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Archive through January 22, 2008 Pinkdamsel 20 01-22-08 06:08 pm

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Bulliedeux

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Posted on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 - 07:13 pm EST :

My last order from FSG last year included the Emperor of China and the snowball mums. The snowball did bloom mid summer and keep blooming if deadheaded. The E.of China has an added bonus of the beautiful burgundy the foliage turns in late fall, besides it's beautiful flowers. I originally ordered them in 06 but that's when his life turned upside down and all.

Bulliedeux - IL, Zone "5b"

Sunnyday2day

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Posted on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 - 08:41 pm EST :

Does anyone like the unique fragrance of tulips? I sure do. I love roses, lilacs, thyme, lavender, lily Casa Blanca, clematis Betty Corning... some real favorites!

Sunnyday2day - Michigan, Zone "Zone 5"

Valia

Supporting Member

Posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - 07:50 am EST :

I've been thinking about what kind of forum would best host this kind of thread. It's a great thread, but not broad enough for a forum.

My first thought was a clumsy one: "Flowers with special characteristics".

This would cover other things besides scent, for example, attracting butterflies, seeds that feed birds, extra-large blossoms, an all-blue or all-white garden (we've seen those topics in other forums), or whatever.

Then I thought, what about people who want to plant for screening purposes or for windbreaks. All these ideas cut across the lines that define many existing forums. The closest you can come is "Advice and makeovers in the garden," but that really isn't the same idea, as these threads could be describing already existing gardens or areas in a garden.

I still can't think of a good name, but the idea is really "Special-Purpose plantings". Can someone come up with a better title?

What do you think?

Anne

Valia - UT (winter) WA (summer), Zone "8 and 5"

Heirloomgardens

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Posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - 07:51 am EST :

I loved Evening Stock (Matthiola longipetala) last summer. Mmmm, mmm. It filled the garden with its scent just as the sun started to set. It's such a heady fragrance that you don't need to get down on your hands and knees to smell it, but you find yourself doing it anyway because you just want to roll in it.

Check out The Fragrant Path if you want more ideas. They're a good reference site for this sort of topic.

http://www.fragrantpathseeds.com

Heirloomgardens - Massachusetts, Zone "5b"

Dee_b

Supporting Member

Posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - 12:40 pm EST :

Daphne bholua "Jacqueline Postill" is for me the best scented shrub in the garden...It fills the whole garden with perfume...and it flowers in winter....I wouldn't be without it. Another very fragrant plant is winter box, Sarcococca. I have Sarcococca confusa, but there are several forms....check them out.

Dee_b - West Midlands, Zone "7"

Growit

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Posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - 01:39 pm EST :

Fragrance is top of the list for me too. If it doesn't look amazing then it better smell amazing and preferably both.
I cling to one pot of regal lillies. We have the dreaded lily beetle and I am an organic gardener so all Summer I check and squish.

Other than those I grow herbs that are either brushed past or trodden on to make them give off their scent.

Viburnum Judii..At the nursery I ordered in several Spring flowering viburnums to see which one smelt the best and this one won hands down.

Sarcococca. A very sweet smelling (almost too sweet) shrub that throws its scent around. I grow humilis.

Jasmine officinale, nothing beats that for scent especially in the early evening. I have this planted to tumble over a wall right next to my living room window.

The humble Buddlea. I grow a large flowered white one which means not only does it smell wonderful but all the butterflies show up on it really well.

Valerian. Some say it smells like cat wee but I don't think so. It fills the air on a warm sunny day.

Honeysuckle already mentioned but worth mentioniong again. I have the common japonica which I believe has the strongest fragrance.

Apothecary rose. The straggliest rose most of the year but when it flowers...hmmm delicious, and so sweet. This is the rose that rosewater is made from.

Mahonia aquifolium. A real thug when it comes to covering the ground but I have it squished in a corner right next to a window so all that scent wafts straight in but it cannot swamp everything.

Daphne. No idea which one I have but it has to be the most boring to look at. Small evergreen with green flowers but the smell just yummy. If I had the room I would go for Daphne odora. Smells lovely and looks lovely too.

Paeony 'White Wings' Smells so wonderful and being a single does not need support so that grows right at the edge of a path next to a seat.

Iris bucharica. A beautiful but fussy iris that I grow in a pot next to the back door so I can smell it and pamper it.

Philadelphus. One in the front garden and one in the back. Both grow no more than four feet tall. One is a double and both smell fabulous. They have such a lovely fresh scent that just makes me smile when I get a waft of it.

Cytisus battandieri. I think I spelt that right. Also known as pineapple broom. Strangely it smells just like pineapples.

I probably have a few more smellies in my garden but it is dark now and I cannot see outside to jog my memory.

Growit - Hampshire, Zone "8/9"

Terryk

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Posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - 10:03 pm EST :

Moira, your list is very inspiring. Is your favorite photo from your garden? What is it?

Terryk - NY, Zone "6"

Charlenenj

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Posted on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - 10:23 pm EST :

Ooh boy. I have more inspiration now. Thanks everyone!! Moira - I planted Sarcococca a few years ago but it was too small of a plant and it died over the winter. Maybe I will try again. I wish there was somewhere I could go to smell these things before I buy them!! I suppose I will try Daphne and Mock Orange too but I am low on space and more inclined now towards flowers as opposed to bushes. But Moira - that list of your's is getting printed! Has anyone ever smelled Choisya Ternata (sp?). I hear the green one smells great but I love the "Aztec" gold-colored one and apparently it doesn't bloom often, if ever whereas the green one always blooms.

PS to Heirloom -- how long did your stock bloom? I may grow that too. Love it when I have it in an arrangement.

PSS - I forgot to mention I also have a bush called "Edgeworthia". It flowers in late Winter on just wood, before the leaves come out - the buds are almost on there now. It's an odd bush b/c if the weather is back and forth, the buds don't know what to do and may not open up fully for a full bloom (instead, they just sit droopy and then fall off if the weather gets cold again unexpectedly, and about 1 day of yummy fragrance). But when it starts to warm and you don't get a drastic return back to cold, the smell they throw off is amazing, enveloping the entire front of the house with an awesome gardenia scent that lasts a week.

Charlenenj - New Jersey, Zone "6b"

Heirloomgardens

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Posted on Thursday, January 24, 2008 - 07:09 am EST :

Charlenenj wrote on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - 10:23 pm:
how long did your stock bloom?

Mine started June 20th and went all summer. That was the first year I grew it and we had a drought, so I don't know how typical that blooming period is.

Heirloomgardens - Massachusetts, Zone "5b"

Terryk

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Posted on Thursday, January 24, 2008 - 01:26 pm EST :

Charlene, I just googled "Edgeworthia". Wow, it looks great. Did you get yours online?

That may have to go onto my list of many "Have to Have" plants.

Terryk - NY, Zone "6"

Growit

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Posted on Thursday, January 24, 2008 - 03:43 pm EST :

Terryk wrote on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - 10:03 pm:
Moira, your list is very inspiring.

Thanks Terry. I felt the same about Charlenes' list and have been googling the ones I don't know.

Terryk wrote on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - 10:03 pm:
Is your favorite photo from your garden? What is it?

Yes it is from my garden and it is a Ceanothus repens. It was one of the first plants I put in as there was nothing but lawn when I moved here. Unfortunately it is not scented.

Charlenenj wrote on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - 10:23 pm:
Moira - I planted Sarcococca a few years ago but it was too small of a plant and it died over the winter.

Such a shame! I have just thrown away about 100 seedlings. In one of my gardens they seed like weeds and he didn't want them. I pulled them out and brought some home in a bucket to give away but the rest went on the compost heap!

Charlenenj wrote on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - 10:23 pm:
Has anyone ever smelled Choisya Ternata (sp?). I hear the green one smells great but I love the "Aztec" gold-colored one and apparently it doesn't bloom often, if ever whereas the green one always blooms.

Choisya does smell wonderful but it doesn't throw its scent far. You would have to plant it close to a door/window/path. If you brush past the plant the foliage gives off a nice smell as well.
Aztec is more fussy and tolerates less cold. It is better planted against a sunny house wall where it will be more sheltered. It is supposed to tolerate some shade but the only ones I have seen were in full sun. It does smell more and waft further and if it likes where it is you may even get a second flush of flowers in the Autumn.
Edgeworthia

Wish I could grow it. I have only ever seen it in a pot (Nursery/Garden centre) never full grown. Do you have pictures?

Growit - Hampshire, Zone "8/9"

Growit

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Posted on Thursday, January 24, 2008 - 03:47 pm EST :

Sorry forgot! Does anyone grow Skimmias? You have to have peaty soil but the smell! Mmmmm just like honey. I planted three in the garden I was in today. If that doesn't persuade you it is also evergreen, flowers (scented) and has red berries! A plant for all seasons.

Growit - Hampshire, Zone "8/9"

Charlenenj

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Posted on Thursday, January 24, 2008 - 08:38 pm EST :

Growit wrote on Thursday, January 24, 2008 - 03:43 pm:
Choisya does smell wonderful but it doesn't throw its scent far. You would have to plant it close to a door/window/path. If you brush past the plant the foliage gives off a nice smell as well.
Aztec is more fussy and tolerates less cold. It is better planted against a sunny house wall where it will be more sheltered. It is supposed to tolerate some shade but the only ones I have seen were in full sun. It does smell more and waft further and if it likes where it is you may even get a second flush of flowers in the Autumn.
Edgeworthia Wish I could grow it. I have only ever seen it in a pot (Nursery/Garden centre) never full grown. Do you have pictures?

Hello. This is such great info on Choisya. I have never smelled it but when I saw it described as a fragrant bush and then I saw it has a gold/yellow cultivar, I got very interested (I'm in love with golds and chartreuse plants). I do not have the room for any more fragrant bushes or trees and am now restricted to flowers and vines. In fact, my poor summersweet bush tends to get moved around a lot - my neighbor jokes that the bush "knows it's a nomad by now and accepts it." Same goes for my Fothergilla - I forgot if I mentioned that I have that one too -- it has honey scented blossoms but again, I don't find they perfume the whole garden like my crazy night blooming jasmine.

I got my Edgeworthia (and almost all of my other nice smelling plants) from Triple Oaks Nursery. http://www.tripleoaks.com/ I don't know if they ship out of state. They are quite a few hours from me in NJ so I had the stuff delivered. The folks there are GREAT - a Mom and son team (Lorraine and Joe). Joe told me about Edgeworthia. I'd never seen or heard of it before. Then...a year ago I went to the farm of a horticulturist who has unusual plants about 20 minutes from my house. He and his partner have a huge Edgeworthia growing in a pot. They bring it inside for the winter, but I am only 20 minutes from them and I have mine in the ground all year round (not even a protected site) and it does great. Joe at Triple Oaks also says the Edgeworthia plants do fine outside and his area is colder than mine.

I do have pics of all my things but EJ is still working on getting the albums working, so my link on my profile doesn't work. :(

PS - I am now going to get some Stock.

Charlenenj - New Jersey, Zone "6b"

Growit

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Posted on Friday, January 25, 2008 - 05:07 pm EST :

Before I write anything else I must ask you about this one Charlene. "Cestrum Night Blooming Jasmine." Although you say it is hardy in zone 9 I don't think I could get away with it outside so how do you overwinter it indoors? I have not seen it for sale here but then it is probably sold as an indoor. Your description of it made it sound so appealing I thought I might give it a go if it is not too difficult to overwinter.

Charlenenj wrote on Thursday, January 24, 2008 - 08:38 pm:
I'm in love with golds and chartreuse plants

Do you grow Philadelphus coronarius 'Aureus'
http://woodyplants.nres.uiuc.edu/plant/phicoau
A beautiful yellow form.

Charlenenj wrote on Thursday, January 24, 2008 - 08:38 pm:
In fact, my poor summersweet bush tends to get moved around a lot - my neighbor jokes that the bush "knows it's a nomad by now and accepts it."

LOL! I had one of those shrubs, it now lives in someone elses garden so I get to visit it.

Charlenenj wrote on Thursday, January 24, 2008 - 08:38 pm:
I do have pics of all my things but EJ is still working on getting the albums working,

I know, I did check earlier and saw it was still not working. Thought you may have it on there. Soon I'm sure.
So Stocks...day and/or night. I love the smell but not the look, bit too girly and PINK!;)
I am now running through the perennials at the nursery I managed, to think of any that you will have room for, and have not already been mentioned....Verbena salmon pink...Yes, I know it is not a perennial but it came in with the bedding plants and was the only Verbena with scent and a real Jasmine like smell to it, very strong.
Crambe cordifolia. I have this but it didn't flower this year. I think because it was so wet the slugs and snails just destroyed it.
Cimicifuga racemosa. I have this too but it is struggling in my dry soil even with the wet Summer we have had. Some people don't like the smell so it may be worth sniffing before you buy.
Hemerocallis citrina. A plain yellow one but strongly scented. I think a lot of the yellow ones are very fragrant.
Romneya coulteri. Not a strong waft but a waft nonetheless and what a stunning plant!
Dictamnus. Again not a strong waft but what a party trick! Light it at dusk and it glows blue.
Did anyone mention Lily of the valley? Yum!

A few other plants that spring to mind.
Clerodendrum bungei. Pink flowers but they do smell lovely. Sorry a shrub.
Sweet peas.
Nemesia 'The Bride'(?) A white one sold for hanging baskets.
Narcissus campernellii. Of all the dwarf narcissi this had such a strong and amazing scent.
Wallflowers? Have they been mentioned?
I will stop now before I launch into scented alpines!