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chickadee_8b

What's your favorite smellling plant or flower?

Chickadee_8b
22 years ago

I've just come across this forum and didn't see any post about favorite smeling plants and flowers, just the stinkiest! My favorite smelling plant is the hydrangea...not sweet, just a fresh smell. Maybe his has something to do with childhood memories. They say that scent is closely aligned to past memories....

Comments (100)

  • Jepa
    21 years ago

    I love garden heliotrope and sweet pea "Mrs. Collier"!

  • mjsee
    21 years ago

    Tuberose (had 'em in ny wedding boquet!) Sweet Olive, autumn blooming clematis

  • cicadae
    21 years ago

    I like rosemary!

  • Nancy5050
    21 years ago

    Gardenias

  • happygardening
    21 years ago

    BRUGMANSIA

  • karenmarie
    21 years ago

    I like all sweet smelling flowers. In my yard my favorites are pinks, gardenia, roses, lilys, catmint, and butterfly bush. I have new arrivals that should come up in spring so I should get some new scents. (Had a moonflower this year but it didn't have any scent.)

  • windy007
    21 years ago

    The large white night blooming moonflower vine.

  • Moonflower
    21 years ago

    I love the smell of Rosemary and also of Sweet Basil, love to rub them between my fingertips, then smell the lovely aroma.

  • strawberrygoat
    21 years ago

    Mock Orange, overgrown, summer evening, outside of a bedroom window.

  • BeverlyAL
    21 years ago

    1. Tuberoses

    2. Stargazer Lily

  • ParadiseWaits
    21 years ago

    Native azaleas, viburnum bukwoodii, daphne odorata, Carol Mackie, cenoreum, & Stargazer Lillies.

  • posey_paula
    21 years ago

    Lilacs are my hands-down favorite. All I have to do is close my eyes and smell them and I'm back in my Grandmother's garden. I notice that at least half of the fragrances that are my favorites have to do with childhood. mock orange, lily of the valley, heliotrope, hosta plantaginau (spelling?) lilies, also now the rose-can't remember the name, but its plum colored and lemon scented. Also for night scents flowering tobacco.
    Paula

  • quiltguy154
    21 years ago

    Buddleias, for their strange "old" scent. sweet alyssum, for that warm honeyed smell. and hyacinths, i remember sitting in a formal hyacinth garden in england, it was the peak of their bloom. was bowled over by the scent, every time the breeze shifted. enjoy.

  • quiltguy154
    21 years ago

    Buddleias, for their strange "old" scent. sweet alyssum, for that warm honeyed smell. and hyacinths, i remember sitting in a formal hyacinth garden in england, it was the peak of their bloom. was bowled over by the scent, every time the breeze shifted. enjoy.

  • sunhat
    21 years ago

    Most fragrant plants are just too fragrant for me (freesia, plumeria, ylang ylang, jasmine). I do go over close and smell them, compulsively, then wish I hadn't. I prefer the milder perfumes, like Nycanthes arbor-tristis. Roses too.

  • Violet_Girl
    20 years ago

    Gardenias, violets, Magnolias, and my neighbor has this rose that smells like heaven will I am sure.

  • Wendy_the_Pooh
    20 years ago

    I've smelled other people's cut roses and some do smell heavenly. The one I grow that I love to smell the most is Acidanthera (Abyssinian gladiolus), which comes in corm form and gets dug up in the Fall. I get that AHHH feeling every time its fragrance wafts its way up my nose.

  • LEEnTIFF
    20 years ago

    Lilacs, hyacinth, lavender, and russian sage.

  • MeMyselfAndI
    20 years ago

    Heliotrope is the best thing I've ever smelled.

    Korean spice viburnum - Mmmm! And a major wafter.

    Honorable mention to Hesperis, aka dame's rocket.

  • daisydolphin
    20 years ago

    Daphne odora, it's heavenly. If I could find a perfume or soap with this scent, I'd be thrilled! :)

  • rebow
    20 years ago

    cleome, eucalyptus crushed and bee balm.... all with a fresh lemony scent

  • fabkebab
    20 years ago

    Lavendar,
    Citrus blossom,
    hyacinth,
    banana shrub,
    oriental lily,
    gardenia,
    nemesia,
    Lilac,
    Hedychium ginger,
    Rose

  • jayteadesigns
    20 years ago

    lily-of-the-valley
    lilacs
    four-o-clocks
    All favorite childhood smells from where I grew up in Illinois!

  • gardeningangel_z6
    20 years ago

    Freshly mown alfalfa ( but that's not a 'garden' plant , is it??)It's been many years since I lived where I could smell it.
    Otherwise , It's peonies and roses.I love to bury my nose in them and inhale!!!!!
    In Idaho , near where my sister lives , they grow fields of lavender ! Now THAT"S a fragrance when they harvest!!!

  • annafl
    20 years ago

    Rangoon creeper or quisqualis indica. It's blooming now and heavenly.

    Anna

  • Growin_Crazy
    20 years ago

    Citrus blossoms and lavender.

  • SusanC
    20 years ago

    Hybrid musk roses, honeysuckle, night-blooming jasmine, common jasmine, Mexican mock orange and sweet olive. and then there's lavender, lemon balm, pineapple sage, chocolate peppermint and marjoram...

  • cuttingmaniac
    20 years ago

    my favorite would have to be any Jasmine variety, mona lisa lily, and of course the ever famous fragrant roses

  • winane
    20 years ago

    Definitely for this year it has to be Evening Scented Stock!!! I can't get enough of it!! I look so forward to evenings, the smell just whiffs into the house. It's like going to sleep on a candy cloud!

    My second favorite is michelia alba...yumsss
    Another favorite is Double Delight Roses!!

  • Loboto_Me
    20 years ago

    Lilac and Heliotrope..... Heliotrope can be an ugly plant (coarse leaves) but oh the smell is to die for.

  • treacle
    20 years ago

    Old Roses the most fragrant I know is 'Madame Isaac Pereire', also Philadephus 'Belle Etoile' (Mock Orange) and Viburnum Carlesii.

  • kathy_MI_z5
    20 years ago

    Lilacs al time number one fav. and Korean Spice Viburnum second. Roses would come 3rd. Bergamot (bee balm)is a fav, too.

  • FreeWeeds
    20 years ago

    Its hard to say if I have a favorite yet since I am so new to gardening but so far I really like the smell of sweetpeas and dill. I don't like the smell of pear tree flowers, UGH!

  • Susiebelle
    20 years ago

    The smell of wild onions when they mow the roadside, clover and carnations. And my new favorite, Maid of Orleans Jasmine.

  • woodyswife
    20 years ago

    I love the smell of my tall phlox when in bloom. I also love lily of the valley, lavender, roses, lilies, and mint to name a few.

  • Jonabell
    20 years ago

    The scent of apple blossoms is delightful.

  • tanja__r
    20 years ago

    I do like the dark purple petunias which give off the most comforting, yummy "Old Spice-y" aroma in the summer around our terrace. But my longtime favorite is the lilac. Growing up in Northern California meant that the heat of the day would enhance the fragrance, as it would linger in our shaded front yard clear into night. As for least favorite: I enjoy the flower, but do not like the smell of daffodils. It's a shame too, since I enjoy cut daffies in the house and at the office. But I persevere, as they are so pretty. :)

  • Mikeytoo
    20 years ago

    There are a lot of them, but here are some favorites.

    Star jasmine by the front door.
    Gardenia and evening primrose in the back yard.
    Citrus blossoms on a warm spring day.

  • ocbird
    20 years ago

    I love everything that everyone has mentioned!

    My husband is not a flower sniffer, but every time he passes the Sweet Alyssum he blisses out!

    Just found a new herb that smells great-- Pennywort.
    Anyone ever smelled that? Smells like a combination of peppermint and thyme.

  • gomanngo
    20 years ago

    Lilacs, phlox, roses, Asiatic lilies (which smell so strong that my cat won't eat them...unlike the others, which I have to put WAY UP HIGH on shelves to keep away from him)!

  • Hallie1
    20 years ago

    I'm surprised no one has mentioned the wonderful smell of blooming honey locust trees. The fragrance is emitted at about 5 PM and smells like concord grapes. When they are blooming in the evening I can smell it driving all along rt 95 between Richmond and DC.

    Here's another no one has mentioned: night blooming epiphyllum. My parents had one of these when I was a child. It was kept outside in the summer until the blooms opened. At about 11 PM when the blooms were well open we would carry it into a dimly lit room, and all the neighbors would be invited in to see and smell it. It perfumed the entire house. Heavenly!!!

    Other favorites: French Hybrid lilacs, certain German iris, "Stargazer lily", "Mr. Lincoln" rose, "Sweet Surrender" rose, gardenia, mock orange, allysum, hyacinths, "Essex Witch" dianthus, viburnum "Carlessi", peony "Vivid", lily-of-the-valley, buddleia, jasmine, japanese honeysuckle, clover. There is a certain Hosta with a large plain green leaf, and white bloom that is amazingly fragrant. Some years ago the Director of the National Arboretum drove me around the arboretum to select a site for a bench I was donating. He had a pot of this Hosta in the back of his car, and the perfume was unbelievable!

    If non-floral fragrances can be included, I would add: fruit of wild strawberries, the leaves of fragrant-leafed geraniums (pelargonium), mint leaves (I enjoy a sprig of fresh mint in iced tea instead of lemon.) There is also an old fashioned rose that has foliage that smells like green apples.

  • dedoverde
    20 years ago

    The fragrance that I wear is Fig Leaf and Cassis. I like the smell of cucumber and honeydew melon. Also like Bouvardia, Tuberose, roses scented with myrrh and verveine and of course lemon verbena itself. Basil is pretty hard to beat. Once I went down to San Diego and did a long hike in the Torrey Pines reserve and could not believe the combination of fragrance in the volatile oils of all those native plants. Also amazing to be drowned in cypress or Douglas Fir. The geranium that is scented like Attar of Roses...and at last I'll shut up.

  • dawnstorm
    20 years ago

    Honeysuckle, lilac and hyacinth.

  • amf55nj
    20 years ago

    Carnations, lilacs, and lily-of-the-valley, for the flowers. I grow herbs, and am very partial to lemon scented ones, many of the mints, amd tarragon. Also a grass- someone told me it was called hay scented grass- it just smells so fresh.

  • gmaur
    20 years ago

    Judging by the number of votes, nothing can beat the Lilac! Personally, I think it's as close to Heaven as you can get.

    Other favorites include, Lily of the Valley, Roses, Phlox, Gardenias, Magnolias, Ginger, and Jasmine...not necessarily in that order.

  • pam_whitbyon
    20 years ago

    WHITE CYCLAMEN. It's almost like a lily-of-the-valley, but with a citrus edge... HEAVEN. For me it bumped freesia out of the number one spot. Here's today's Top Ten ;)

    1. White Cyclamen
    2. Freesia
    3. Lily-of-the-valley
    4. Old fashioned tea rose
    5. Lilac
    6. Sweet pea
    7. Mock Orange
    8. Viburnum
    9. Hyacinth

    1. Sandalwood (used to smell it burning, as a child in the tropics)

    Pam

  • groovytee
    20 years ago

    So far it's peonies and roses...But I'm gonna keep on looking, (or sniffing realy)

    LOL

  • shroom189
    20 years ago

    My most favorites are lily-of-the-Valley, and Jasmine

  • karen_ct
    20 years ago

    Freesia... (not hardy here, though)

  • Judith
    20 years ago

    My favorites are: the old fashioned rose smell, lilacs, lilly of the valley and peonies. I also love the smell of marigolds.

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