Fragrance in the Garden

[F, Calla & Luca]

As beautiful as flowers are sometimes the fragrance is as good or better. Right now there is an abundance of flowers and heavenly scents. I wish we had a way to share the latter. Among my favorites are honeysuckle, roses and peonies.Sometimes when the right breeze comes along it is unbelievable. Any other favorites?

Honeysuckle

Rose

Peony

[Lauria Orr]

Very pretty photos. This is right up my alley! We have some beautiful Lilac Gardens not far from Portland, that are actually in Vancouver, WA. I have gotten 5 varieties of lilacs there and they are so beautiful, and the fragrance is really divine. They are no longer in bloom. Portland is the "Rose City" and has a beautiful rose garden, that I have not been to yet this year. My own rose gardens are not blooming too well yet, as it has been really wet,without enough sun! Soon I will have lavender, which smells nice, and lillies.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Well, the lilacs and magnolias, of course, which are done for the year. I have a huge old magnolia to the west of my house, and it perfumes the whole block when it's in full bloom. And hyacinths.
I have some shrubby plants called Summer Sweet (formal name is Clethra) which don't bloom until late summer. They are nothing to look at, but the flowers have the most wonderful spicy fragrance, similar to carnations but stronger, and it carries a good distance. And although it's tough to grow the kind of carnations we see in florists' shops, dianthus smells similar. I also think it's beautiful, very delicate and grows in nice low mounds. But it's like crack cocaine to rabbits. :(
I will try to post photos of both when they bloom.

[Lauria Orr]

I love Dianthus! There are some pretty gardenias in bloom, and the foliage is beautiful as well. The flower itself is popular, but unfortunately gives me an instant headache, so I never have it in the house. I like Magnolias also.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Gardenias are something else that are not hardy in the north but I love the smell.

[F, Calla & Luca]

What kind of magnolia is this,Karen? Grandiflora, I think is the standard old fashioned kind with the big saucer like blooms. But I had no idea they smelled.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm not sure; the tree was here long before I was. I'll try to find a photo. The flowers bud pink, but then turn white, and they're large with long petals. The buds are long and pointed and very fuzzy. I have been around magnolias since I was a kid, though, and they all have a very strong wonderful fragrance, I'd say similar to jasmine.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Okay, I looked it up and there are a gazillion different species of magnolias. Mine is not the kind with the saucer flowers; I think mine is a magnolia liliiflora.
I had taken some photos when the blooms were already browning and on the way out, and they were ugly so I never posted them. But this will give you an idea. I'll take a photo tomorrow of the tree itself, this doesn't show the shape or the leaves, they're quite pretty. And I found one photo of the way the flowers look when they first open.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I like this flower better than the "common" one. I wonder if it is also more fragrant.

[Lauria Orr]

Spectacular trees. A favorite since I was a child.

[Lauria Orr]

And very pretty photos!

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

I have jasmine ground cover under the bedroom windows of our house It is the night blooming so when we go to bed it has a wonderful fragrance (we sleep with our windows open). I am curious though...we have a huge ol' Magnolia tree that is blooming but I have never smelled a fragrance coming from it. Maybe I had better get a ladder and climb up and cut a blossom down. The tree is extremely tall and is in our patio/back yard.

[F, Calla & Luca]

See, this is where you Californians outdo us. No jasmine here unless you grow it as an annual. I also had no idea that magnolias smell until Karen posted that. I've never had a magnolia tree.