I haven't been to all of these, but have mail ordered from some, most are in or near Homestead:

Richard Lyons Nursery has a big selection, but it's more of a general tropical landscape place.

Plant Creations has mostly Florida natives, including some unusual fragrant shrubs and such, and a few non-natives.

Bloomin' Good is now open only by appointment, but I got some great plants when they were doing mail order; they may have stuff that nobody else carries.

Finally, Fairchild Tropical Gardens has, like most botanic gardens, limited stock and higher prices, but their annual plant sales are legendary for the rare and unusual; also, their quarterly magazine has adds for many local nurseries, look for it in their library or gift shop, or borrow a copy from a friend.

Have fun looking!

Jim

Gardino's up in Palm Beach, but they have a large selection of fragrant plants, and very high quality.

Thanks Jim. I've been to Plant Creations and was shown around by one of their managers. Maybe it was just my personal experience with the guy or maybe he was having a bad day, but he kept "pushing" native species on us (my wife and I) and was dismissive when plants plants other than those native species were mentioned to him.
I'll definitely look into the other nurseries you mention. I've been looking at Gardino's website catalog for about a year now and have the intentions of making it up there (hopefully this coming Thursday) to buy a few fragrant plants, but I also wanted to see if there was anything "closer to home" as we live in the Redlands (which is much closer to Homestead).
I'm a member of Fairchild Tropical Gardens and have been there quite a few times though I try to avoid those few times of the year when they have their plant sales since it has been sheer madness the few times we've tried to attend during those days. You are right however and I should try to look there as well.
Right now I'd really like to find a nursery that knows their gardenias and that could help me with species that would do best in zone 10 (I bought one from BJ's some time ago and the poor thing died a few months after I put it in the ground).

I want to live where you live!
I go plant shopping down there several times a year
and I have the best luck in Davie, Florida(Fort Lauderdale).
Living Color and Jesse Durko's grow flowering and fragrant plants.
Both are off 95 and Griffen Road.
It's well worth the drive!

Creations is a native nursery!
so that's why they are pushing the natives.
See if they still carry fiddlewood.
Wonderful fragrance!

Gardino's mainly sells at plant sales.
If you see something on their website,
call ahead and they will bring it to the sale.
I grow/grown most of their flowering / fragrant plants
and can tell you which ones that are worth growing and which are not.

I have the aloysia planted in my front yard
and it smells wonderful.
But right now the dombeyas are in full bloom and the fragrance is intoxifing! - Is that a word????...........cheryl

Thanks Cheryl, I'll look into those places. The plants I'd like to get are gardenias (the best variety suited for zone 10 where I am), jasmines (winter jasmine among these), aloysia virgata, Hall's honeysuckle, Brunfelsias, and a few others (I've made my list of the plants I wanted from Gardino's, but I don't remember some of them right now...it was mostly the plants I've mentioned). I'll have to look up fiddlewood and dombeyas since I'm not familiar with those.
We found a good-sized Meyer Lemon tree at Home Depot and the fragrance of its blooms was great (we then bought the tree!). Another plant whose flowers surprised me for their fragrance is the papaya tree.
Any other fragrant favorites you can think of?

Who is "Sid"? I'm guessing it is one of the nursery owners?
I'll have to ask about the iguana problem and how to keep them away then (as I've already bought the tree). I'll ask a few nurseries (Pine Island for example) that specialize in fruit trees how they cope with these critters (rats, iguanas). I can't say I've seen, nor heard of, any problems with iguanas and rats in my neighborhood, but I'll keep my ears open for those.
Since I have a few banana trees (small, no fruit yet), this may pose problems when the plants are bigger and fruit-bearing.
Where did you get the aloysia virgata? I've seen it on Gardino's plant list (I've also seen it in the online list of a nursery out by Punta Gorda), but was wondering whether one of the other nurseries you've mentioned also carry it (Durko's and Living Color). Does Gardino's not sell directly from their nursery? I'm going to give them a call to see how I can buy their products other than having them shipped.
The only gardenia plant I've had (a small, three foot tree) died once I put it in the ground (I bought it at Costco for 13 dollars). I've heard that gardenias can be very fickle so I need a variety that isn't that difficult to grow or else a lot of help from the nursery with regards to care. Once the plant is established I'm guessing it must be easier to care for. Since I love the smell, I'm determined to succeed in growing them in my yard.

Sid Gardino....
I just looked at their site and they are at a plant sale next weekend. Wish I could go!!!

Redland Festival 2009
Where: Fruit & Spice Park - Homestead, FL
When: Saturday January 10th, 2009 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sunday January 11th, 2009 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Phone: (305) 247-5727
E-mail: fsp@miamidade.gov

The wildlife comes around when the fruit gets ripe.
I had the sweetest, tasting caranbola tree
till the squirrels found it.
Last year we took it out, they ate a bite out of every fruit!.
I lost my ever-bearing malberry to the mockingbirds.
I'll stick to flowers.
But than again, the squirrels eat all my
stemmadenia tree seeds before I can harvest them!

We can grow several gardenias down here,
but most people don't know how to take care of them.
I'm lucky to have a Gardenia specist right down the street from me. Carrolls Nursery.
Back in his hey-day, he grew and grafted thousands of gardenia bushes.
He says that people plant them in the ground
or plant them in a MG mix and expect miracles.
They need a very acid soil.
They need special fertilizer several times a year
and it's a constant battle with the
thrips and everthing else that attacts them.
I personally only grow 2 varieties ,
but have several plants that have that gardenia fragrance.

White dombeya
{{gwi:782240}}

Here is a link that might be useful: white dombeya

Yes, I've looked that up in their website earlier today...I'll be there (Fruit & Spice park is located about 11 miles from where we live). Thanks for the idea (I've called them up and they agreed to bring whatever I'd like to buy to that Redland Festival...saves me from driving 75 miles to get to their nursery!). More later. Thanks again.

Is there a potting/planting mix sold specially for gardenias? If so, where can one buy it (sometimes nurseries will specially mix special types of soil and I'm wondering if nurseries specializing in gardenias wouldn't provide this and offer bags of it for sale).

Yach...I have a question..4 or 5 yrs ago, I got a plant marked Dombeya, but it looks nothing like yours..
The leaves on yours look thin..are they or is it the pic?
Is it an upright or vine? Ironically, I actually have two plants marked Dombeya..One is a vine, the other upright. It's never flowered so no help there. Anyway, would you say your leaves are thin or thick? Thanks, Toni

I've been trying to find winter jasmine (jasminum polyanthum) but haven't had any luck so far. Anyone know of a south florida nursery that carries it? Thanks.

Re: Dombeyas.
Mine have large leaves ,sometning liks a sycamore tree
leaves would be. They rip easily.
Most dombeyas are large shrubs - 8' to 12'.
I've never heard of a dombeya vine,
but that doesn't mean there isn't one............cheryl

I love Gardinos :) They are just the nicest people with the nicest plants. You can't go wrong with them! :) I just got a starter aloysia and chinese perfume (aglaia?) from them. They also have ylang ylang on sale (which I highly recommend) if you don't already have.

Cheryl, I don't have anything outside for the iguanas to eat besides the nanas but they still hang around my yard and eat everything. Hopefully the last couple of days when we had a cold snap did 'em in. (sorry but they are just too destructive!)

Paulope, if you want a wonderfully fragrant small tree try michelia alba. Mine is vigorous and blooms about every 2 or 3 weeks. My across the street neighbor tells me the scent even wafts over to her house and she wishes she had gotten the same kind that I have. She got hers from a nursery in Davie that said it was a michelia alba too but the leaves, the one or two flowers she's gotten, the scent, etc are completely different from my tree. I got mine from the Tropical nursery on the west coast of Florida :) A little pricey but well worth it. Last flush had at least 50 incredible flowers.

Thanks Wann-run-faster!
I've already bought an Ylang-ylang from Gardino's (when they went down to the Redlands Festival a few weeks ago). I've not yet put it into the ground (I've got to be careful since I have several areas in my yard where the drainage is not very good so I have to create a few berms to compensate for this unless I can put plants that love being wet continuously that is).
I think I'd read about Michelia, but not alba (champaca I believe...maybe they're one and the same). Is that the Joy perfume plant/tree? I'm sure one of the michelias are on my list of fragrant plants to check out. Does Gardino's not carry it? I'll have to check and see.
Regarding gardenias, I've bought a vietnamese one from Richard Lyons' nursery (just a few blocks away from me; 10 acres of very interesting plants...an unexpected find for me) and they carry the Miami Supreme gardenia which I plan on getting once I figure out where I will plant it and once I conjure up a good gardenia soil mix (according to several sites, they recommend 30-40% sphagnum moss, 30% coarse sand, and 30% dehydrated cow manure). I'm not yet sure where I will get the dehydrated cow manure since what I see mostly (in Lowe's and Home Depot) is composted cow manure like Black Cow, which, supposedly, is different than dehydrated cow manure.