I want very much to have fragrance as many months of the year as possible. What is the most fragrant flower in your yard? When does it bloom? What zone are you in? WOW it almost looks like you are taking a test. Sorry. I really am interested in your opinion as to the best plants for fragrance.
In my year the most fragrant flowers are native honeysuckle which blooms in late spring and continues til summer heat kicks in and night blooming jasmine which has been blooming late summer and continues til frost. I live in zone 5.
Thanks so much for responding.
What is the most fragrant flower in your plantings?
Brugs, Butterly Ginger (may not bloom for you since it needs warm temps and needs a long growing season) but just one bloom wafts the yard!
I love my tea olives (apricot scent) blooms intermittently all year long for me, winter honeysuckle bush (stong lemon scent in winter), winter daphnes, Banana Shrubs (spring & fall if you get Skinnerianna) Gardenias, and so many more, lol
Post your zone Kathy!
Vi - she's in zone 5
Let's see for mine (Z7)
Winter: I'm clueless but hoping that the Daphne will bless me with her scent....what a heaven-like fragrance!!!
Spring: Ohhh the Daffy's have a great scent - some more then others...seems the plainer the looks the better the scent. Lilacs are always good for a few weeks. Honeysuckles. Dianthus
Summer: Oriental/Trumpet Lilies, Plumerias (not hardy), Jasmines/Gardenia, Nicotiana 'Fragrant Cloud' (annual - will continue blooming into fall - night scented), almost forgot Stock (another annual but SO worth it!!
Fall: Brugs seem to still be blooming, Tuberoses (not hardy) are blooming by fall time. Night blooming Epis (not hardy - night scented),
Lavenders and Rosemary - spring thru fall
This message was edited Nov 24, 2008 1:14 PM
1)Michelia champaca; I live in zone 9b/10a. Flwr-Jun-Sep. Its scent is hypnotic, without poison. 2nd Jasminum sambac var. Grand Duke (Rose jasmine) flwr. Jun-Oct; 3rd J. molle flwr Jun-Oct; 4th J. officinale var. Flore Pleno flwr. all year; 5th Aglaia odorata, still in a pot and now 7 ft high. flwr all year off and on.
I miss the Eleagnus fragrance that's best from Orlando and north.Flwr Oct-Dec. They grow here, never see them flower or detect fragrance.
The white-cream colored Brunfelsias are nice, flwr. Jun-Nov.
I'd rank the Trachelospermums, Brugmansias, Daturas, Hedychiums, Cestrums, Crinums nicely similar in fragrance and flwr May-Nov.
Raphiolepsis indica have nice fragrance similar to Eleagnus. They flower Mar-May. There's a fragrant Spathaphyllum at Selby Gardens that flowers year round with the same scent.
This is going great. These posts will give all of us who are looking for fragrance some new varieties to look up and try.
Hmmmm....the Crinums...a few of you have mentioned those....I'm thinkin' I NEED some...LOL
Well, I'm in the near-sub tropics, so most of what I can plant won't do well outside up north, but you might try some as a houseplant.
Strongest fragrance-definitely the orange jasmine. Of course, I've got so darn much of it...
Sweetest fragrance? A tossup between my coconut blooms, my banana blooms and my little stars orchid.
I do miss the scent of lilacs though!
Come spring I might try to talk you out of some of that orange jasmine. I would definitely miss lilacs. My favorite time in spring is when I bring an armload of lilac blossoms in for vases throughout the house.
WOW, I didn't realize we had this forum! Thanks so much for starting this thread!
My DD is 2 and LOVES all flowers. It's so sad, the dear goes to smell so many of them and most have NO scent at all. I try to tell her but she still pretends they do and says they all smell nice. I'd love to build her a "real" garden that is full of beautiful sweet smelling flowers. I'll be happy to follow along this thread. :)
I am glad that you found us. The thread is getting a slow start but there is plenty now to chose from and start planning for spring. Perhaps next summer your little one will understand why you are smelling the flowers.
:)
Kathy, I'd be delighted to share some of my orange jasmine! It's so common down here that no one asks for cuttings, but I'll start some up for you, and come spring they should be ready to make the long journey north.
I grew up on Long Island, and my mom's friend had huge Lilac bushes. So we always had vases full of fresh lilac all over the house. The scent is still one of my faves.
Ah the lilac, "almost" impossible to have in Texas. :( It is one of the most fragrant flowers to!
Gardenia, mockorange,osmanthus fragrance,seven son(yum),clerodendrum tricottimum,korean spice viburnum, honey suckle,jasmin, daphney,and a close cousin edgeworithy crysanthy(SP)
Mike
seven son(yum), Mike????? Hmmmm....going to google
How about Clethra? Blooms in summer.
Chantell believe me you will like seven son.The bark is interesting, and the growth habbit is one any one can use for accent plant.Mike
I found it, Mike and yes, it sounds like something I'd like...issue is becoming space-related...esp. if the shrub like plants I put in last year (Daphne, mock orange, korean spice, & abelia - won't even mention the gardenias) continue to thrive...LOL. Keep meaning to ask the neighbor's if I can rent some yard space...dang, townhouses...just not enough space. My son (16 y.o.) asked what I wanted for Christmas...I told him build me a mini trellis to go over the top of the stairs of the deck...I was thinking maybe sweetpeas or something along those lines...a vine but not a heavy duty one like the passis that are on a trellis over the bottom of the deck stairs. Anything to create more space to grow things...ya know? I have no pride. LOL ^_^
Four O'Clocks (Mirabilis jalapa) have a gentle, sweet scent. A planting along a fence, perhaps 10feet long, will scent your whole yard. Also, with the new varieties available, they are absolutely gorgeous! Down here, in Zone 8b, they do best in afternoon shade, with twice weekly waterings.
Moonflower (Ipomoea alba) are fabulously scented, and in a mixed planting in a sunny location, with Morning Glorys (Ipomoea ***), totally stunning!
Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima) makes a great front border, or you could plant a little 'pasture' of it. Also, by sowing your seeds approximately 2 weeks apart, you'll have blooms all summer.
i can't think of any more off the top of my head, but hope this helps!
That would be awesome carolyn I would love to have some orange jasmine! We will definitely do some swapping come spring. I am looking forward to it.
Looks like suggestions have slowed down over the holidays. I am working on my spring orders for the gardens. I am spending much time in the plant files and google to research the suggestions here and decide what will do best in my yard and what tenders I can make room to keep indoors during next winter. I look forward to some trading in a couple of months if anyone has fragrants to share.
Sadly this forum seems to slow down a bit this time of year...probably many of the others do as well with nothing to report. Another way to pass the time and come up with new ideas is to search ebay's plant category with fragrant as the search term - check the box below it so that if "fragrant" is in listing it'll come up for you as well. It's a nice way to come up with some ideas at least.
Daphne, and winter honeysuckle are here at the right time, and they open your sinus.
Mike
I miss Lilacs! I really do, we had them when we lived in Western NY. I'm a transplanted Yankee!
carolyn If you have any of that Orange Jasmine left over I would love to try it in my garden
Mike - when does the Daphne bloom for you? I've got one finally and it's doing great...I cant' wait...this has been years in coming
Yes, the butterfly ginger have the best and strongest fragrance and I think tea olive smells like peaches.
Jasmine too - edited - I meant jasmine have best fragrance, not that they smells like peaches. LOL!
This message was edited Dec 29, 2008 10:24 PM
I just bought a tea olive, I have the butterfly ginger on my wish list
Nicole - peaches? Really? Gonna have to go take a sniff of the one that has some blooms on it now...all I know is I LOVE them!!! And I'm gonna keep whining every time someone mentions the butterfly ginger...at least till mine finally bloom...FOUR years this spring...seriously!! I swear I'll feed them to death if need be!!!
Darla - what type of Tea Olive did you get?
this was the tag on it
Fragrant Tea Olive
Aceituna Dulce
Osmanthus fragrans
Darla, send me a dmail in the spring and I will send you some butterfly ginger. They multiply like rabbits. And I might have some of those orange jasmine seeds. Let me look if you don't get them from the other DG.
Chantell, how long have you had your ginger? Mine did not bloom in the container and the ones I have planted in the sun do better than the ones in the shade, although I do get some flowers from the ones in the shade (but not this summer for some reason).
Yours will be fine to put in the ground. They do die down completely in the winter and you may need to heavy mulch that area, but I think they will be fine.
There are different type of tea olive? I don't have any, but one of my neighbor has one and it smells incredible when I walk by them. I can't remember when his bloom, may be May? They remind me of the plantations I use to visit growing up in Charleston, SC.
Nicole - mine's been in the ground - part sun though as they were looking fried in full sun...maybe I'll trim up the branches above their heads so they get a bit more sun into the afternoon. This spring will be spring #4 for them, I believe. As for the Tea Olive astcgirl and someone else raved about the scent of the Osmanthus fragrans "Fudingzhu" which after much time searching realized that http://www.nurcar.com/featurdPlants/html/osmanthus.html was the only place I could find it. Used my Christmas gift $$ to purchase that one and the Osmanthus fragrans aurantiacus since the 2nd one could be planted in the ground here. The "Fudingzhu" has some blooms opening up now and ahhhh, what a beautiful scent. Here's their page in DG watchdog http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/3285/
Darla - depending on how mine over winter I might be able to spare some orange jasmine cuttings...just remind me if you'd like to try rooting some. As for your Tea Olive you'll have to let us know how her blooms smell when the time comes. I can't find anything on google about that particular Osmanthus
That's not too bad of a price. I may have to get me one. Thanks for the info.
As for your butterfly ginger, I don't know why yours are not blooming. So sad. Mine are maintenance free and neglected. I will be glad to send you some in the spring too if you'd like. They all die down in the winter, but I can dig them in the spring. Just send me a dmail and remind me. It does look sad in the sun, but once they have water, they perked right back up.
I brought a cutting over for my neighbor and she did not know what it was. When she saw me the next day, she said that the fragrance filled her whole house and it smelled kind of "spicey". When I told her it was a ginger, she nodded.
Ohhhh "spicy" - my favorite of all favorite scents!! Mine are plenty big enough...both of them even sent up 2 stalks a piece this past summer. Someone mentioned feeding them well...so I'm going to go with that notion since all else has failed. Most the time when I threaten to get rid of something - it thrives the following season...I kid you not!! LOL I was extremely pleased with those 2 Tea Olive size and health...both listed as 1 gal but are easily 3 ft tall and the one in bud to boot!!! Both could be potted up to a 3 gal with as large as their root balls are! They do have a min order of $30 (I believe) and shipping may seem high but that was a fairly heavy box that I rec'd and it wasn't from packing...it was the plants themselves!!! I think you'd be very happy ordering from them - very nice folks!!
May be I can find a GA gardening friend that migh want to go in on one.
Excellent idea!!! If not just grab the "Fudingzhu" and one of the others that you might be interested in. If I think about it, I'll take a pic of them in the morning so you can see what I mean by size!! They also have a great selection of Gardenias, if I remember correctly. Their catalog is quite large - only avail online but certainly fun to window shop through.
Very DANGEROUS! ^_^
I didn't know this we had this forum either, and I'm glad to have found it with this thread!!!
My 3 favorite fragrant plants that I have now, are (they're beautiful too)....
Agastaches!
Lavender!
'Miss Kim' Lilac!
I really love all Agastaches! They're fragrant, beautiful, attract Hummingbirds and/or Butterflies, long blooming, and low maintenance. I just gotta have them in the garden! Each year, I add more and more Agastaches (Hummingbird Mint). They're not invasive like 'Mint' is, by the way.
Lavenders are a 'must have' in every garden! I love them! They're also, fragrant, beautiful, attract Butterflies, pretty sure most varieties are long blooming, and low maintenance.
You just have know the soil and growing conditions for both Agastaches and Lavenders. A good place to find these 2 types of plants are at High Country Gardens. That's where I started buying from them in Spring 2005. http://www.highcountrygardens.com/
http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/28/
It's also a Dave's Garden Watchdog 30 company.
I have 2 fragrant 'Miss Kim' Lilacs growing in my yard that I planted a few years ago from one gallon pots. Each year they get more beautiful! I also get more fragrant blooms!
Marilyn
This message was edited Dec 29, 2008 11:51 PM
Big ole welcome to you, Marilyn!! I agree...have to have my lavenders and lots of them!!!
Nicole - LOL...ok, I measured the smaller of the 2 sweet olives and she was just over 30" - here's a pic - not great but gives you an idea - that's a 6" pot to her left.
