OK, I finally have to ask----is there anyone out there besides me who can't smell freesias? I love the blooms so I have a lot of them, and every spring my neighbors rave about the wonderful fragrance from my plants, but I can't smell them AT ALL!
I'm a TOTAL fragrance junkie. If I have a choice between something that looks good and something that smells good, I'll take the fragrant plant every time.
Also, I HATE the smell of paperwhites---when I planted my first ones, I had to move them far, far away from the house and walkway so I wouldn't have to wonder every time I walked out of the house whether one of the cats had killed a rodent in the garden.
Any other "Fragrance Wierdos" out there like me?
Any Fellow "Fragrance Wierdos" out there?
Ditto, especially on the paperwhites, ugh, I had mine in the house and it smelled like someone peed! I've only tried fressias a couple times but could smell nada day or nite.
Guess that makes me a wierdo too :>}
Vi
I've grown freesias and been able to smell them--I did have to get pretty close to them, it wasn't one of those smells that wafted everywhere but up close they definitely smelled very nice.
ecrane, I've been known to get so close to my freesias that I literally have pollen on my nose....but still no fragrance.
I just ordered some nice-looking blue ones, so it doesn't discourage me---but I have to admit that I just I hate to be missing out on anything...but since I have 4 cats, viola, I have plenty of "pee fragrance" in my life, so I'm not missing out there......LOL!
This message was edited Sep 25, 2008 7:15 PM
This message was edited Sep 25, 2008 7:15 PM
Some plants it seems like newer varieties have lost a lot of their scent, I wonder if that's happened with freesias too? But the ones I bought were just the bags of bulbs that you find at the garden centers in the fall so they weren't some special old fashioned variety, I had one pack of double flowered ones and one of singles in a variety of colors, and they all smelled nice. Some people are unable to smell certain scents too, I know I'm not able to smell musk so I wonder if there's something in freesias that some people can't smell?
Ha ha, I always have pollen on my nose, especially at Lily time. My guy gardening pal came with us gals to a flower show and wound up with a yellow beard -- we threateed to tell his wife he got pollinated by the 4 of us--we laughed till we cried.
Hmmm...gonna have to thunk on this one. I guess we'll go back to my nose being broke after i said I don't detect any scent on my Sweet Autumn Clematis...I'm telling you...my sniffer works with all the rest of my "smell-goods"....the lavender, rosemary, passis, plumies. brugs, gardenias and jasmines....I'm tellin' ya the da-gone SAC I have doesn't have a scent...nadda....
Pollen on the nose???? LOL...been there done that...repeatedly
Lilies are another fragrance I can smell, and wish I couldn't....Stargazer is the one that comes to mind. The blooms are so pretty, and if I get too close I get nauseous. I hate it when people have them in birthday bouquets at the office.
I don't remember if my SAC is fragrant, and it's not doing well enough to bloom this year, sadly. Maybe next year when the watering system is in it will be back.
For the first time I had a tuberose bloom this year----usually I just put the bulbs in and they disappear. The fragrance was WONDERFUL! Seeing how weedy the plant looks, I suppose it's possible I pulled them up in the past...LOL!
I have a volunteer pure white 4-o-clock that's really fragrant, too----oh, and that reminds me of another odd one. I bought a fancy named yellow perennial 4-o-clock (can't think of it) that's supposed to be really fragrant. It blooms beautifully and I can't smell THAT, either!!
Ima, the only freesias that have a decent smell are the heirloom, white ones, and even so, I was very disappointed too! So I don't thing you have a broken nose like Chantell....(hahahah Chantell, I just love this one, I couldn't resist!).
But....I absolutely love the scent of stargazers...humm! I actually always buy some for arrangements whenever I can afford!
There is a rose called "Jude the Obscure" that EVERYONE raves about the scent...so much that I almost bought it online...last spring I came accross it at the nursery and go so excited! I stuck my nose right in a bloom (yeah, I always have pollen on my face too) and I thought the smell was disgusting!!! Go figure!!! I guess we're all weirdos to some extent, broken nose or not!
I'm definitely a fragrance weirdo. Until the age of 30, I could only detect a handful of scents. My nose didn't work right. Since then, my sense of smell has slowly improved even though there are still many, many scents that I can't detect. Sometimes I'll detect scents that don't exist. Such as seeing a picture of a rose on the internet and all of a sudden I smell roses. Or thinking about oranges and then suddenly I smell oranges. The connections between the brain and scent is a strange thing.
Although I can usually detect hyacinths, this year I couldn't. Hubby assured me that they smelled great but I couldn't smell them. Maybe next year.
My calycanthus smell like the applejack that my dad used to make when I was growing up. I don't mind the scent but I doubt if they smell that way to other people.
Sometimes I have trouble detecting the fragrance of my 'Fragrant Cloud' roses but I could detect the sweet scent of my Heptacodium. I can smell my tomato plants---but that's one of the scents that I've always been able to detect.
There are very few times when I can say that I don't like a scent. After living so long without a sense of smell, it truly is a joy to be able to smell anything at all. I can't put into words the awe I still feel when I'm able to detect a scent. And I enjoy the odd times when my brain thinks I'm smelling something that isn't there. It's comical sometimes. Like when I'm driving down a road in winter with the windows up, then I see a stand of cedars a quarter-mile away and it seems like the whole car fills with a strong scent of cedars. I know it's just my weird brain but I enjoy it anyways.
God bless you, velnita!! So glad you're able to enjoy more and more...I can't even imagine!
A fantastic thing is how smell are so directly connected to memories. I sear every single time I smell gardenias I'm immediately taken to our beach house in my childhood.....and I don't even know why!
I hear ya!! LIke burning leaves in fall...or the scent of Cider....mmmm-mmm
Lilacs do that for me----if I get a chance to smell them here. We don't have many because it doesn't get cold enough for them to grow well. If I get a whiff of a lilac, I'm suddenly transported back to Grandma's back yard.
velnita, your "olefactory adventures" are so interesting----I promise I'll never take stinky paperwhite smell for granted again!
Here in California where the seasons aren't so well-defined, there's SOMETHING about the smell of the air in that tells me fall's coming, even when it's still in the 90s. It's not the same as when I was growing up in Colorado (and for SURE no burning leaves allowed here), but it's....ummmm.....like "fall lite"....LOL!
Great thread! there are a lot of things that I cannot seem to smell as well as others!! My tuberose, one of my jasmines, shooting stars 4 o'clock are just a couple that unless your nose is right in them I cannot smell. My freesias smell great but the problem is you have to get on the ground on your stomache to get close enough to smell them. My favorite fragrance is my Angelface rose.
The freesias I had weren't the heirloom white ones, they were multi colors and some were doubles so they were the newer kind and they still smelled nice (although I did have to get close to them to notice the scent). I've never grown the old white ones so I can't compare them, but mine definitely had a nice scent to them. Maybe I just got lucky though!
I love my old-fashoined white nicotianas (until they fall over). And sweet peas, too----they go to seed and die off fast when it gets to 105 here in May, but they smell wonderful while they last!
fragrance can come and go depending on humidity, heat, cold and day and night. Sometimes the bloom only smells fragrant soon after opening.It was explained somewhere that that certain jasmines and yes jonquils have a chemical in them that is present in cat ...ummm ...how do we say it in a lady like fashion ...poo.
So you are not imagining feline excreta undertones in some plants ...kind of like someone drenching themselves in perfume when they are in dire need of a good wash.
There also is an undertone of burn't rubber in some blooms as they age.Some flowers smell wonderful the first day and then sort of sickly off the next day ...very noticable in the heat.
I agree with everyones observations that a sniff of this or that takes you back in time ...I saw a program that explained that it is a primal instinct we have for "smelling danger" ...smell is burn't into the hardwiring of our brain (I guess we could sniff a Mammoth coming up the hill once) ...sense of smell aids in detecting good and bad food too ...basic instinct. Since we don't have to worry about Mammoths any longer we use our noses for pleasure in the garden, many new plants have lost their perfumes ...give me smell over beauty any day, but most of the time we can have both!
I think we may be nose blind to some "notes" in fragrances just like you can be colour blind ...it is also said hormones play a part in how we enjoy "smells" at various times of the month etc ...it is a magical thing fragrance and it's effect on us ...guess that is why red roses are given to a loved one ...from the moment we bury our noses in them and inhale we feel romantic and happy.
I am a serial sniffer and have been all my life.^_^
chrissy
Chrissy, that's very interesting and makes perfect sense to me. What a pretty picture! Is that you? : )
chrissy, I guess I must be "smellerblind" to some scents. But I'm pretty sure I could still detect a mammoth if one were in the neighborhood! Love the photo!
rob, I really like moonflower vine (sight & scent); I had it growing one year, but haven't been able to get it started again for some reason. Maybe next year when the place I want it will get more regular watering. Did you start yours from seed?