Garden Smells

I have just used a load of fresh compost out of the compost bin and it smelled wonderful. I wondered what were your favourite smells?

 

Currently, the sweet smell of Nicotiana and Dianthus wafting around the garden.

 

The smell of my tea cooking after I've been grafting away for hours.

 

I have lilies, roses, and sweet peas blooming right now. The whole garden smells heavenly!!!

 

Lily of the valley and roses (lavender lassie is one that springs to mind).

Probably biased because my mother had a yard full of different rose bushes... definitely more than 50 ...

 

At the moment, it is my new buddleia, it smells gorgeous. I didn't even know they had a scent, so it came as a little surprise when i brushed past and the perfume filled the air.
:pickflower:

 

What variety is it?

 

Davidii variety royal red, absolutely gorgeous.

 

I love the smell of Napalm in the morning.

 

I love the smell of ...

- freshly mown lawn
- wet escallonia leaves
- farmyard manure
- wisteria when flowering
- mock orange by my neighbour's fence

Have planted lots of new scented shrubs this year, so am looking forward to more smells next year.

 

At the moment... in the garden... my nemesia wisley vanilla. It's astonishing! Like vanilla icecream!

But I'm not great at choosing plants for aromas so I think that's about it! Though my viburnum always smells lovely in the winter.

I like the smell of tomato plants too.

:D

 

Lily of the Valley, wisteria, honeysuckle, roses, dianthus, stocks and nemesia 'Cotton Candy' (a vanilla ice-cream/sweet shop smell). I love the smell of tomato plants as you brush past them in the greenhouse, mint, fresh compost, freshly dug earth and that general 'woody' aroma in the garden after a much needed shower of rain.

 

The smell of freshly cut grass...
The first rain after a hot dry spell...
The young lavender plants I've just planted
The smell of wild garlic from the field behind my garden
The aroma of food on the BBQ...

Starving now

 

I collect scented plants. Over the years I've grown many. I still think there's little to beat the pong of the common jasmine, Jasminum officinale. On a still, warm summer's night, stepping into a garden which contains a large plant in full flower is like opening a bottle of perfume.

I also love mock orange (Philadelphus). For me, the best is Philadelphus lemoinei, which has dainty, arching branches and a particularly delicious scent which is quite distinct from other members of the family. There's something fruity about it - it definitely has strong hints of pineapple and coconut. Don't bother planting the dwarf variety, Manteau d'Hermione, for scent. It's a delightful plant but it has very little perfume, whatever the nursery catalogues say.

Roses can be wonderful or disappointing. 'Margaret Merril' is every bit as scented as the catalogues claim. I also love the way the flowers start off looking like little hybrid teas but eventually open fully, so that the bees can work them. Some roses are better at wafting their smell around the garden than others. Hybrid musks are particularly good at doing this, as well as being stunning to look at. I think the Reverend Pemberton, who bred them in the 1920s, was a man of excellent taste. 'Buff Beauty' is my favourite.

The huge, dinner-plate flowers of Magnolia grandiflora smell wonderful. One bloom will scent a garden. It's not a plant for a small plot, though. I speak as someone who has it shoehorned into the corner of a very small space.

Viburnum fragrans and Sarcococca confusa are two of the best things about winter. In my garden, the virburnum begins to bloom in late October and continues to waft a gorgeous sugared-almond scent around the garden for many weeks. Sarcococca's scent is so strong that I can smell it in the house, even on a very cold day.

This thread started off talking about compost and has drifted somewhat. I've often thought it would be nice to have a thread which is dedicated to scent; to me, it's one of the joys of the garden. It would be great to know what has worked for other members and what has not. The catalogues are not always honest. For example, I would advise gardeners not to buy alstroemeria 'Sweet Lorna' for scent. Although listed as sweet-smelling, as far as I can tell the scent is more or less non-existent. As far as perfume goes, Lorna stinks! :o

Anyway, how about a new section for scent?