Can anybody suggest some tropical plants preferably a small tree for a pot that will give me a Chocolate smell.
I have many other fragrant plants and small trees but they are all a variation on the sweet jasmin like smell to me , Would love something different or unusual play with. Full sun works best for me here in Key West.
Thanks Neil
Chocolate mmmmmmm
Five leaf akebia has a chocolate scent, but spreads wildly and can be more vine than you want....
Hmm!! I can't think of any tree but only small plants such as chocolate mint or chocolate daisy.
Don't know for sure, but what about the cacao tree (Theobroma cacao)?
Thanks
I checked out Theobroma cacao and although the seeds produce chocolat no fragrance.
Five leaf akebia doesn't seem to like the tropics.
If not chocolat, does anybody else know of a small (tropical) tree/shrub that has an unusual smell maybe a strong citrus fragrance
Oh sorry to hear that. Have you considered a mock orange? Choisya ternata, or Mexican orange blossom would be the one. I have only smelled mock orange bushes that are hardy here, Philadelphus coranarius, what a fragrance! However, not very tropical looking. The Mexican orange blossom looks much prettier.
Murraya paniculata 'Lakeview' has a wonderful citrus like scent.
http://www.mgonlinestore.com/Lakeview/
Have lakeview in front and back gardenand I love them,
....I know im being fussy, but everything I have has a sweet fragrance and Im trying to find something that will stand out from the sweet smell.
If you're willing to move away from it having to be a tree or shrub, there are lots of scented mints and scented geraniums that I think will have the distinct scents that you're looking for.
There's a Dublin in CA.........my home town a world away,
I find that trees and shrubs are hardier in this climate, one day of sumer sun and I can loose a plant.
Im going to check out the Geranium forum...Thanks
I have a feeling the real Dublin is much nicer!
One other thought on finding a tree or shrub--if you go to Top Tropicals website, they have some weird unusual stuff (and they're in FL so their stuff should grow fine for you) and a lot of the plants are fragrant and they include pretty good descriptions of the scent. So if there's some tree or shrub out there that has a nice but not sweet scent I think they'd be the ones to have it (you might even be able to email them and ask if they have any suggestions for you)
Oooh...I think I may have just found something for you! I get Top Tropicals email newsletter when they get new plants, just got the latest one this morning, and in the list of new plants is one called Cubanola/Portlandia which is a small tree that they say has flowers that smell like warm chocolate!
Unfortunately it's very expensive.
http://toptropicals.com/cgi-bin/garden_catalog/cat.cgi?uid=Cubanola_domingensis
They also have another Portlandia species that they say also smells like chocolate which is half the price of that one (but still kind of expensive unless you can go smell it first to make sure it's what you want!)
http://toptropicals.com/cgi-bin/garden_catalog/cat.cgi?uid=Portlandia_latifolia
They have locations in Ft. Lauderdale and Punta Gorda--not sure if either of those are close to you but if they are you could at least go and see if you can smell it in person--even though they smell like chocolate, I'm suspecting that they still smell pretty sweet so it may not be the right scent for you.
How about an Orchid? Sharry Baby has the scent of Godiva Chocolate.
Then there are Clematis, Montana 'Elizabeth' has a hot coco scent to me, not vanilla. http://www.donahuesclematis.com/montana.html
Thank you so much (Dub) That's what we like to call people who live in Dublin
I knew someone would find me something cool.
I just put myself on their list too. Im going to go up to Ft Lauderdale next weekend and plan to check them out before i spend .......more money....its always the same for the unusual stuff I want. I'll keep you posted
The one tree is slow growing , and I dont know if I can look at a stick for too long.
Voilabird, I'll have to check out Clematis in the tropics.
Thanks
Neil
Funny how much the Cubanola looks like a Brug!
I don't need another plant!! I don't need another plant!!!!!!
Neil, based on my experience with the plants I've gotten from Top Tropicals you won't be looking at a stick at all--their plants are generally pretty large and full (which is why their prices are a lot more than many mail order places). It obviously won't be 10 ft tall right away, but I think it's got a good chance of looking good in the garden fairly quickly.
Citronella?
Lemon grass?
Not cloying sweet.
As for the chocolate..."Berlandiera lyrata is the most chocolately-smelling of all chocolate-scented plants. A night bloomer, so your garden will smell like cocoa in the morning. Zone 4-10. Full Sun."
Found it online. Never smelled it personally. I think someone else mentioned it already. Also known as chocolate daisy.
Cestrum Diurnam has the fragrance of milk chocolate. Its a shrub/tree. You can keep it small by pruning. Mine is about 15' as I'm using it for shade. An added pleasure is that the butterflies use it for nectar. the flowers are tubular and white. The seeds are easily germinated.
Portlandia Grandiflora's fragrance is also of milk chocolate. The flowers are trumpet shaped and pure white. Quite beautiful. Mine does not flush out as much as I'd like it to.
Pelargoniums have lots of fragrances, one is supposed to have a chocolate mint fragrance. I just have a mint one. It's sometime called scented geranium, but I'm not sure it is a true geranium.
Cinnamomum zeylancium might also be of interest but you have to keep it in check height-wise. But it is very unusual. The dried bark is used to produce cinnamon; the leaves smell of cloves.
It isn't a tree but I ran into some choc. cosmos and they smell just like choc.
Michigan bulb company had some chocolate cosmos. said to be very fragrant. Fran
Oh thank you all so much, I have foun most of them on line and will be ready to start a Choc garden in the Autunm once Hurricane season passes.
Neil
Berlandiera lyrata does smell like chocolate, but I had to get down to smell it. I only had one plant tho. I got it from High Prairie Gardens. It lived a few years and died out. I am going to plant it again.