Carob trees (Ceratonia siliqua). When they bloom, the stench is unmistakable, sort of an exotic blend of dead buffalo in hot sun and dog feces.

I have a friend who bought 20 Voodoo lily bulbs on sale this spring. He planted one for inside, potted up and gave a couple to friends and saved the rest for outside.

One night he woke up in the middle of the night and the whole house reeked of rotting flesh. He roamed the house gagging of the smell and traced it to the voodoo lily. His friends called him soon after cursing him out for giving them such smelly plants.

He's a paramedic and says he's smelled decaying bodies before. He said the stench smells just like that!!! He planted the rest outside and the flies love 'em!

Privet. I cross the road to get away from the smell when I'm walking past someone else's garden. The worst is when your neighbours won't get rid of theirs.

Carob trees are nasty smelling!

There is a flowering tree, I don't know its name, but if it's still standing and you should happen to be downwind of it while it's blooming (it is, or has been, on Babson Street in the vicinity of Fairfax Virginia, and I believe it blooms right about this time of year, if the memory of "bad" serves), guaranteed, you'll either be nauseated or otherwise strongly provoked by what I have heard several persons - not males only or females only, either - call "the semen tree."

Last year, the first year we grew okra, not the blooms but seemingly the plant in general (maybe it was the variety we had) frequently smelled to us like urine.

We've forced paperwhites for several seasons now, indoors around Christmas, and I have to admit, this past year was the first time the "scent" crossed over in my nose's mind to "odor." I guess just like some things "grow on you," some things become more objectionable with familiarity. Or maybe the sense of smell in some people is always changing or evolving. Gonna have to nose-up to my cleyera for a test...

Geraniums. Except the scented ones, of course. My Mom loves them and I always complained. :)
Apart from the obvious ones (skunk cabbage, etc.), I have a difficult time with the entire Lily family (make me nauseous - instant headache!). Lilacs, too, although I like the scent. White flowers in general seem to be a problem for me. I'm curious to see if I'm going to have issues with my Jasminium Sambac plants.

{{gwi:730557}}

Identified as 'Voodoo lily' we gave this 'conversation plant' to a friend with no close neighbors and no sense of smell.

Marigolds smell like a nappy bin, lilies have to be the most frustrating plant in the world - beautiful to look at, great performance as a cut flower and a lovely fragrance that unfortunately never fails to induce a headache of epic proportions! I agree, Crown Imperials are frankly offensive, regardless of their wonderful, stately appearance, they quite simply pong!!
Lisa

What about the new Coleus 'Canina'. It is supposed to deter cats, dogs, and foxes from the garden. I purchased a whole plug flat and brought them in from the greenhouse and was transplanting them in the basement when hubby walked in. He quickly turned up his nose. It smelled like a whole family of skunk had taken up residence. I love the plant, though.

Viburnum, that is the stinkiest bush on the planet.....lovely greenery, but we cut the flowers as soon as they start to come out...privet is a close second..Cheri

For me the worst is Chinese Chestnut when they are in bloom. You can smell those things for miles. We had them in the back yard where we used to live and when the chestnuts bloom we would have to close the windows. Previous owner had planted them. All the stickers on the hulls were another bad problem. Don't want anymore of those trees. Glad we don't have them at this place.

The stinkiest flowers to me are easter and star gazer lilies, my goddess!! makes me want to gag!! they are pretty but STINK!! LOL! Red Trillium, we call it Stink Pot around here, is pretty nasty too!! Some Peace lilies stink pretty bad at night too. But then again what one person likes makes someone else sick!! Just thinkin of them makes my head stuff up! Will i not buy an easter lily....no, i just saw some at Walmart on sale........and some tissues....

Lenore

The worst smelling foliage with the best smelling flower is Clerodendrum bungeii. The bloom is a cluster of tiny pink blossoms similar to a mophead hydrangea. The frangrance of the blooms is like Cashmere Bouquet soap, which is a common name for the plant: 'Cashmere Bouquet.' Crush the leaves, and you get a distinct acrid odor of Skunk!

I planted Salvia Sclarea var. Turkistania, commonly called Clary Sage. The seed packet said "Intensely Aromatic". The smell of the entire 4' huge plant was so stinky I could hardly stand to weed near it. I yanked it after I saw the blooms were that so-so boring pale lavender.

Have to agree with Passion flower as some-thing-awwwful. But Fritillaria, (although it is one of my favorite flowers),so beautifulful from afar, DON'T plant it under the bedroom window.You may have to move out! (try it under the guest room window they won't hang around long enough to be a bother:-)
P.S. The passion flower that stinks is the velvet purple leaf with the frilly orange flower, not the the one that we call the Crucifix passion flower hereabouts, with the huge water lily type flower and the cross in the center.

I agree that it is the bradford pear tree. The bigger they get, the more order there is. It took me a long time to figure out what was causing that stink. Thought something had died.

I can't believe nobody has said MONARDA (Bee Balm). I have only one kind...I'm not sure the name of it...but it's a purply pink or fuchsia. It smells HORRIBLE to me, like strong ground black pepper (the kind you shake on food). YUCK!!! :0) Phyl

How about witch hazel leaves? Yuch.

I think cleomes and wax myrtles smell really bad. Cleomes smell when they get wet and the wax myrtles smell when you cut them.

I know this is another favorite, but I absolutely cannot stand the smell of Gardenias. Just a whiff makes me feel ill.

My boyfriend loves yarrow.

I, however, call it As$ Flower.

Society Garlic. Smells like a REALLY bad case of halitosis.
Lisa

My DH hates the smell of the Yucca when it's in bloom. He says it smells like its name. I like it, however. I won't let him get rid of it.

u have not smelled the stinkiest flower until u smell DRACUNCULUS VULGARIS..is a beautiful flower the spathe is about 27 inches long and the flies go down in it to pollinate it,when it first bloomed i thought something had died..i smelled the flower and said "O MY GOD"don't let the wind blow u have to cover your nose.

Oh, dang! And I just ordered some Dracunculus vulgaris bulbs yesterday! Now I don't know where I'll put them so they'll be out of "nose reach." :-(

I may be alone in my vote, but I personally cannot stand vast sprays of night blooming jasmine. They give me a sick headache. A little jasmine goes a long way. Please, if you want this plant in your yard, do not plant it outside your neighbor's bedroom window! :-(

I always plant a few petunia's because my mom likes them and they do have a very long bloom time--spring to frost--but they smell terrible and I dread deadheading them because of the slimy texture of the spent flowers. My neighbor loves the smell of my Stargazer lilies but I think it smells like cheap perfume on an unbathed person. Yuck! I love the smell of marigolds--to me they smell like a fresh mowed lawn only stronger.

I was wondering.... is the Bradford pear the same ornamental pear around Sacramento that makes me want to vomit? It is a city planted tree that is everywhere and I used to have to jog blocks out of my way so that I wouldn't get nauseated....my BF claims it smells of week old "making love" to put it gently.
and I had some Clary sage that I thought was peed on by an agressive male cat but the cats weren't interested,so I figured that it must be just the normal heavy urine smell of Clary sage.

Some people like the smell of marigolds -- I can't understand it! My dad always liked the smell of peonies -- blecchhhh!!

But my personal love-hate relationship is with a Stapelia Gigantea I inherited from my mom when she passed away, which I have propagated into 4 plants. Each year one of them grows a hairy flower that's 14 inches from point to opposite point, and smells like week-old roadkill soaked in ammonia. Right now, there's a half-grown pod preparing to drive me out of the house soon.

A few years a go, I was ready to go on a 2-week vacation, but one of the plants had developed a pod the size of my fist, ready to pop at any time. I took it in to the office and asked some co-workers to keep it watered. My cube-neighbor immediately knew what it was and asked "Why did you bring that in here?!?" A short while later, she shouted over the cube wall, "I can smell that thing already! It's like... spoiled milk!" But the flower hadn't opened yet. I'd had a big bowl of baked beans the night before, and I just couldn't help it...

Couldn't agree more about the Bradford Pear. Overpoweringly awful and pervasive. My husband and I visited the town of Walla Walla last spring to go wine-tasting, and the scent of those trees took some of the fun out of the experience!

This what I love about Garden Web - I am no longer thinking "Am I the _only_ one who thinks that........?".

I have a neighbor who grows Stargazer lillies and others. He is always asking me to smell them. He is always sniffing them. So to be polite I just take a deep breath and hold it before I lean over near them and say "Mmmmm. Nice." He's got some Irisis that he insisted smelled like 'grape soda pop' and that I just HAD to sniff them. Well I took a deep whiff and to me they smelled like a plastic bread bag melting on a hot toaster. (Don't ask me how I know what that smells like). lol.

I had another neighbor who pulled a trick on me by getting me to smell a 'really nice flower she had growing in her yard'. While I was clinging to her trellis to keep from throwing up on her hostas she laughingly said "Smells like litter box right?" We get along OK - I don't think she anticipated that I would have such a strong reaction to "eau d' litter box" flowers.

I hate the smell of roses. All of them make me sick. Mums, marigolds, daisies, flowering bushes, tulips too. Now that I think about it I'm surpirsed I even took up gardening. Most of my garden is grown for it's ornamental foliage though.

While were in this thread; Does anyone really appreciate restaurants that have cut flowers or potted flowers on the table? The usually use mums. Ooooph. The only thing worse is those flower scented candles people put on their dinner table. Even the "food scented" ones like vanilla, cinnamon, coffee, pumpkin or apple. Yech. Ruins the whole meal.

Valerian, sometimes called heliotrope, not to be confused with the good smelling heliotrope. Valerian stench will fill the yard. The dried herb stench will travel through glass. I ripped it out of the ground.

I really like the smell on my hands after deadheading marigolds.
The worse: some ox eye daisies.

Sweet Vibirnum. It smells like a mixture between wet dog and hot tar. Yech! I do seasonal work at a local retail nursery and I discourage customers from planting those things around areas where they will spend a lot of time.

The stinkiest in my garden have to be Fritilaria, Codonopsis, skunk cabbage, and dracunculus vulgaris. However, no plant except amaryllis has bothered me enough to keep from putting it in my room. Turns out I am allergic to amaryllis? I don't know, one sniff and I am stuffed up and itchy all over.

My amorphophallus konjac is the most disgusting thing in bloom. But it is fascinating so I love it and just cut and toss the flower the moment it goes stinko- and starts to ooze! ooh!
I hate the smell of marigolds, society garlic and have banned several allium from my garden like chives .

Speaking of society garlic have you ever been to that famous garden by santa monica? They have oodles of it surrounding a water garden- it totally ruins it. Peeyou! and I'm sure they spent millions on the place to be aesthetically pleasing.....

Karen

The stinkiest? It has got to be Voodoo lily! The posts above are accurate, as it does smell exactly like a rotting carcas.

I got a bulb at the Philadelphia Flower Show some years back. I potted it up, and when it began to form a spathe, my husband took it to his office as a kind of show and tell thing. We'd been forewarned about the smell, but we didn't appreciate just how bad it was going to be.

Anyway, my husband left it in the office over the weekend, and during that time it went into full flower. The people who came in a bit earlier than he did the following Monday were appalled, and spent some time searching for what they thought must be a dead cat or other critter disintegrating somewhere under a desk or in a corner.

I planted some more bulbs in my garden, for their unusual and dramatic (and fragrance-free) foliage. They came up several years in a row in my Zone 6 garden, but last winter's deep freezes finally did them in.

Voodoo lily - a plant of distinkshun.

cranebill

narcissus

for me the stinkiest flower is paperwhites.when my dad brought a new house,i decided to make the house beautiful.i went out to superstores to buy 8 paperwhites bulbs,i could not wait to start them.so,i went home to plant them.two weeks later they flowered.at first i did not know what it was till my brother said"dad,when was the last time you did the laundry,it stink like h### in
here". we searched the whole house to see where that smell was coming from.finally i realize that it was my paperwhites.i quickly grab my sissors and sniped them off.

ps:by the way i am new here,so,hi

Have to go with lantana, which has somewhat of an onion-y, garlic-y scent. Which is fine in an herb garden, but isn't what I want to smell in flowers.

ox eye daisies smell pretty bad to me... but I love them anyway. I always seem to forget and sniff them anyway...

I have tons of skunk cabbage in my wetland... and normally the smell doesn't bother me. But when you have several hundred of them blooming at once... well it can get a bit wiffy.

I like the scent of stargazer lilies... but not in the house. Someone bought be a bouquet with two of them in it and I had to banish it to the bathroom so I could sleep at night. Another flower too pungent (but otherwise yummy) for indoors is lily of the valley. One sprig will smell up the whole house! I like the smell, but I don't want to not be able to smell anything else!

Mexican sage. Magnificent plant, filled with royal purple fuzzy flowers. Just don't bring them indoors, don't even brush against the plant..nasty.
This thread has been a wonderful source of revenge against neighbors. Too bad our prevailing winds won't let me plant some of these nasties.
Speaking of revenge..who was it who told me to freeze round-up in ice cube trays and sling-shot it at nite into those nasty neighbor's yard??

I thought Ginko fruit rotting on a sidewalk was the most putrid -

Then I bought an old house with a beautiful Dragon Arum planted right oursite the Kitchen/sunroom door! I believe it is the closest cousin to the voodoo Lilly that others describe - but this one leafs out first, then flowers - OH MY - and then the leaves flop, and green to orange when ripe seed heads linger. I took corms to a Swap this weekend - and counselled each gardener on where NOT to situate this showy stinker.

Am wondering if anyone has kept Dragon Arum foliage
going thru summer by cutting emerging flower stalks?
Worth a try for that tropical foliage, IMO. (yes, it's the Dracunculus family) I can do without the huge flies the flowers draw, too!

Bradford Pear - when in full bloom it smells like urine.

Wild Honeysuckle Shrubs - their in full bloom in my area now and the sweet smell is sickening.

Bridal Wreath Spirea - Instant sinus swelling.

And I like Paperwhites - only a few early on.

Stargazers - their fragrance is reminds me of romantic nights.

Ginkgo Fruit - never had the opportunity to smell it, but I've heard it smells like rancid butter or even vomit (yuck). BTW -I'm about to plant a few Ginkgos around my property - I've always admired the tree and now that I have a big lot, I can plant a few. Hopefully some will be female, though I don't know at what age they start having sex.

Ken

Two of my friends and I go garage selling every Saturday. A couple of weeks ago a lady was seeling gallon pots of society garlic and I bought 6 of them. Of course it was to much trouble to take them home but the smell was unbearable!!! So for the rest of the day we rode around with our heads stuck out the window.

Never notices a smell on my cleome or May Night, but some nemesia and bacopa send me over the edge.
jan

fun topic. white spirea flowering tree smells like rotting meat/sewer during peak (short) blooming season. later as it wanes and browns, not so bad since we had 'em in front of house as child. i'm lucky to live 1/2 block from 207 acre Humboldt Park in Chicago (3 miles inland from lake but park has it's 'human- made' one). coming over a rise into a hollow with a natural-fed restored 'prairie' creek, one smells the awfullest odor from a ridge across the footbridge FILLED with (too many!) white spirea. not shrubby since lower branches are trimmed off; they end up looking like very low fruit trees. soil is rich with humus and moist from creek and overhead tree canopy, so blooms are really lush and STINK right now.

lilacs are great but overwhelming near windows, doors or next to heavily travelled walks etc. they should be in a corner, or out near the open away from walks and windows allowing fragrance to waft subtly. in a house, place 1-3 bunches off on a side table, ornamental table, large table, or mantle, NOT right on a small dining area or in a close room. my mother who loved them and the color lilac passed away this january...

Here is a link that might be useful: myspace.com/intotheclear

Interesting post. I never realized that people had such passionate dis-likes for certain odors...other than the obvious ones of rotting flesh and excretment. Any plant that is pollinated by flies will be stinky to us, but I'm amazed about some of the commonly "fragrant" varieties of flowers that are not pleasantly fragrant to all. As for me, I absolutely cannot, will not stand for Baby's Breath. Whoever named this little humdinger must have been feeding their baby something out of the swamp! "Thanks for the flowers, DH, you don't mind if I take out these little white ones and throw them away, do you?"

I have a shrub that has purple lilac like flowers. The leaves are roundish, about the size of a penny. It absolutely gags you when you go outside. Right now it is loaded with flowers and bees. In the late summer and fall there are no flowers and no odor. Any ideas?

It's interesting that what offends some, pleases others. My wife and I look forward to paperwhites, which we start forcing in November, because it's the harbinger of Christmas stuff. However, some very polite guests were rolling their eyes and squinching their noses last year until I figured out that they didn't like the smell at all.
We had a Janet Craig Dracaena bloom one year in the house and it took a week of gagging before we found the source of the problem. I didn't know that they bloomed!
Everyone here in the South has a love/hate relationship with Ligustrum (lucidum) which are planted everwhere as small, evergrenn trees.

I agree with the paperwhites stench! Every catalogue referred to them adoringly as heavily scented. I had to put them outside! But the worst yet is dried hops! I saw them beautifully displayed in a magazine and ordered 2 large boxfulls for our daughter's garden wedding. I picked up a smell of dog doo and watched as the guests would arrive and keep checking their shoes. I finally made an announcement that the horrible smell came from the hops strung all around the perameter of the seating area. Everyone laughed and relaxed. What can you do??