Hear, hear, Mike! Thanks for the great post.

There are so many that I've tried, and lots that I've loved for years, like osmanthus. An artabotrys I had one summer wafted a beautiful soft scent all over my deck aboutr 2 or 3 in the afternoon. But my nose seems to be running out on me, and many things, just don't have the strong scent for me they used to have and that other people still report.

I love Bruns as well, and I used to love the scent wafting around at dusk. Just kind of sneaking up on you. But this year I haven't had much chance to be around when their scent is there. As you said, these do well in winter and mine bloomed all winter. I wasn't in the light room at night, but in the morning there was still a vestige of scent around.

I have two current favorite, both of which still give me plenty of scent. One is the Grand Duke. It's the one scent that is there for me every single day. All the articles say it's a slow grower, but for me it's quite vigorous, blooms almost constantly, even in winter. And when you cut it back, it comes back gangbusters with new shoots with glossy, vibrant foliage and little carnation/rose flowers.

Mine kept blooming under lights in winter, but they did get mites. I cut them back hard in spring, sprayed, and now they are simply beautiful.

My second favorite is Michelia figo skinnerii, which put out dozens of lovely scented flowers for me inside in late winter. This one did very well outside til late fall, then outside days and into the garage at nights for another month or so before I brought it inside. As soon as it came inside, it started to bloom. Really lovely. Flowers stay fragrant all day.

Can't wait to see the other answers here.

Mine used to be Jasmine sambac. Once in a while, one of my Carolyn Whorton caladiums will make a flower that smells SO GOOD!

But since moving to AL, my favs are no longer in containers. The gardenias, daphne, and a native azalea (Rhododendron canescens) are the best things I've ever smelled!

Great thread to wake us up. Thanks, Mike!

Mike, what is the botanical name of your Brunfelsia(s)?
I've had a Brunfelsia nitida for 2 years now and have only gotten one flower out of it early this spring. My leaves have been turning yellow but are now getting back to a nice dark green (I've been using liquid iron).
I also have B. lactea and B. gigantea which have been growing like gang busters but no flowers! I cut these two back in the hopes of forcing them to branch and hopefully bloom.
They receive morning sun and filtered afternoon sun and all are growing in a fast draining mix (5:1:1) and are fertilized with Miracle Gro every two weeks.
Any tips on getting Brunfelsias to bloom?

With this summer being so brutal (100 plus for a couple of months now) the jasmines have been my fav since they haven't croaked! I too love my Jasminum sambac Grand Duke of Tuscany (might also be the supreme variety since I got it from an Asian market and it grows vigorously) however I don't like how if you have the sprinkler on and get the blooms wet they turn brown. :(
My Jasminum molle has also been a great treat in this heat. Still blooming away and still smells good.

In the past my fav scent has been Brugmansia 'Charles Grimaldi' however with this heat I've hardly gotten any blooms and I've been battling spider mites left and right and losing leaves, etc.
I'm hoping in the fall when things cool off and if my plant is still alive I'll once again have hundreds of fragrant trumpet blooms to enchant the evenings.

-Robert

Wow, a thread right up my own alley. I only garden for fragrance. It is something that almost hypnotizes me. More so then color, or form, I need the fragrance for that inner zen...lol. I grow potted, a 7ft. First Love Gardenia. Since it is a standard, in other words, not grafted, it cannot go into the ground. Also night blooming cereus. Started with about 50 Cattleya orchids but narrowed that down to 5 of my favorites and gave the rest away. Lakeview Jasmine and Tea Olive I cannot live without. Brugmansia also another staple I cannot live without and have growing in pots and in the ground. I also have Abe Darby and Liv Tyler roses in pots. Just bought a hoya imperialis which is supposed to have a pleasing fragrance. I will be buying a Brunfelsia gigantea today thru ebay, have some nice 2-3ft plants at a decent price. Living in Florida I am lucky that I have extended, if not brutal growing season. I have not to date had problems with pests and this time of year everything grows like a weed. With the colder winters we have had the past few years and expected to continue, my house becomes a jungle. Small price to pay for the daily assault on the senses I must endure...lol. There is nothing out there that brightens my day or takes the stress away like stopping and taking a little time to smell these gifts of nature. Heading out for a whiff now.....

OH....I forgot to add...the next must have for me is the John Smith Begonia. He is a little hard to get a hold of and quite expensive, however, he is the first new species of fragrant begonia. His peach, coral flowers are up to six inches and smell of ripe peaches with a touch of rose. So I will anxiously be awaiting his arrival next spring if I can get my hands on him this fall. As a sidenote....I was in a neighborhood a few months back where I heard the most intoxicating, deep, resonating sound I had ever heard. My body, and my teeth, if u will were just about vibrating. I searched for this sound and it led me to a stranger's yard where a most amazing set of windchimes hung from a tree. I had to knock...and found out these are Corinthian Bells windchimes. The resonance is like nothing I have ever heard and thought...wow..this would go great with my fragrances, a magical pairing. It has to be heard on a gentle breeze to be believed. Definitely not the little clinking of your typical chime. And it was a lower key in E I believe. You can google them and it takes u to websites where u can preview the sound and I must say it even sounds better in person. Soooo....with the ranting done...lol...that will be a must for my garden too...as the cooler weather gets ever closer, it will definitely make a fine pairing for my fragrance garden.

I only have 2 (so far) favorites: Michelia alba, and Plumeria (any type). The M. alba stays in filtered shade year round in a container. Some of the plumerias are in ground, some in containers, I'm just running out of room in the ground for them. I'm on the lookout for M. figo and M. champaca to add to the collection.

My goodness. I never realized there could be so many fragrant plants that we could get addicted to!
Now wind Chimes? I also have a fetish for these things and the sound of the one you speak of Blutayle makes me want to get one like that.
Do you know of a particular site I could go to to listen to them? I want one.lol
Did I ever tell you that I have a solar one that lights up along with other solar balls strewn about the yard in between all my fragrant plants?lol

Hey Robert: I think it's the Lactea, 'Lady of the Knight'. I get the opposite. I can't get that thing to grow much bigger. All it wants to do is flower.
I think the key is to making sure it gets Ca and Mg besides the typical fertilizer. Mines seems to like full day sun, but even more so sitting next to a water source, like my pond, or in my greenhouse.
I know they are heavy feeders, like citrus and will yellow as soon as they do not get fed enough.

I can't believe all the heat everyone is getting here. It is any wonder that many here can keep their plants healthy through all this.

Many here have given us many ideas and introduced plants that I never knew of or realized I could grow.
I have some catching up to do for sure,
I shall have to read this thread over again and give an update if I get any!

Mike

Mike,

Thanks for the fertilizer tips! I'll try a little Epsom salt the next time I feed them.
Looking at the Brunfelsia pics you posted on mehitabel's Bouvardia thread and knowing your penchant for Logee's I'm thinking you probably have Brunfelsia gigantea. I remember when I got mine from Logee's the tag simply said Brunfelsia 'Lady of the Night' which was odd since the tags normally have the botantical name on them.

-Robert

Mike,
Posted a link, the top selling one is featured here and I believe that was the key of the one I heard. You can hear the resonance, but in person it is like wow. Very, very calming. I almost wanted to lay down on this strangers lawn and doze...lol. They are very expensive but if u read into them, very well made. Also bought my Brun. Gigantea a few minutes ago on ebay..not bad about 3ft. and 21.99...can't complain...there are like 9 left.

Here is a link that might be useful: Corinthian Bells

There is no way I could get a Brunfelsia anywhere in Canada. But this year the best performer by far is the Chinese rice flower, it's growing mad, doubled its size in two months. When the sun and humidity rises, the fragrance is wafting into the house from the backyard, it's divine. On the other hand, I have an utter failure dealing with Gardenias. I only have a couple of blooms instead of hundreds last year.

Well, Mike, you pretty much know every plant that I grow... ;-)

And you know that I don't really have many fragrant types. That said, I immensely
enjoy the sweet vanilla scent of Star Jasmine. And I also love the scent of the Ponderosa Lemon.

Josh

I tend to over buy my favorite fragrance plants 7 michelia alba, 5 jasmine grand duke, 6 arabian jasmine, and only 1 michelia champaka that has been in the ground for 5 years and never once bloomed for me. I enjoy trying to grow brugmansia also...so far so good. I'm addicted to roses and that count is beyond 300. Plumerias used to be my #1 favorites, but due to too many die-back during cold seasons it has taken a back seat a bit.
Kasie

Hi Mike! Hope you are doing okay! I read about your accident on another thread and then forgot which thread it was! Hope you are doing good! Ha, so you want some action, eh? You are so naughty, hee hee!

Well, only fragrant plants I have are gardenia (and it FLOWERED TODAY!!! OMG! Though just one bloom, but it's got another for me too, hoping it'll send me more more MORE MORE!!!!) and my maid of orleans jasmine. It's starting to pop out more flowers since I've been sending it love vibes and playing classical music for it. Oh, and if you want to green it up, pee on it. It works! It's a bit hard to hit the pot every time and things can get a little messy...especially if you are female. ;>

I had bought my mom and 'african gardenia' but she had some health problems and wasn't able to water it...and my dad neglected the poor little thing, so then he overwatered it. By that time my mom was getting up and around, and she was watering it too, and didn't know that HE was watering it as well..and so let's just say the african gardenia is no more. Poor little thing, it had such a nice fragrance too! I won't buy anything else from logees, so I have to find another source.
I've got some sort of 'yellow' flowered ginger, but it hasn't bloomed yet, the $@#$@#$. Plumeria is very nice if it blooms for you, mine did last year but this year it's holding out on me. I may have to threaten it with my Joyce Chen snippers.
Oh, and easy plant that smells heavenly is the daffodil "Winston Churchill". Yep, it smells divine to me, not the typical yucky daffodil smell.
Hope all is well with you MM! :D

Mersie: Do you see what a little threatening/PEE will do?Lol. That is exactly what I did to my gardenia last winter. It was sitting in front of a snow bank, on the other side of the glass mind you, and I vowed I would throw him out into the cold unless it decided to do something for me. It DID..lol
I shall have to link you to a picture somewhere.

Doing better. I am still on crutches for yet another 4 weeks! I fractured my heel in 4 places and that is the weight baring bone>( Fortunately I only weigh 140 lbs and it might not be that bad once I start to walk again.

OMG! Congrats on your bloom. It's about time. After that suicidal thread, I thought we would never be able to accomplish such a feat.Yahoo. I LOVE the MOO plants, but they only flower for one day and then gone. I LOVE the Jasmine Duke though! I have a small one that gave me 7 flowers all at once this summer. I couldn't hobble to it to take a pic though then hit it with my tap water and all the flowers turned brown by the next morning:-( I plan on getting a big plant at the Asian river festival this time in two weeks. They sell 3 foot ones for 20 bucks!

I have owned an African gardenia and mange to kill everyone of them. They get a leaf disease that affects violets and begonia too. It is called Botrytis! I hate this disease. It browns all the leaves up until the plant dies. It is a fungus of some sort. If you can keep one alive, they are worth it. Talk about overwatering killing these plants..lol

Plumeria is very nice. I just posted a few pictures of mine over at the plumeria forum. I finally got a few to flower. I love these. They take no room come the winter and can be very hardy if you don't water too much. I wished I had more than the 14 I already have.Yes though, I have also had to threaten these too. I told them they were to be dumped into the garage bin if they didn't flower for me in the summer and ignored them after that. They flowered..lol

Why not Logee's? I am curious. I can tell you that they are expensive though.Ouch! I want to get myself a couple of more Brunfelsia. I love this plant.

Have you ever tried an Orange Jasmine, or Mock Orange I think the not botanical name it's called? Oh my God. I have 3 and let me tell you when I mean they are fragrant!

Enjoy your flower today and sniff it all you can before your plant rebels again!

It is so nice to see you around these parts again!:-)))) I thought your gardenia did away with you for awhile.lol

I saw you write at the Citrus Forum, where I spend most of my time. Please spend more time there if you can, I would love that:-) I have 35 citrus trees of all sizes and I think I can help you a lot there with many others! Greenman28 or Josh as I call him is a pro too!

Here is your link to enjoy

MIke

Here is a link that might be useful: My gardenia buds and blossom this past winter

Ok I am back..

I wanted to also recognize everyone else. I just haven't talked to Mersiepoo for ever!

Josh: Thanks for stopping by. We still need to hook you up with a few other fragrant if you can find for the room for them.lol I have seen your citrus pictures and what a beautiful set of trees there. I'll bet you love the smell of the Ponderosa flowers..:-) I have never heard of a Star Jasmine before. Are they really that fragrant? They sound delicious.

Kasie: I am trying to grow y first Brug. I hope I do get the flowers so I can see what everyone is talking about on this one.

Yellowthumb, seriously? I have never heard of a Chinese rice flower. Where can you get one? Are they huge mite magnets? I would love to get my hands on one of these. You seem to come up with some of the most unusual plants I have heard of. Good job.

Blutayale: I am off to take a look at those. I really appreciate the link and time you went through for me. I can't wait to see what all the noise is about. I love chimes, especially the calm low tones ones. I will hang that one in my greenhouse with a fan bypassing it while reading a book for relaxation come the fall.

Robert: No problem. Let me know f you ever get any. It is the magic potion it seems all my plants have always wanted! Once I can walk again, I shall have to look closely at my plants and see if I can read a tag on them. You might be right about my Brunfelsia. They have two different kinds that I bought. Their leaves look a bit different and one flowers more than the other.

Mike

The times I've smelled freesias blooming at a store I remember well. But every time I've tried to get the bulbs to grow, usually nothing happens, sometimes there are a few leaves, but have never gotten a flower. About every 3rd year I get weak and buy another $5 bag of these darn things.

I am getting the feeling that there are not that many fragrant lovers of plants around these parts, or at least more then us usuals....lol

I was more would come out of the woodwork and share.Oh well

I hope your plants are doing well. It was fun while it lasted.

By the way, has anyone ever had a Jasmine tree? That is my next one very soon.:-)

Mike

Oops!

Thanks for sharing Purple. I hear exactly what you mean..lol

Hi Mike,

Chinese rice flower is just another name of Aglaia odorata. It's growing so fast for me. Triple its size in just a year.

My Jamine MOO is also blooming like crazy.

What's a Jasmine Tree?
YT

My new little Grand Duke of Tuscany twig bloomed two little adorable extremely fragrant blooms today.

also my August Beauty is blooming again

I really didn't expect the Grand Duke to bloom so young, I am surprised.
Just thought I would share two of my favorite since they are blooming now.
But I can't wait til fall and my sweet olives bloom!

Hi Butterfly4u! Great to see you.

Look at the very nice blooms you have. I forgot to mention that this Jasmine is also my one of my favorites too.

{{gwi:610938}}

You know, I almost drove to Logee's today and bought myself some fruiting plants, and once again I found myself wanted fragrant ones instead..lol
What kind of 'Sweet Olive" do you have? It sounds good.

Yellowthumb: Thanks for that. Please take a picture of your Moo if you see this. I would love to see a pic:-)

Where can I get a Chinese Rice plant? It sounds heavenly man.

Mike

I have one container plant, and it happens to be Rosemary.

OK, it doesn't have exotic fragrant flowers, but when I spray it down with water on a hot summer night, which we have no shortage of around here, it smells divine (and delicious)!

It's bulletproof -- no pests, no diseases, not bothered by heat nor cold, and very forgiving if I forget to water it. It started as a lone sprig in a 4" pot several years ago, and now it's as big as a tumbleweed. It even looks pretty when in bloom.

Oh and did I mention it goes great with poultry?

Juttah, I love rosemary! Soft blue/lavender blooms are beautiful. You should be able to grow rosemary in the ground in Tucson. It is hardy to below 20F.

Mike, Chinese Rice plant is aglaia odorata, Logee's has it.

Wow...the Brunfelsia Gigantea that I bought off EBay about a month ago finally got its first flowers and I was able to get a whiff of this much talked about fragrance. It is wonderful...to me it smells like Easter lilies. Not as sickly sweet as stargazer lilies this has just enough spicy notes to take it down a notch. It wafts wonderfully. The strange thing is after I stick my nose in it...I can still smell it 5 minutes later in my nose after I walk away from the plant. Even my gardenias don't do that. There are still the original 9 left on Ebay I might go buy one or two more and put them in pots on the corners of my patio..wow

blutayle,

Thank you for the Brunfelsia gigantea report and congratulations! I got one from Logee's this spring and although it's gotten large I've yet to get a bloom so of course I'm jealous. Laugh.
What kind of light are you giving it and how often do you fertilize and/or what kind of fertilize do you use?
Mine gets direct morning sun for a couple of hours and then filtered sun for the rest of the day. If I put it out in direct sun the leaves start to droop.
Any tips would be appreciated.

Thank you,
Robert

Hi Robert,

When the vendor shipped this plant it was already 3ft. tall in a one gallon pot...after a week of settling in I repotted it one size up in a very chunky, free draining mix. Here , in Florida, that is important especially during rainy season. I fertilize lightly every other watering with 20-20-20 in my watering can about 1/4 strength. I have it in morning sun and late afternoon sun with mid-day shade. The summer sun here is pretty brutal so I have it on the north side of my home. It is now putting out flushes of growth along all previous leaf nodes plus suckers coming from the root ball. It must have about 20 flowers now and loaded with buds. It seems to be such an easy and underrated plant here in the Tampa area. I am kinda ignoring it like I do my gardenias. I will have to post how it survives the winter with our cold snaps, dragging it in and out of the house. Good luck, it should bloom soon.

blutayle,

Thank you so much for the info! Mine has been growing like crazy (I even cut it back once to see if that would induce flowering). I suppose I'll just have to wait. I've read that B. gigantea has a stunning fragrance at night and is an exquisite wafter like you mentioned so of course I'm impatient waiting to experience all that awesomeness for myself. ;)

-Robert

I forgot about this thread!

I will be back tomorrow after a restful sleep. I hope everyone is well:-)

MIke

Always fun to list faves, though I think the best is the one that's blooming now!

My current summer faves:

brunfelsia Isola (lactea x americana, I believe, though no one seems to know for sure)is a blooming machine: I should have taken a picture a week ago, over 30 blooms in a 12" pot! It does get mealy bugs in winter, but it can handle a bit of abuse.

Aglaia odorata, aka rice flower: mine's now 3 ft. tall, and seems to bloom after putting out new stems. Interestingly, the fragrance was almost the same as a cymbidium sinense orchid that bloomed at the same time -- heaven to your nose!

Trachelospermum 'Mandianum', aka asiaticum, aka whatever they're calling it these days: has stayed in the same pot for years, almost a natural bonsai at this point, keeps popping out small yellow flowers with a marvelous, soft fragrance. And you gotta love the way old leaves turn red before dropping, for that two tone effect!

And last but not least, now that I've figure out I wasn't watering my MOO enough, it's blooming all summer long!

Yellowthumb, brunfelsia in Ontario? Have you checked flora exotica?

Enjoy the scents!

Poet's Jasmine.........smell is marvelous! It's been an easy plant; I do water regularly. My first year growing it, so not sure whether to bring it inside for winter or park it in the garden shed. Definitely worth growing, and my current favorite. Available from Logee's.