Dang you, No-Clue! First you tempt me on the plumie forum and now on my stomping ground the fragrant forum! Laugh.

Welcome to my favorite forum!

So many people on this forum keep talking about Michelia alba. I guess one of these days I'll just have to break down and order one on eBay.

You said the scent reminds you of your childhood. Did you smell any growing up or does it just happen to remind you of scents you recall from your youth?

Ugh. Tempted to order one right now! I occasionally hit our local Asian market but never see any (I know some cities like Dallas you can find them in spring). :)

-Robert

Oh, yea. Did you see the article about M. alba under the FAQ section? You might find some helpful info. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: M. alba info

I remember around 3 years ago my friend brought home an michelia alba from california. It had 1 flower on it. That was my first time sniffing a michelia alba and I remember I kept going back to the flower to smell it.

Michelia alba sure has an awesome scent. I love how fragrance brings back memories, too. : )

LOL @ Robert! Fancy finding you here! I see that your obsession (I mean passion) for all fragrant plants are still going strong. ;)

Ok so check this out... that one tiny almost opened blossom I picked off the tree and left in my kitchen, well as I said before it filled the room with sweetness. When DH came home... he was like "I closed all the windows why then do I still smell your flowers?" LOL... this is a man who couldn't tell a rose from a plumeria before he met me and now he's noticing fragrances! So as the night progressed... every so often he would look at me and updated me on the fact that he still could smell the sweet fragrance permeated in the air. My reply... I'm going back to buy another tree today! Granted these are HUGE trees, can grow to 25-30 ft BUT they are slow grower so I'm hoping to enjoy them until they get too big. I'll deal with that day when it comes. :)

Now to answer your question... for the first 12 years of my life I grew up in Southeast Asia... before moving back to the East Coast in the States. So my childhood was filled w/ adventures, tropical plants and exotic fruits. You know how much I love my Plumeria babies... but I must say if I can only keep ONE plant, then without a doubt it will be my M. Alba.

Thank you for the link... I will study it carefully. Luckily for me it's not hard to find M. Alba where I am.

Now what else do you like that you can recommend to me? Let's hear it. :)

Kemistry - glad to hear you had a chance to smell M. Alba! For some strange reasons, great scent make me very happy!

So glad you're visiting this forum! Laura drops by every now and again and it's always a pleasure to see my plumie friends on the forum I love most due to my obsession (yes, you nailed it on the head!). ;)

Just to let you know my M. alba is on its way. Got it off eBay and yea, it was expensive but the deed is done. Laugh.

So now I know why you know so much about fragrant plants from having lived in Southeast Asia!
I think you should be giving us suggestions but here is just a small sampling of some other fragrant plants you might consider:

Hedychium coronarium (White{{gwi:807}} Butterfly Ginger)
Cananga odorata (Ylang Ylang tree)
Artabotrys hexapetalus (Ylang Ylang vine)
Jasminum sambac âÂÂBelle of Indiaâ (my favorite sambac jasmine)
Jasminum molle (jasmine from Northern Australia with a powerfully strong scent which some friends have said smells like a grandma)
Aglaia odorata (Chinese Perfume Plant a delicate scent but definitely one of my favs)
Cymbidium ensifolium (Chinese orchid)
Philadelphus âÂÂSnow White Sensationâ (re-blooming Mock Orange)
Viburnum carlesii
Brugmansia âÂÂCharles Grimaldiâ (Angel Trumpet)
Brunfelsia gigantea
Brunfelsia jamaicensis (Kemistry's fav brunfelsia. He says it has a mango like scent?)
Telosma cordata (Chinese Violet)
Osmanthus fragrans âÂÂFudingzhuâ (Sweet Olive)
Mandevilla laxa (Chilean Jasmine)

I'm sure I could go on and on and hopefully others will chime in. :)

-Robert

Oh, and Polianthes tuberosa (Single Mexican Tuberose)!

This post was edited by robert1971 on Wed, May 8, 13 at 16:21

Robert i can not believe you have not got a Michelia Alba what is the world coming to :P

Hi No-Clue and welcome :) if you like Michelia alba i would also suggest Michelia Champaca and Michelia Figo there are so many Michelias but i think they are the best 3 :)
For sheer strength of fragrance i would get a cestrum nocturnum and of course there are many many wonderful orchids i could list them but i would be here all night :) and i would agree with Robert Osmanthus fragrans is a must

Fragrant,

Ha! I know...I know. I finally succumbed to peer pressure and ordered one.
Kemistry said it was about time. Laugh.

Totally agree that the list for must have fragrant plants would take years to complete. ;)

-Robert

Finally had a chance to take some photos of my M. Albas! We are almost done w/ the yard except for the mulching... I'm still undecided at this point in regard to what to use as a mulch. So please ignore the mess! :(

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Here is M. Alba #1

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Closer shot of the same tree. She got well over 50 buds and has been blooming since I got her two weeks ago.

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She has some sunburnt leaves and the wind ripped off some of her leaves as well. But it has not stopped her from growing more buds and new leaves so I'm hoping in time she will get used to her new home.

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Another shot of M. Alba #1. :)

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M. Alba #2 is planted on the opposite of end of the corner yard.

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Here's a closer shot of her.

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Like her sister she also got a few burnt leaves. I'm hoping this will stop once she's used to being out in the morning sun. Otherwise we'll be in for a long summer!

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More of M. Alba #2.

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Last but not least M. Alba #3. I'm keeping her in the pot for now to compare how she will do the the two in the ground.

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Here is another shot of her with a lot of buds!

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Close up of the flowers. :)

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Using my Plumeria Lei Vase. Just 8 flowers are enough to fill the room with this heavenly fragrance!!

So jealous of all your blooms!
Can't wait until my flowers.

Thank you for sharing photos with us!
Congrats on all your lovelies. :)

-Robert

so so lucky just to be able to grow them out side :) beautiful plants as well

Thank you! We shall see how these beauties do this summer. I only have so much space in the back yard w/ morning sun. I had to give up over 30 plumerias to make room and still once the plumies wake up and fill in their leaves it will look like a jungle back there! LOL.

I forgot to shoot photos of the M. Champaca I planted in the front of the house. Ironically, she's looks really good considering she's in full sun from 11am until sunset! And our afternoon sun is brutal! Plus she got no house or wall to shield her from the sun... yet she looks pretty good in spite of these less than ideal conditions. However, she has not shown any signs of buds... so finger crossed that she will this summer. I need to compare the two Alba vs. Champaca. :)