Believe it or not, sycamore trees! They have an intense musky smell that I never knew about until I grew them. Makes me want to put them all over :-)

Mmmmm - love that sweet olive!

However, right now, the most fragrant thing in my garden is the orange tree with its blossoms popping open. The jasmine hasn't started yet, rose buds are still fattening up (for the most part), and sweetpeas are barely opening, but the citrus blooms are stealing the show right now.

Anne

Right outside my back door is a mandarin tree in a pot. The smells is wonderfully sweet. mmmm

In my garden, the wintersweet starts in late November, then the violets come along in December. By the time they are finished up, the lilacs and roses begin in March. Just as the lilacs are finishing, now, the oranges are blooming and the peonies are almost ready. By the time they finish the star jasmine will be blooming. But by June, I can't think of anything fragrant, other than more roses. Well, the echinacea does have some scent as does the phlox, and I did plant a heliotrope this year. Oh, the oriental lilies bloom late June. And the fallen rotting plums have their own sweet scent : ) I got some more nicotiana started, maybe it will be scented. The one I have now is not. So what is scented late summer into fall?

My winter daphne is just finishing up. Wonderful!
The osmanthus fragrans is blooming.
My daffs are fragrant, but I can't remember the variety.
The cottage pinks just starting blooming and are very fragrant.
Our jasmine is blooming.

On deck to bloom is the sweet bay magnolia and itea.

The wisteria, roses, crimson clover and sweetpeas. The critters are also enjoying the scents. The bee's are making a come back and I saw a huge Tiger Swallowtail and a few Skippers. Lady bugs are everywhere.

This is the prettiest Spring I've ever seen.

On the down side my maples have been attacked by scale. First time I've ever experienced scale. Yucky things.

Edna

Hyacinths here. They and a few daff's are the only things blooming right now.

The next fragrant thing I believe will be my white bearded iris. I'm looking forward to that one since the scent really carries.

winter daphne here also. it's right out the back door and every time I open it, it's a wave of fragrance. in the summer is a blue buddleia that smells up our whole acre 1/2. it's awesome. plus. the oriental lilies. roses. peonies. i can't wait!!!!

Bath's Pinks! 'Firewitch' dianthus, less so...

The blend of wisteria and jasmine in the back yard is enough to make you feel drunk. I've got a lot of stock just beginning to bloom too. One of my absolute favorite scents in the garden. There are tons of carnation just about to open. Oh the aroma! I can't wait. Double Delight rose just opened and there are dozens of blooms on Don Juan.

Edna - I couldn't agree more. This has been a beautiful spring for us, hasn't it?

Steven

What smells good in my garden *now*? the smell of dirt! Most of my garden is still covered in snow.

Once it starts growing, I'll have lots of scented flowers -- mostly in spring (well... whatever constitutes spring for us here) and early summer.

Lilac! It is so fragrant - I can smell it as I open the door in a morning. Mr.Lincoln hybrid tea rose, and a lemon tree I recently got. Smells like Haven...

Roses, jasmine, angel's trumpets, lavender, basil, rosemary, golden dew drops, Mexican oregano, and probably a few other things I can't think of right now.

I would love to smell what's blooming in each of your gardens, even the dirt, as it has it's own rich smell.

Happy Gardening all ~ FlowerLady

One of the downsides of living in a cooler coastal climate is that it retards detection of fragrance. I can smell the scents much better when the weather becomes warmer. I have a fragrant dwarf rhodie, for instance, that hardly had any scent when I picked it in the morning, but inside the house at a nice 68 degrees, it filled the room with its sweet scent, very similar to Easter lilies.

Others are:
Cytisus
Roses
unknown Bearded Iris that smells like Juicy Fruit chewing gum!
Freesias

Well right now the only thing I have blooming is salvia and is not fragrant. I have some ginger lilies that my friend gave and she said they smell heavenly but I think they bloom in the summer. I don't think I really have anything that smells good at least from a distance anyway. I used to have a tea olive and a confederate jasmine at my old house and man what a sweet heavenly smell!

I also have not in my yard but wisteria grows wild here and it perfumes the air. To me it's the closest thing to the lilacs I remember as a kid.

For me it would have to be my Lilac bush. It seems as if everyone in our neighborhood has one or two Lilac bushes in thier yards. The whole neighborhood starts to smell of Lilacs when the wind is just right. The last two days we've been having gusts up to 40 mph so most of the scents have been swept away.

Here in Kansas the big show of scented flowers doesn't kick in until mid-April - or even after. I miss the huge bursts of scent and color during CA's Springtime. In honor of my native state I planted some annual Geraniums this year in bright blue pots. I always remember them being so plentiful in downtown Ventura where I used to hang out. My mom had a Jasmine in her back yard that could knock one out with its fragrance. Alas, I cannot afford to live there so here I shall stay.

Heather

Has anyone mentioned herbs? I love the fragrance emerging from my herb garden after a rain storm. A nice mix of sage, oregano, mint, rosemary and thyme. When my kids were younger they used to refer to as the "pizza garden" because the area really did smell like pizza after a good rain.

Right now the Carolina Jessamine flowers have faded, but a few weeks ago they perfumed the entire backyard. My neighbor's honeysuckle which drapes nicely over our shared fence has not yet burst into bloom, but when it does...wow!

Other favorites I have include nicotiana, 4 o'clocks and of course, roses.

What a nice thread, I'm planning on saving it because I would love to add some new fragrances. Top of the list: Tea Olive! I have heard so many wonderful things about this plant.

Marilyn

My viburnum will be blooming soon and the scent is just heavenly. Its planted right along the front entrance, so the smell hits you right as you enter the house. I forget the cultivator, but the scent is very strong and sweet.

Sweet Almond Verbena (Aloysia virgata) is starting to bloom, but you have to get close to smell it right now. Later when it's hot & humid, that sweet smell will be all over the garden.

Roses are blooming and the jasmine vine has flower buds on it. They should be opening soon.

Then there's the mosquito repellant that I've had to start using already!

My roses are opening up and the Double Delights, Mr. Lincoln, Queen Elizabeth smell great....but as another California poster mentioned, scents don't carry so much for us by the beach until it truly warms up. That said, though, my star jasmine is also budding and that'll smell beautiful when fully flowered, and my Zephrine Drouhin climbing rose has several buds on it....wonderfully fragrant rose. My viburnum is forming up flower clusters, too....I just planted it last year, so I'm anxious to see (and smell) it. Ohhh yes, and I've planted some nemesia that smells heavenly, and have some pots with sweet alyssum that smells good, too.

We're having a cold spell dropping into the 20's at night so things are delayed and possibly damaged this spring. But so far my Yoshino cherry and peach trees are blooming, I hope the freeze won't damage them, and they carry a sweet scent in the air. Then even stronger are my hyacinths and daffies. My clematis montana odorata is getting buds -- it smells like vanilla when blooming! I am still waiting for the Viburnum, mock orange, daphnes, and later the old-fashioned roses and pinks...

Korean spice viburnum is the most heavenly scent right now; but the clove pinks and hyacinth are pretty amazing too.

Later it will be lavender, lavender, lavender.

I also love the curry plant, "Pink lemonade" Agastache, bee balm, and lilacs.

Right now it is orange blossums, pittosporum, jasmine, lilacs, and the Marie Pavie roses. Other roses have stronger fragrance, but MP out perfumes them all with sheer volume of nearly continuous blooms. Best of all, it wafts. Is there a lovelier word in the English language than 'waft'?

Last month it was the winter daphne. I have two planted. If I can figure out where to plant more, I will. From sometime in January until late March, it pumps out the most heavenly scent.

Rosefolly

In my garden the good fragrance is coming from the petunias and the roses. Like Rosefolly mentioned above, my 'Marie Pavie' rose floats its perfect fragrance on the breeze. Also smelling exceptionally good to me right now are 'Gruss an Aachen' and its pink sport, as well as 'Reine des Violettes'.

Randy

It's very early in the season here so nothing is blooming yet, most things are just beginning to emerge from the earth. Right now, close to the house, all I can smell is cedar mulch and the river, It smells fresh and clean.

MeMo

On some balmy days, it's smell of the neighbor's fried chicken! ~ Annie

Party_music50,

you mentioned an aroma of the dirt, and I thought of it when I came across this quote today by Monty Don:

"I enjoy digging. Not only does the soil itself have a real scent, but the roots of the plants that have been growing there contribute to the mix, creating something new out of the remnants of last season's garden."

last month it was the Daphne - oh how I love that smell - it is right beside the steps off the screened in porch and just filled the porch and even into the family room on those very warm March days. Now it is the combination of all the different dianthus, pinks, cheddar pinks that are coming into to bloom - just a beautiful spicey mixture and nothing can beat that fresh dirt smell after a spring shower - I love spring.....

Lynne

Golden Celebration (rose) and lavendar.

Currently wisteria and jasmine - heavenly! When it gets warmer lavender will kick in, as well as the roses - Jude The Obscure, Kathleen Harrop, William Lobb, etc.

I have read in books about fragrance gardens that everyone should plant a rosa primula by the front door. Apparently the smell of the leaves after a rain or a hose shower is fantastic. Does anyone grow rosa primula?

Eduarda

I recently found a small white flowered clematis that to me smells like white chocolate! It will be planted on a metal trellis on our side yard among climbing roses. Every time I pass near it the smell just grabs ya. I have two blush noisette roses that you can see from our living room window. When I'm at the desk typing on the computer you can smell the blooms wafting in from the open window.

careytearose

The honeysuckle growing all over the fence in my backyard smells absolutely wonderful, but I hate the stuff. I've been trying to eradicate it since we bought this house 4 years ago. I can't deny that it smells good, though. During our warm and humid Summer nights, it perfumes our entire yard, front and back. You can smell it from any point on the property.

The monarda growing in my mixed border - the foliage smells yummy! It's a bit of a thug in my garden, but I'm willing to put up with its aggressive nature because it smells so good.

The lavender shrub I have out in my xeric bed smells really good, too, but unless you get near it during the heat of the day, you can't smell it.

Renee

Nell ~ my mother has sweet shrub growing along the fence in her backyard. LOTS of it. She started with just one small sapling, which quickly multiplied. Must be the perfect spot for it.
The flowers really do smell wonderful...a mix of cherry and vanilla, I think.

Renee

My garden isn't smelling yet but give it a few years. I bought Duchess de Brabant, La Reine and Louse Odier this year.

I couldn't help but let them each give me one flower to see and smell them for real. Oh my goodness. Duchess is beyond words...I can't wait till these three are big, healthy, blooming scent machines....

I brought home some petunias the other day. They were putting out a nice scent into the car on the ride home.

Newly opened in my garden are blooms on 'Little Gem' magnolia. Magnolia fragrance is a clean lemony scent that carries on the wind.
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Before I reach the magnolia, I pass 'Rose de Rescht' which also carries. I put 'Reine des Violettes' far away from either of these, in the back yard. I do love catching the fragrance of roses without going close up.

Nell

My Juddi and Burkwoodi Viburnums.........all ova the place...I must have 9 of them around the yard. Lori? Wait till you smell this....sheer heaven! Most just popped out yesterday and today.

I finally have daffodils and tons of hyacinths in bloom!

I love garden scents. The general progression of my strongly-scented plants includes: daffodils, hyacinths, sweet violets, lily of the valley, lilacs, peonies, tons of different old-fashioned bearded iris, rugosa rose, lilies (easter lilies, stargazer, muscadet!, etc.), valerian, honeysuckle, mock orange, dictamnus!, monarda, mints, agastaches, citronella-scented geranium (everyone goes nuts for this -- it's pelargonium cv. citrosa), hostas (guacamole, plantaginea, etc.), and one of my daylilies is scented! (to my surprise :) That's all I can think of at the moment...

I'd love to know of any other late-blooming scented flowers for a cold z5!

Jant, My viburnums Juddii and Burkwoodii are blooming and smelling wonderful now, it looks like we have the same varities :).

Daphne 'Carole Mackie' beats the viburnum in heavenly scent though.

Edwarda, my Rosa primula is blooming. I can catch a spicy scent on the flowers but never noticed the leaves... will have to check that out if we get some rain.

My clematis montana is in full bloom now too... wonderful!
For late summer/early fall fragrant bloom you should check out the Sweet Autumn clematis, clematis ternaflora.

Oh, its the ROSES! A friend from church (we live down one black on the same street) was walking towards our house to get his car after service and he said he could smell them (we currently have 112)half way down the street well before you even see a glimpse of the house. Here is a very recent pic of the front yard you see coming down the street. This pic was taken standing in the next door neighbor's driveway.
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Many of the climbing roses here are planted along with honeysuckle, I LOVE the smell, though DH says the best way to trim them would be to get a machete... I just got 6 little heliotrope plants for the children's Secret Garden, to plant around a stone birdbath. I love the honey fragrance! To see more pics of our gardens in our front, back and side yards, and recent landscaping projects, ck out my Picture Trail:

careytearose

Here is a link that might be useful: look at the Landscaping Projects 2007 and Favorite ROSES we grow albums

Jasmine, honeysuckle, roses, basil, thyme and rosemary.