I like Wisteria, Laburnum, Iris, Clerodendron, apple and citrus blossoms. I also like rosemary and basil.

I don't like oriental poppies or certain tulips, although you have to be close to some of these to smell them.

I grow and enjoy every fragrance, even some of the foul ones.

I have the usuals, Lilac, Honeysuckle, etc etc, but one of my most exciting is Fennel. It really isn't a flowery smell, but I love having it around.

Speaking of "Not flowery", does anyone else think that Lunaria blossoms smell like Chicken Soup?! Nobody seems to agree with me... D= idk haha.

Interesting... I love lots of the herbs, too. And I'm especially fond of iris, honeysuckle, and some of the "simpler" roses (I find some roses appealing, others definitely NOT -- too overpowering). What's interesting is how some fragrances just say "florist shop/cooler" to me ... in a negative way! Carnations do that for me. I just feel as if I'm in a funeral home amidst florist arrangements whenever I smell them. Other scents, like the iris, make me feel as if I'm out in my garden.

I think there's an emotional link to floral scents that's probably different for every person, depending on their background and experience. I grew up in the country (outside Washington, DC, in an area which could no way, no how be called "country" now!) and just remember the smell of the honeysuckle wafting through the window (no a/c) on a humid summer night. So when I smell honeysuckle, it brings back peaceful memories of summer nights, when my biggest worry in life was whether I'd remembered to put my bike away and whether it was my "turn" to have the cat on the bed for the night or my brother's... :)

(As contrasted with now, when a lovely smell makes me say "is that a non-native invasive I'm smelling???!")

This thread is going to read like a chapter from the Olfactory Mystery Series. Again, I'm in agreement with you, Marty. No carnations, gladioli, and even though the fragrance is nice, not big on long stemmed roses all based on way too much funeral experience! When the titan arum, (aka the corpse flower) bloomed at UCONN a few years ago, I could understand folks standing in a long line to see a huge, rare flower in bloom, but not one that smells like rotting flesh. Then again, I think cilantro tastes like Ivory soap, so we're all tweaked a little differently.

Jane

Lemon is probably the most obvious herbal scent I love from lemon verbena, to lemon balm and even lemon gem marigolds. I love almost all the scented geraniums including the odd scented ones that are a bit astringent. I like the smell of southernwood. One of the nicest smelling weeds is the milkweed flower. I'm making an effort to put more scents into my garden.

love many mentioned...lilacs, certain viburnums, lilies, etc.

but my favorite might be certain daffodils....Cheerfulness comes to mind. And Zepherine Drouhin roses. Lilies of the valley...

Have never smelled some of these frag*rances. No Russian Oliv or Dahpne, or Narcissus 'Thalia. Haven't smelled a Wisteria or Laburnum. I can't imagine not being able to smell lilacs because of sneezing!

I do enjoy mown grass. Viburnum carlesii is one of my favorites, but I wish it weren't so fleeting. Lilacs, Lilies and honeysuckle, orange blossoms, r*oses, hyacinths, basil, mints....those are probably my most favorite fra*grances. I also enjoy lavender. I love to collect Fennel seed, great smell! OH, and the leaves of Agastache, smell like Root Beer and I love to rub them together. Yum!

I have to agree with ctlady, some r*ose smells I don't enjoy at all. I think any commercial rose has an 'unnatural' smell. I ask not to receive roses. I'm not a big fan of 'fruity' r*ose fra*grances, but rather like old r*ose fra*grances. Reminds me of my childhood too, ctlady, and you hit it on the nose, about the memories of simpler days.

Jane, my Mom hated Lilies because they reminded her of funerals. I guess they were popular in her days.

I don't enjoy the fra*grance of cranesbill. I find it unpleasant and though I have them in the garden, I hate to disturb the leaves.

And that's not even touching on Trees... Lots of trees I like the fra*grance of, starting with Pine Trees.

LOL . . . I used to think cilantro tasted like soap! I've acquired a taste for it since, but I threw out a perfectly good pasta salad the first time I added cilantro as an ingredient.

In the other thread, I fessed up to really liking the smell of Autumn Olive. I also love lilac. Other favorites are peony, sweet woodruff, heliotrope, mown grass, and all citrus.

I like most herbs, except lavender. HATE the smell of lavender. I like the smell of freshly torn catnip leaves. I adore the scent fresh basil and like the aroma of fully dried basil, but while its drying, I think it smells like cat pee.

And tho' I enjoy my fresh garden tomatoes, I cant stand the odor of the plants themselves.

I LOVE the way tomato plants smell! lol They smell like summer to me.

Must have Heliotrope every summer...I can't help but smile every time I stick my nose into a bloom. Also, Pineapple Sage...brush against the leaves to smell that pineapple. If your season is long enough, the red blooms are beautiful, too!
Emily

I like Heliotrope too. I just wish it didn't take so long to start blooming. I guess I love most fragrant plants. [g]

Barb,
I am glad you brought this up for discussion as I appreciate particularly at this time of year being reminded of the importance of scent in the garden. I am so visually focused that scent is rarely considered in my over-all design plan.
When I think or dream (nhmom2four)about my garden there are a few plants that their scent is the first thing I think about and they have all been mentioned by 2lips, mskee,patchworkfarm,defrost49,corunum,ctlady,airplaneantonym,billri (although I have never noticed a Clerodendron scent).
I will say the scent of Caryopteris divaricata I think is highly offensive, as well as boxwood..honestly with so many alternative choices I just don't understand why anyone would use a plant that smells like cat pee to 90% (yes I am guessing) of the population.

Fun thread!

I do love the smell of Russian/Autumn Olive, and many of the other scents mentioned here - lilacs, herbs (especially basil!), citrus, and freshly-mown grass. I also do love the smell of tomato plants, and most every/any rose I have ever stuck my nose into. Love lavender too!

I think one of my most favorite smells is lily of the valley. I absolutely LOVE this scent, even though I often have to get on my hands and knees to smell it, lol. It doesn't seem to be as strong in the vase as in the garden, sadly.

I don't like lilies too much - I find them rather strong and a bit irritating, but I do love marigolds.

Katy, funny thing about the boxwoods. I DO think they smell like cat pee, lol, but here's the thing. I'm a huge history buff, and as a kid, my mother would always take me to visit old colonial houses in the area (and beyond) (she is a history buff too) and they always seemed to have boxwood around them. I remember as a kid always wondering what smelled so bad, lol. But now, when I smell boxwood, I'm reminded of these beautiful old houses, and their (not always so beautiful) gardens, and so I kind of like the smell of boxwood now. I guess it's that association thing.

Like the fact that those invasive rosa multiflora bring me back to the days when I was sick to my stomach all day, every day, while pregnant with my first kid. That in itself wasn't pleasant, but I remember a particularly beautiful June morning when I got to wallow lazily in bed all morning, with the windows open, and the breeze blowing in the scent of the forest of rosa multiflora behind our condo. Ah, pure indulgence, lol!

:)
Dee

Most of my scent memories are from growing up in the South. I love scents that engulf you just by being near the plant. I love the invasive patches of southern Wisteria than take over untended trees along the road. Riding my bike by them in the cool of the evening (as "cool" as evenings got down there) was a guaranteed pleasure. Sometimes I would turn my bike around and ride by it a few times, and this as an adult. The other southern scents that chase you when you're near are gardenias (heavenly), southern honeysuckle, and tea olives. I love scent, and I'm trying to recreate that in my garden here. I am amazed at the variety of flowers I can grow in these cold winters, but I have as of yet to find the fragrance concentration I'm looking for. I've planted several things that are supposed to smell good, like valerian, and I'm hoping to find some of them don't require a nose directly in the flower. Right now my favorite nose-in-the-flower plant is peonies. I saw my first peony as an adult, and the southern gardener said it was hard to keep it alive in that climate. I'm so thrilled to be able to grow them now. Heavenly looks and heavenly scent. I won't consider a peony unless it has scent. I inherited two with scent, one without, and last year planted Duchess DeN??, Sarah Bernhardt, and Frances Ortegot. I'm hoping for even more in the future.

Thanks to all who have responded; I've enjoyed reading about all your experiences with scents, both ones I enjoy and ones that make me cringe. Like Dee, I also find that scents are really evocative of previous places and experiences.

The multiflora roses have taken up residence in a couple of old pastures here in town, and I will drive out of my way to swing by the downwind side of the field to just inhale. So nice, even while intellectually I know that they are truly an invasive pest.

One summer I grew clary sage, a lovely plant with large silvery-fuzzy leaves and delicately colored blossoms, in the front garden by the walkway to the main house door. It was only after it began blooming that I realized how truly foul the blossoms smelled. I could avoid bruising the foliage, but the stench of the flowers has prevented me from growing it again. My 'Black and Blue' salvia has foliage that smells a bit funky when bruised, but at least the flowers don't stink.

Deanna - definitely grow Nicotiana. The flowers bloom regardless of time of day, but the scent emerges starting a bit before dusk and continues until after I go to sleep. We run a fan facing outward in the evenings to cool the house, and the scent wafts into the house - absolutely lovely, but not overwhelming, and it's strongest when we are almost always home . . . perfect.

Thanks nhbabs. Just put it on the list! I suppose it's still early enough to try to find seeds, too. I forget that! Honestly, this is my first year to be doing "real" gardening. Last year was my first gardening year but I basically tried to kill overgrown weeds and maintain what little was here. This is my first spring to be involved in gardening. I keep forgetting that I can still start seeds in May, and should sometimes wait until June. I'm used to May being too late to sow, as it was a transition month from warm and muggy to hot and steamy. I can still start plants in May--yea! And I can garden in long sleeves in August--yea!