet Chariot is also in bloom. Everybody should try this one, even if you don't do roses. After growing one, you will feel differently about roses and become a rosaholic, guaranteed. One good feature about SC is that it can grow in a pot.
Whew....we're gettin' them today...and how...hoping my NBJ is as appreciative as your was Nery! What does Sweet Chariot smell like? Just got my first Brug blooms on a CG someone had shared
gee C, i dunno. I would say a traditional rose smell, but rather strong, considering it is a miniature rose. I am trying to find some real estate in my garden where I can plant 3-4 in a row for some truly righteous fragrance. My CG from Gardenguykin is blooming also.
It's really difficult trying to define the smell of a rose. There is one called "Jude the Obscure" whose fragrance everyone raves about. Well, I'm glad I never bought one (I almost did) because when I came across one at the nursery I hated the smell!
This is Lavender Simplicity. Amazing old rose fragrance!
And this one is for my little friend Chantell! You would luuuve the fragrance...These four blooms graced me with their fragrance and beauty last night...
Are those moonflowers? Sadly what I thought was a moonflower bud must have been something else maybe a MG???
Nery - LOL - I thought you were referring to a Brug not a rose....duh...my brain..you know...MIA
Chantell - That is a Moonflower vine. What does your vine and bloom look like?
All sorts of yummies in my garden today.....
First off is Improved Banana Shrub....Michelia Skinneriana
Edited: to correct the name of this plant....it is the skinneriana not the figo
This message was edited Sep 12, 2008 2:44 PM
I posted this on the Rangoon Creeper thread but it has such an amazing scent....I can't stop going out for "sniff breaks" during the day....I wasn't too happy when I bought it, the scent was eh.....but now that it's established in my garden and sending out fresh blooms everywhere I'm impressed. This is my new favorite plant right now.
Next up is my Dwarf Tree Jasmine....radermachera kunming....it smells like Hubba Bubba gum to me...although you do have to put your nose into it...it bloomed about 3 weeks ago and I thought it was done but new buds showed up ontop of the old blooms and here it is again blooming.
Pakalana Vine.....Telosma Cordata. These flowers are always hidden beneath the leaves but they smell wonderful, it's a strong scent, ants are always hanging inside the flower but I've never had a problem with aphids or pests, I think they just love the smell.
I only have the one bud open so far....will post again when they all open. I can't wait.
Bishops Castle rose is blooming with it's lovely rosey scent. Compared to all my other roses, it's hanging in there. I have over 40 roses but this year has been horrible, blackspot and thrips have taken over and I'm seriously considering replacing them all with tropicals and easy care plants.
Butterfly bush....gorgeous honey scent to me....but boy is this a slow grower for me, I have to bend all the way down to the ground to smell it.
Ixora Fragrans also bloomed but i'm not thrilled on the scent....it's "sneezy" to me....although my neighbor loves the smell.
ASTCgirl- what lovely, lovely pictures. I didn't realize that the Radermachera was fragrant. I had some seeds that I don't think ever germinated, so that goes back on my wish list.
ASTCgirl - what beautiful pictures. Will any of them grow as houseplants?
astcgirl, I was quite impressed w/ your white ixora and went googling. top tropical even shows there is a variegated one. ahhh. Does your white look similar to the common yellow and red? I have never seen a white one.
Ixoras do wonderfully (winter and summer) everybody's yard in my county, except for mine. I am on my third red one and vowed I wouldn't buy any more. But this third ixora is struggling along, as if begging me to spare its life. Still, it is nothing compared to the many beautifu shurbs around me. ugh!
Wow, I love all your fragrant plants Astgirl! You really got me into adding Michelia figo and Rangoon creeper to my wish list! How large does the michelia get?
i want to know about michelia a. too
Thanks for the comments on the beautiful pictures....I got a new camera and all these blooms decided they wanted their picture taken!
Thank you F4F, I got the Radermachera kunming from Tops, i'm pretty impressed with this cute little plant...it's related to the other Radermachera Sinica...aka China Doll which is a common houseplant, this one however does smell....
I think tops write up....They are extremely fragrant, the scent resembles roses, juicy fruit, candies, fine cologne all together and can be smelled from many yards away....is a little extreme, but it got my attention. It really does smell like all those scents. Has never had a bug or pest problem to date.
BirdieBlue, I"m not sure which ones you could have as a house plant, since the Radermachera kunming is related to the China Doll (common Houseplant) maybe it would be ok next to a bright window. The Rangoon and the Pakalana Vine are both climbers so they need a fence or trellis.....but from reading so many people's comments on Dave's Garden, it wouldn't surprise me if someone has some of these as houseplants, sometimes we'll do anything we can to get the scent of these blooms. Maybe someone else from your climate with comment that they have had these as houseplants. I'm hopeless at houseplants, all I can keep alive indoors is African Violets and they get alot of neglect, I always end up killing all my houseplants.
I know this is the Fragrant forum but i just couldn't resist, this hibiscus makes up for no scent with it's colors.
Hello Vossner, I got the Ixora from Gardino's Nursery, he explained to me that there are three different types of fragrant Ixoras. I. fragrans, I. odorata, and I. finlaysonianum. Ixora odorata is nothing special. The other two are similar, but I. fragrans seems to grow better.
My next door neighbor has the whole front of her house hedged in red ixora's...she has many people that stop by to ask her what they are. When I compare her's to mine I notice that fragran's petals are more narrow, different leaves also and then the scent. The white needs more shade however than the colored ones, in the sun the leaves scorched really badly. I have it in a pot at the moment as I'm trying to find the right place before I put it down.
robcorreia, yes please add Rangoon Creeper and the magnolia figo....they are to die for.....the magnolia figo smells like rich banana rum to me, just yummy. I have about 4 of them in pots, one of them is the skinneriana which is supposed to be the "improved banana shrub", so far I haven't been able to tell the difference...actually I'm not even quite sure which of my plants is the "improved" one. I guess mine are all still quite small and I only get graced with a few blooms. Mine are all about 1-2 ft tall in pots but I have seen tree's here on Daves so I guess they can get quite large.
Just went to look which one was flowering...apparently it was the skinneriana, the plant files say that the "improved banana shrub" bloom longer and also the flowers last longer than a day. So since mine is blooming now I guess it does have a longer bloom period. I guess I"ll have to plant this in the ground to see it really take off.
Michelia Skinneriana (Banana Shrub) ah yes, the absolute best for that yummy banana rum fragrance that wafts. I've been growing these in my zone for 2-3 years now. Also have a Figo that blooms spring only and loses it's leaves in fall. M. Skinneriana however has been evergreen, grows faster, blooms much longer than Figo in the spring and reblooms in fall, I'm waiting for buds now--absolutely can't wait!
Heard that last year the commercial Skinneriana cutting crop failed, so it may take a while to come on the market again, at least here in GA.
BTW, found seeds on my Figo in the last few weeks and planted them--you have to looks close to find them until they break open as bright orange! Please wish me luck at growing them, I'd love a hedge of Banana Shrubs to enclose my gardens.
Thanks for that information Violabird....I'm still new to the Banana Shrub. I do enjoy the scent so much, I just wish it would grow up already and bloom more...LOL. I doubt I'd get seeds since I only have the one bloom, but thanks for mentioning it I'll keep a lookout when ever it's blooming.
Good luck at the seeds
Vi, is the fragrance of M. Skinneriana the same as M. figo? I heard Michellias are really slow when it comes to blooming?
"I think tops write up...They are extremely fragrant, the scent resembles roses, juicy fruit, candies, fine cologne all together and can be smelled from many yards away...is a little extreme, but it got my attention. It really does smell like all those scents. Has never had a bug or pest problem to date."
Astgirl, which plant are you referring to above? I must add it to my wishlist too!
sorry for not being clear Robcorreia it's the Dwarf Tree Jasmine...radermachera kunming
OK! Another one for my list, ehhe
so is banana shrub a shrub or a tree? Is it like Ligustrum, that some people grow as shrub but others grow as a small tree?
I'm impressed violabird' comments that she would surround her house in these shrubs. must be delicious! and makes me want one or two or three.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/60770/
Well, I just looked at the PlantFiles info and looks like I've had mine for 4 years! The first one I saw was about 8'x8' and was at the U of Ga Garden, I was there for a plant sale and could smell it coming from waaaaay down the hill and hunted it down, lol. I carried the blooms around all day just sniffing to my heart's content.
I got the "Improved" version first, then went on a misssion to find more. I hooked up with some Nursery folks that had it. It just so happened that the Georgia Roundup was near that nursery, so I led everyone there and after sniffing their big shrub they were shortly sold out of it! The "Port Wine" variety has not done well for me or my friends--they just die.
Rob, to answer your question, I don't know how 'old' the shrubs were, but the ones I bought were only about 18" and bloomed. I see you sure rushed to put yourself on the "wanted" list!
I do plan to sacrifice a few bottom cuttings and see if I can get them to take, wish me luck! We have a member here Mike (mqiq77) that had sucess in propating some, don't remember which one, but he used a mix of sand and peat (Just in case anyone happens to find one in a public garden, lol)
If memory serves, I think the scents differ just a little bit, Figo smells more like juicy-fruit + banana whereas the other is banana rum--or vice-versa. Also the Figo's don't hold their blooms very long-they are easy to shatter. No matter, just one bloom will scent your yard, just like the Butterfly Ginger.
Wow, now that's my kind of scent!!! The one you can smell before you even know where it's coming from, humm!
Here's a pic of my M. Figo, now almost 5' from an 18" plant 4 years ago. And talk about not knowing where the scent came from, you can always smell it before you spot it. Saving the photo of my "Improved" for when and if she blooms again ;>}
This message was edited Sep 13, 2008 5:26 PM
