C'ville Gardener, I've been away a while, but I've a question (going back to milkweed a moment, if you don't mind). You said: The common milkweed pictured above, Asclepias syriaca, is one I grow and know to be nicely fragrant. It can be a bit of a thug unless you keep it pulled but I don't find it difficult to pull.
Forgive my ignorance, but by pulling, do you mean getting up volunteers, please? Thanks so much!
What is the most fragrant flower in your plantings?
My July favorite. The scent of 4-o-clocks is somewhere between honeysuckles and jonquils to me. The Deep Sea Crinum are wonderful now, but their blooming is the result of cooler than normal temps. This is the first year I've known them to bloom in July. Their usual bloom time in this area is May and again in late October. 4-o-clocks are always around this time of year.
Some of my favorites: this weeks bloom;
1) Dianthus
Left) D. X Loveliness, 12-18"
Right) D. grationopolitanus Ceddar Pinks 6-10"
2) Penstemon palmerii, the only fragrant penstemon 48"
3) Valariana officinalis 48"
YUMMMMMMM, these fill the air with such sweet fragrances!!
This message was edited Jul 8, 2013 8:42 PM
It's a tossup.
Rose Jude the Obscure
Rose The Ingenious Mr. Fairchild
And Rose Jacquelyn DuPre
Barb, yes pull volunteers of milkweed if it grows anywhere you do not want it. It sends out underground runners. It pulls very easily and in my garden, this is not such a chore.
I have oriental lily blooming that is scenting the entire garden.
Lovely picture lavender - it looks like Casa Blanca!
I bought it in a mix, but I think it is casa Blanca too. Very strong scent!
Casa Blanca is one of the best!
At this time, the hybrid tea 'Falling in Love' is most fragrant. The scent is classic rose with just a touch of fruitiness.
What a beautiful rose!
Not now planted in our garden, but I have to mention the tuberose (polianthes tuberosa) that I recall from my grandmother's flowerbeds.Probably my favorite, even now. I also appreciate the smell of the Texas mountain laurel (Sophora secundiflora) which grows wild in our area. The scent of the flowers reminds me of grape candy. The flowers and seeds are poisonous, however.
This message was edited Jul 19, 2014 1:04 PM
Right now it's the Oriental Lily 'Sorbonne'. I had the fun of buying six at a greatly reduced cost, and I bring one into the house every few days. They stay in bloom a long time both outside and in because the petals have nice substance. Not overpowering, as some Orientals can be. Sweet and refreshing at the same time.
Quote from cactusman8 :
Not now planted in our garden, but I have to mention the tuberose (polianthes tuberosa) that I recall from my grandmother's flowerbeds.Probably my favorite, even now. I also appreciate the smell of the Texas mountain laurel (Sophora secundiflora) which grows wild in our area. The scent of the flowers reminds me of grape candy. The flowers and seeds are poisonous, however.
This message was edited Jul 19, 2014 1:04 PM
YES! The tuberose. Ah! I have a row in the garden each year and I can expect them to be blooming in early August in zone 6. At 7 in the evening, their fragrance permeates the air. Heaven scent! Come October I will mow them off and lift their bulbs and dry and store for winter in anticipation of replanting come spring.
Today I watched a segment on Gibb's Gardens in GA. The owner talked about the Paper Bush being one of his favorites. I looked it up and I think it was for zones 7-10. That leaves me out. Sounded wonderful!
Look for winter's gold or snow cream. -- I think you can grow it in protected site
The fragrance is heavenly (matched in my opinion by daphne) deer don't touch either. Daphne and this do not like wet feet - don't mind moisture but no sitting in it. I can keep cut edgeworthia ( paper bush ) in house for several weeks and the fragrance is wonderful.
From Louis the plant Geek:
The fragrant flowers of Edgeworthia demand nose-to-blossom appreciation. Judging by the shrub's likely ultimate size in your climate—see "Size" above—site close enough so some of the mature stem tips will be right at hand to a visitor standing on an adjacent pathway or patch of lawn, and yet not extend so far, or so numerously, that the shrub will become an obstruction. Edgeworthia doesn't lend itself to much pruning, especially that which is only needed because the shrub was planted too close to the edge of its bed. Instead, plant to have perfect close-range viewing when the shrub is five to ten years old; in the meanwhile, provide any needed access into the bed by laying a few stepping stones. Remove them as the shrub increases its outward reach.
Siting to enhance hardiness must trump all else if you're experimenting with establishing Edgeworthia in climates colder than Zone 7. Ideally, the best location for hardiness would also be the best for easy enjoyment of the flowers. Is there a sheltered location that is also convenient (enough) to a walkway or a doorway to the house? When in doubt, go for the location that can provide the most hardiness enhancers listed, below, in "How to handle it: Another option—or two!"
When hardiness isn't a problem (sigh), Edgeworthia can be sited prominently regardless of its exposure. What could be better, year-round, than a mature shrub at the center of a courtyard? A whole group of them at the center of an even larger courtyard.
Culture
Sun to part shade in rich moisture-retentive soil with good drainage. More sun is best when growing in climates at the cold end of the hardiness range; more shade is best in milder climates, especially if they are also hot.
How to handle it: The Basics
Plant in Spring, ensuring enough water to enable the shrub to establish. Edgeworthia normally doesn't need formative or maintenance pruning (apart from cutting off any Winter-killed tips); let the shrub grow on its own. Established shrubs are self-reliant except during the most extended drought, or if planted in soil that isn't sufficiently moisture-retentive.
How to handle it: Another option—or two?
The unusual flowers, long period of bloom at the very beginning of the new season, and the bloom's fragrance all make Edgeworthia irresistible, and therefore a tempting experiment for gardeners in climates colder than Zone 7b. Maximize your chances for successful establishment by implementing as many as possible of the following steps.
1. Don't attempt to establish small-size shrubs. If necessary, grow in a container for a year, or for years, until the shrub is several feet tall.
2. Plant in humus-rich soil that is on a slope, no matter how small; if there's no other option, create the slope by planting at the crest of a small mound. As usual, good drainage enhances Winter hardiness. It's fine for surface water to be present during and after heavy rains, as long as the water isn't hanging around. Water that's moving through is fine even if, for a while, there's a lot of it.
3. Plant in full sun, so that new growth is most likely to be maximally hardened by the time severe weather arrives in Winter.
4. Site with all possible shelter at the East and the North, to reduce the severity of wind that, typically, is colder than that from the South or West. Does your house have a South- or West-facing alcove? Is there a fence that extends from the North corner of a West-facing wall?
5. Site with low evergreen shrubs across the front of the Edgeworthia, so that sweeping winds that approach frontally don't have full access to the base of the shrub.
6. After the foliage has been shed for the Winter, mound around the base of the shrub with several inches of gravel or sand; because shrubs begin flowering even when small, you'll want to leave the tips of the stems exposed. Using gravel or sand as an overwintering mulch ensures that there is less moisture around the base of the plant than there would be if a mulch of bark or leaves were used. Remove this mulch in earliest Spring, while blooming is still in process and new leaves haven't yet emerged.
7. Place evergreen boughs atop the gravel or sand mound; if possible, mound them up nearly to the tips of the bud-laden Edgeworthia branches. Poke them through one another, as well as through the Edgeworthia branches, to help anchor them. The boughs will buffer wind, and hence reduce wind-chill, without impeding air-flow that will help keep the surface of the shrub's branches (and the mound around its base) from becoming waterlogged. Remove the branches in late Winter or early Spring, before new foliage emerges.
If the "luck" that was created, mostly, by hard work and careful planning in following steps 1 - 7 above, enables your Edgeworthia to establish, you can experiment in successive years with lessening the amount of protective mulch and boughs.
If a subsequent Winter is—surprise!—severe, and substantial die-back occurs, don't give up. Edgeworthia can resprout from very low. Wait until new growth appears before pruning Winter-killed tips.
If your shrub has become old enough to sucker, those can take over if the mother shrub is killed to the ground. (Edgeworthia is propagated by division or by cuttings, not by grafting.) If Winter is regularly severe enough to kill the tips of branches, this means that the flower-buds are killed, too. An Edgeworthia that hardly ever flowers is, perhaps, not worth all the effort.
Doubt that I have that protected of a site. But will give it some thought.
I live in Australia, in the state of New South Wales. I have lots of perfumed plants in my garden. I am equivilant to your zone 9/10 I think. Paulownia tomentosa has foxglove like panicles of flowers that hang down with brown spots in the throat. Lovely perfume. Flower in spring here. September. My Catalpa bignoides or Indian Bean tree has panicles of flowers smelling like Hubba Bubba chewing gum. Flowers spring. Lonicera fragrantissima or winter flowering honeysuckle is a shrub. Beautiful lemon scent pervades the garden in July/August. Gardenia thunbergii just flowered for the first time. Perfumed the entire garden. I waited twenty years for it though! The roses are perfumed. Mr Lincoln, Firefighter, Papa Meilland, Sombrieul and Devoniensis to name a few. Daphne it goes without saying.
It sounds heavenly.
I have a friend who moved to New Zealand three years ago and in preparation we used to watch "Gardening Australia".
I understand that New South Wales has an incredibly diverse climate. It seems to encompass most of the climates of the United States. Yours sounds wonderful.
My Duchesse de Parme Violas are fading, but still far more fragrant than normal viola odorata. my lilac may be the most powerful fragrance right now, and I really adore it, but the new star rising should be the Shima Daijin Peonie - it only starts opening right now, but the bud already started spreading it's perfume.
I'm trying Mirabilis longiflora for the first time this year and I'm really hoping for some special fragrance in late summer nights. The ones I'm looking forward to which are not that far away are my Honeysuckle and the two elderberries. Agastaches are lovely, but a bit fragile here in my 7a.
Right now, the Chinese Fringe tree is the garden's scent champ.
My confederate jasmine, one of my most fragrant plants, has been in full bloom for a while now. The entire yard all the way out to the street smells of perfume, and last night I noticed that even my indoor/outdoor cat is scented with the stuff. I don't know how the cat got it on his coat, unless maybe he got in the stuff while climbing the back fence, but he smells so wonderful now when I put his coat up against my cheek. :-)
My Lily of the Valley has been blooming for some time now and it permeates the air and is heavenly.
Charleston, SC - I can almost smell your jasmine. YUMMY!
Not familiar with the violas that are so fragrant. Interesting. I, too have the white lilac and they are wonderful.
Just finished planting a long row of tuberoses for August bloom/fragrance for my personal enjoyment.
brendak654,
Believe it or not, my indoor/outdoor cat STILL has a light & pleasant aroma of jasmine. My patio, on the other hand, being just a mere 15ft or so from the blooming plant, is starting to take on a perfume strength most often associated with certain ladies of the evening.:-)
I love tuberose, btw, and peonies. I mention the latter because I dearly love them and they just will not bloom at all well or reliably here. If you have any peonies, enjoy them for me.
One of my favorite fragrances is tiarella ( foamflower )
It is a light soapy clean spring fragrance. If a perfume for infants is created - this would be it.
i don't have a lot of blooms... every year I hope. My first encounter was at a nursery ..I walked by a grouping in a tented area...it was heavenly.
I've tried foam flower, but have not had luck. Gee - if it has such a soft fragrance, I should definitely try it again. Love those natural fragrances.
I have had horrid luck with planting it from a nursery bought pot and it surviving. I have tried a new strategy (just two weeks ago.). I keep reading that it multiplies by runners.... It does not in my garden.... I keep finding it popping up in the moss a few feet from where it is planted. And so it must be spreading by seed. None of the new plants are large enough to bloom and so I picked them up ( with a good chunk of the moss ) and relocated it all to a nice moist shaded spot. Fingers crossed. I love not just the fragrance but its markings and shape.
Right now it is the two compact viburnum carlesis I purchased from Classic Viburnums in April of 2014. They are covered with blooms and when there is the slightest breeze it wafts across my garden. Really wonderful!
I'm in scent heaven reading everyone's descriptions here...ahhhhhh. My Korean Spice is done with its blooming...lilies are all coming up...the lavender is filling in nicely. Praying my Gardenia starts looking better after TWO horrible winters (for us) in VA :-(
Diana, does it grow fast
Given growing conditions where it is happy -- do you think three in a row would make a decent foundation planting - or is this best as a specimen?
Right now it's the gardenias for me. I have 3 in my back yard full of blooms, and I could stay outside all day. Before that was the Meyer lemon ... There's nothing like citrus when it's in bloom. Soon my Almond Verbena will be in bloom. That's one of those baby powder smells that takes over the yard. When it starts blooming, it will bloom until fall.
Oh, how I do SO love the intoxicating aroma of gardenias in bloom! Lucky you. My grandmother had a couple gardenia shrubs and I always loved them. I need to get one of those for my garden someday.
I have 2 Gardenias that I've had for years...sadly the last two winters in VA hit them hard. FIngers and toes crossed that I get some blooms this year
I don't get any fragrance from it unless it is brushed or crushed. The flowers are dark maroon and look like carved from wood. We call it Sweet Betsy.
This message was edited May 16, 2015 10:38 AM
Before retirement, I worked with seniors and they always had very fond memories of their mothers and grandmothers gardens containing Sweet Betsy. Many said it's fragrance reminded them of apples. I have one and I enjoy the flowers. It is not in bloom long. What I do not enjoy is that it constantly is sending up plants from underground a few wet away. Have to be vigilant. If I could do over..I would have sited it somewhere along the property line where it could spread to its heart's delight.
Much more behaved ...prettier in form when not in bloom and so fragrant you will want to sleep next to it ( short blooming also ) is Daphne.
Maybe it's just me, but my former community in zone 5a had several Carolina All Spice bushes and I could smell them when I ran by. Perhaps it was the humidity? Perhaps because there was more than one? I think there were three. But the smell was wonderful. Cloves? I often thought of buying one.
I installed some Canadian peonies last year that are far larger than my 3-4 year old domestic peonies. I put three Festiva Maximas and two Cornelia Shaylors in front, and they all have multiple huge buds, something I have NEVER experienced in second year peonies. Except for the peonies I bought years ago. The scent is going to be fabulous. Because of errors and replacements I have 20 peonies, and at least 15 of them are making it clear that they are going to bloom.
Almost time to dig up the spent tulips and dry them, and put in the gladiolus. Someone made me a gift of the type that is scented!
Every spring and into early summer, sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus) bears sweet-smelling, two-inch wide, reddish-brown flowers. Described by some as a mixture of pineapple, strawberry, and banana, the fragrance is enticing enough to make this shrub a "must have" for people who prize fragrance in their gardens.
Dark green oval- to elliptic-shaped leaves grow opposite along the stem and are anywhere from two to five inches long and about two inches wide. Both leaves and stems are fragrant when crushed.
Growing Sweetshrub
If possible, purchase your sweetshrub when it is in bloom, and get a good sniff before you buy. If the flowers smell good at the nursery, they will always be fragrant. However, if fragrance is not present, the shrub will never deliver the sweet-smelling flowers that you desire. Sweetshrub can be planted in almost any well-drained soil. Full sun to part shade is preferred. Growth is dense in full sun, but in shady places the limbs grow loose and more open. While moist soil is preferred, the plants can withstand periods of drought after they are well established.
After flowering, prune to control size, if desired. Prune some older limbs back to the ground to encourage new shoots. Pruning at the tips causes multiple sprouts to emerge from the stem, making them top-heavy.
Lucky for gardeners, no insect or disease problems are associated with this native shrub. Be aware, however, that it does sucker considerably. That can be a problem in well-maintained landscapes in which plants are expected to stay in place. Plant sweet shrub in a natural garden or at the edge of a wooded area where this tendency will be appreciated.
Quote from missingrosie :
Every spring and into early summer, sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus) bears sweet-smelling, two-inch wide, reddish-brown flowers. Described by some as a mixture of pineapple, strawberry, and banana, the fragrance is enticing enough to make this shrub a "must have" for people who prize fragrance in their gardens.
Dark green oval- to elliptic-shaped leaves grow opposite along the stem and are anywhere from two to five inches long and about two inches wide. Both leaves and stems are fragrant when crushed.
Growing Sweetshrub ( Below speaks to the flowers )
If possible, purchase your sweetshrub when it is in bloom, and get a good sniff before you buy. If the flowers smell good at the nursery, they will always be fragrant. However, if fragrance is not present, the shrub will never deliver the sweet-smelling flowers that you desire. Sweetshrub can be planted in almost any well-drained soil. Full sun to part shade is preferred. Growth is dense in full sun, but in shady places the limbs grow loose and more open. While moist soil is preferred, the plants can withstand periods of drought after they are well established.
After flowering, prune to control size, if desired. Prune some older limbs back to the ground to encourage new shoots. Pruning at the tips causes multiple sprouts to emerge from the stem, making them top-heavy.
Lucky for gardeners, no insect or disease problems are associated with this native shrub. Be aware, however, that it does sucker considerably. That can be a problem in well-maintained landscapes in which plants are expected to stay in place. Plant sweet shrub in a natural garden or at the edge of a wooded area where this tendency will be appreciated.