Within the week, I expect Gardenia blossoms.

'Little Gem' magnolia is blooming.

'Rose de Rescht' and 'Reine des Violettes' are resting right now, my fav roses for fragrance.

Earlier delights were hyacinths and narcissus (daffodils) of all kinds.

When the weather cools again, there will be Tea Olive (osmanthus fragrans), another lemon-scented delight that lasts all winter.

Fragrance is one of my favorite garden topics and I have planned fragrance year 'round.
Another treat I'm anticipating is the bloom of a whole row of old-fashioned 'lemon lily' daylilies.
The fragrance is slight, but en masse they're delightful to walk past.

Nell

Not in any particular order

Akebia quinata
Cardiocrinum gigantum
Honeysuckles especially the late dutch
Clematis
Philadelphus Belle Etoile
Oriental lilies
Magnolia stellata
Deciduous Azealas
Cytisus battandieri (smells just like pineapple)
Syringa x meyeri 'Palibin'
English Roses
Buddleias
Actinidia kolomikta (small flowers under leaves are lemon scented)
Wisteria
Scented begonias (smell like roses)
Iris
Sarcococca (sp)
Viburnum

I'm sure I have some more but can't think of them at the moment.

Annette

It would be impossible for me to pick a favorite from the many fragrances in my garden. I love the small of them all. So I'll go with 'just smells':

earth...rich earth have it's own wonderful smell
compost. finished compost smells lovely too
rain..the air smells different after a sprinkle or a downpoar
sun...affects the smell of the earth and the mixed floral fragnaces

Pruned trees, newly mown grass and all the other "outdoors" smells. Mix that in with the wonderful scent of flowers and you're in heaven.

Libby

Libby you are soooo right, all that you have mentioned are the best scents of all.

Some of my favorites:

- Lady of the Night (cestrum nocturnum)
- Wisteria
- Polyanthum jasmine
- Roses: Jude The Obscure, Kathleen Harrop, Ispahan
- Gardenia
- Lavenders
- The mix of all the fragrances in the garden after a Spring rain

Eduarda

freesia, rose, honeysuckle

Lorna

I forgot about osmanthus fragrans and we have more of those than any other shrub! Wonderful!

Also the akebia.

I like the scent of resinous plants, too. Brushing against the rosemary around the herb garden,
fondling a bit of thyme and oregano, one through each hand, leaves a delight to carry.
Crushing an agastache leaf gives off a licorice/anise fragrance.

I even like the sarsparilla scent of sassafras leaves and stems, which my grandson called 'frosh frosh.'

I frequently identify young plants by smell. It's hard to distinguish between a bit of Verbena bonariensis and Lantana, until you smell it.

Nell

Banana shrub (michelia figo) finished a couple of weeks ago, roses, Sweet Annie artemisia,root beer plant (piper auritum), honeysuckle, mint, will have gardenias soon.

Lisa

I planted six indian hawthorns just for their fragrance in the spring. I also have quite a few roses which smell wonderful such as Francis Dubreuil, Don Juan, Clothilde Soupert. My gardenias are blooming so while my roses rest, I have that fragrance in the air:

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Here's a question (dumb, I'm sure): do bees like fragrant flowers better than non-fragrant?

Mary

Oh, and I forgot - mint. It is invasive but I've got to have it. When we visited my grandmother while I was growing up, she always had iced mint tea. In the summer, there's nothing better. I call it my ent-draught and can feel my hair grow just like Merry and Pippin did.

Mary

Lavender, Korean Spice viburnum, my double white peonies (don't know the cultivar as they came with the house), nutmeg thyme, rosemary, curry, heliotrope, lemon balm, bee balm.

On the flip side, there are plants I won't grow because I absolutely hate their scent. Petunias and lantanas are at the top of that list.

I have a Daphne"Carol Mackie" at the frontdoor that smells out of this world. Wisteria,lily of the valley, rosemary and assorted basils make up for some heady fragrance.PM

I forgot rose geranium. If you brush against a plant the scent will linger on clothing. Mary, Russian sage has virtually no fragrance and it is a favorite of bees. Perhaps it is the amount of pollen which draws bees. ??

Lorna

Citrus is my favorite. The foliage is nice, but the blooms are incredible.

I love the fragrance out there now!!! currently blooming: tons of lilacs, lily of the valley, centaurea montana, and old-fashioned bearded iris. The scent is incredible! Various iris will come into bloom for a long while yet... then peonies, rugosa rose, mock orange, phlox, oriental lilies, and eventually fragrant hostas will kick in.

Earlier season favorite fragrance plants were daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths -- then grape hyacinths and violets (both just finishing blooming).

Can't think of my favorite later blooming fragrance plants, but I'll remember when they're here. :)

oh! I remembered one I expecially love for the scent of the foliage: pelargonium cv citrosa. It has a wonderful citrus-y (citronella) scent!!! People are always amazed when they get near it.

I love scented plants. :)

I love the fragance of the wisterias and the Brugmansias. The brugs smell first thing in the morning and late at night.
Sue

I've got scented plants that I love, but mostly you have to brush against them or get right up close to enjoy the scents. I picked some lilacs on my way in the house this afternoon, and I've got mint, lemon balm, rosemary, petunias, winter honeysuckle, but for the first time my rugosa rose has gotten big and floriferous enough to waft. I was passing my own house today, going past on the sidewalk, and noticed the wonderful, strong scent of roses. Intoxicating!

My yard is woodsy with lots of mature trees, so I've never considered planting any - with one exception: the deeply fragrant Japanese flowering apricot (prunus mume - mine is "Bonita"). From mid-Jan to about mid-Feb, it blooms and wafts - even my young tree blooms to such an extent so that it wafts throughout the yard. I don't have the zone info handy at the moment; here in 7a we can garden year-round and able to really appreciate the winter fragrance.

All i can add to the great list above is tuberose (polianthes tuberosa). My daughter kept bringing home cut bunches of these beautiful and incredibly fragrant flowers from the farmer's market, so I planted just a few bulbs. There's conflicting zone info out there, and 7a is the most northern reference I've seen (most say 8a-10b) but they have come back for the past 3 years. When it blooms mid-late summer, a single stem will fragrance an entire room.

Now y'all know what my answer would be. : ) This is what my son said last week when he stopped by to take me to lunch: "Mom, it smells soooo great out there!" He was smelling the Westerlands, Outta the Blue, Honey Perfume, Elle, GT, Evelyn, Julia Child, Lilian and Fair Bianca.

Diana

Belinda's Dream rose, tall garden phlox, and oddly enough one that Granite hates, petunias. Every time I smell petunias, I'm a little girl again walking in my grandmothers garden. I can close my eyes and hear the old screen door slam, feel the cool grass between my toes and taste Granny's fresh peach cobbler. Oh yeah, I love the smell of petunias. Cheryl

From my garden:
- Honeysuckle
- Petunias
- Iris
- Roses
- Basil, oregano and thyme (after a rain storm)
- 4 O'Clocks
- alyssum
- Carolina Jassamine

From my parent's garden in NY, it's lilacs and peonies.

Marilyn

Love these scents in my garden: roses, honeysuckle, lilies, different jasmines (I have star, pink, and Arabian), iris, lemon verbena, citrus blossoms, rose geraniums, heliotrope, tuberose,daffodils, violets, freesia, cyclamen, lemon thyme, basil, rosemary, mint, certain petunias (the double ones smell so sweet!), wisteria, dianthus, and sage.

Oh, yes I agree, I also adore the scent of rain, the earth and fresh mown grass, and autumn leaves too!

I wish I had lilacs, peonies, forsythia and magnolia!!! :-) Becky

Oh, and gardenia of course---how could I forget one of my top favs!!! B

Now that gardenias are waning and the flowers of high summer are starting to bloom, I have two summer fragrances to add.

One I'd never noticed is that beautyberry (callicarpa) flowers have a delicate fragrance.
Grown for stunning purple fall berries, beautyberry is not a significant plant for blossoms.
When I investigated the fragrance I noticed as I bent over to turn on a faucet,
I also noticed the foliage has that acrid odor when crushed, like lantana, in the same family.

Another delicate fragrance sometimes overlooked is the sweet smell of crape myrtle blooms.
Not all smell as good as others. The crape myrtle that used to be known as 'Watermelon' has aroma of sweet melons.

Nell

I do so love to catch the scent of tea olive floating in the air! The plants I notice the most fragrance from are:
butterfly bush, tea olive, confederate jasmine, winter honeysuckle, gardenia (large and dwarf).

I have a three-year-old sweetbox, but have yet to notice the slightest scent from the tiny flowers. :(

I added butterfly ginger when I read Nell's earlier posts about ginger. I'm hoping it will be a nice fragrant addition.

But my favorite fragrance is the scent of freshly mowed grass in the summer. Ahhhh.

My favorites are

Peonies
Iris
Lilac
Lily of the Valley
Roses
Oriental lilies
Phlox
Hyacinths