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ludiciousacres

Does your Dark Shadows smell ?

Ludicious Acres
10 years ago

My Dark Shadows is in full bloom right now.

The AHS registration says FRAGRANCE = TRUE

I have been intermittently sniffing the flowers at various times of the day. I have not detected a hint of an odor thus far.

Is mine broken ?

Please share if your DS smells.

Thank you,

Ludi

Here is a pic from a while ago before the flowers opened.

Comments (9)

  • Gesila
    10 years ago

    Somehow "smell" did not register as "fragrant" in my head. I was thinking of something more sinister! It must be all the sun I got working in the gardens today!

    Wondering if you have to wait for the buds to bloom?

    Gesila

  • thisismelissa
    10 years ago

    me too, Gesila.
    I interpretted it as, "Does your Dark Shadows stink".
    I thought this might end up being a discussion of crown rot.... not flower fragrance!

  • User
    10 years ago

    Don't have a book saying one way or another. It just seems to me that it would need to be open to exude a fragrance.

  • don_in_colorado
    10 years ago

    Ludi did write that his 'Dark Shadows' is in full bloom at the moment. His pic 'is from a while ago before the flowers opened'.

    This may be the case of incorrect typing of this variety. It's rumored that 'Blue Hawaii' is fragrant as well, but that's not so. Just my two cents (scents)? ; P

    Cheers,
    Don B.

  • User
    10 years ago

    Well heck! I posted without a picture.
    Mine isn't blooming yet.
    A few of the fragrant hosta are blooming now, but they are mostly the hybrids. I have Ginsu Knife blooming, Moonlight Sonata, Hadspen White .... but not the big guns of the plantaginea family. Those bloom earlier here than up north, but still it would be toward late July. I'm judging by last year.

    Here is a picture of my Dark Shadows. not a scape in sight.
    Also, the origin of Dark Shadows is "unknown" yet it is on the Fragrant Flowered Hosta List from Don Rawson. Do not know what qualified it for that list. However, Fragrant Blue is not known for much (if any) scent either. Perhaps if you caught it at first opening of a blossom, there could be a discernable scent.

    Okay, my brain overheated today and I am not thinking logically. So off to bed. I'll try this again tomorrow.

  • ci_lantro
    10 years ago

    Hallson's says this about Dark Shadows: Blooms: Lightly fragrant pale lavender flowers.

    Somewhere I read about hosta plantaginea emitting its fragrance at night because it was dependent upon night pollinators for pollination....which also splains why the blooms are white. How that might apply to Dark Shadows, I don't know, other that if DS is fragrant, it has to have some plantaginea genes in its ancestry, right?

    Anyhoo, I couldn't find the info that I had previously read but here's a link to a broader based article on night blooming/ fragrance emitting plants that mentions hosta....

    Here is a link that might be useful: The Night Shift

  • User
    10 years ago

    Ludi, the leaf of the hosta in your first picture, at the beginning of the thread. That belongs to an Elegans, right? The scape belongs to Dark Shadows? What does your DS hosta look like?

    Here, Elegans bloomed already, one made a pod even. But the DS has yet to bloom. I'll check it today and see if a scape is beginning.

    Nope. Saw nada.

  • User
    10 years ago

    Ci, I missed it before, but came back and saw your link to the night bloomers. Great reference. Thank you. I printed it out for reference, and will be checking the local nursery for some of the plants mentioned. I try to buy locally when I can.

  • Ludicious Acres
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Hi Everyone,

    Sorry for the misleading pic and title. Fragrance would have been a much better choice.

    Like Don reiterated, that picture was taken some time ago before any of the flowers were open.

    Cilantro . I have not gone out at night, but am familiar with night fragranced plants. Some of my white flowering orchids do this and will only start to emit their scent once the lights go out. Since they are inside, sometimes the fragrance will linger around the house till morning and I smell it when I wake up. :)

    As a second thought, the flowers on my DS are not white. I even put them next to the âÂÂalmost whiteâ flowers of Elegans and they are distinctly darker in color.

    I posted this mostly hoping someone would jump out and be like âÂÂOMG yes it is potentâÂÂ. No worries though, how else do we learn unless we question. :)

    Mocc .The big blue leaves are in fact Miss Elegans. I was trying to be âÂÂartsy fartsyâ and take the pic to focus on the developing flower stalk of DS with Elegans big blue leaves as a blurry background.

    Your DS is purrrdy :) You can see the margins starting to take shape nicely.

    Here is mine on 05/30/2013 --- severely immature

    Thanks again everyone for all your help with this. I guess next year I will try again to catch the elusive scent. :)

    Ludi