Elaeagnus pungens has a sweet scent, like gardenia (to my nose:)

Hmmm...Ok, I probably have the wrong bush. I'll investigate further at the nursery in spring (with my nose).
Thanks!

the fragrance reminds me of moonflower. it is musky floral but not "garbage-like" to me.

Ive had my eye on this shrub too, I pulled up this page the other day, it may be of some help Ive heard it has a sweet smell as well. If you find a good mail order source please do share.

floridata.com/ref/E/elaeag_p.cfm

I see that one of my local nurseries stocks E. multiflora, which is supposed to be fragrant also. Any know if it's more or less fragrant?

p.s. Thanks alr tom for the heads up on the spelling. That smoothed out my google searches a bit.

Not sure about multiflora, but E. pungens blooms in the fall (close to Halloween around here.) I got mine from Woodlanders several years ago, but Forestfarm has several varieties, too.
BTW, birds love the fruit and the branches are fairly thorny.

Here is a link that might be useful: NCSU Fact Sheet

Hey, maybe I need both. The one I saw on the local nursery webpage (E. multiflorus 'Sweet Scarlet') is a spring bloomer. Like I said, I'm putting together a whole list of fragrant plants, so the more the merrier...

Multiflora is not that fragrant from a distance, but as I posted on another thread, it does have a sweet scent, and if you have several mature plants, you will have some aroma therapy nearby.

I think pungens is more of a wafter, although my experience with it is limited. I do have 2 Goumi (E. multiflora), but I usually have to get close to the flowers to enrich my nostrils.

I have e pungens. It is a wonderful fragrance! Blooms in the fall and it waftes. If it didn't wafte I wouldn't even know it smelled, because they are located pretty far from my house and the flowers aren't noticable. After smelling them the first fall I went and bought 18 more and planted them as an enclosure around my yard. They get big, though, and they aren't that pretty.

Nearly all eleagnus species are extremely invasive and should not be planted! Before planting anything, you should always check your state's list of invasive species. Try to plant native species whenever possible to help your local birds, butterflies and insects.

I would describe the scent of Eleagnus pungens as delicious, nothing unpleasant at all and it carries a good distance. Not sure if it is invasive (don't ever see it growing in the woods around my area). Blooms around Halloween time which adds to it's interest (for me at least).