Hello, mersiepoo, with that warning, i guess i won't say gardenia. with the conditions you have specified, for me i would have to say citrus calamondin (spelling?) tree.

sue

I'd say Murraya odorata. Toni

For house plants, I'd say arabian jasmine, too.

Whaddya mean, plant? Just one???

If I had to, I'd take a jasmine MOO, but rondelettia odorata late at night is divine.
Osmanthus and orange jasmine are close seconds. So is hoya lacunosa. And also . . . .

Uh, just one, right? ;)

Jim

Hmmm...since you want something that is easy to grow inside and has knock-your-socks-off fragrance, I would choose the ever-reliable (and beautiful) Hoya obscura.

I can't pick one. I love the Grand Duke jasmine, corkscrew vine and several plumeria and brugs but I also like other jasmines, gardenia, Murraya paniculata. I guess you get the idea, nope, not just one. lol
Karyn

Is Arabian Tea Jasmine a sambac, and if so, which one? Am just wondering why so many of you seem to have no problems with yours indoors over winter. Mine looks so bad that if I didn't know better, I would have thought it was dead many, many times because of the way it gets spider mites and then defoliates completely in spite of good light and a humidifier. And it will do this 3-4 times every winter. (And we're talking a lot of winters here. If it were a child, it would have its driver's license at least). But in between, it blooms sporadically on those bare, dead-looking stems, and there's just nothing in the world quite like that heavenly jasmine smell throughout the house, especially when there's a blizzard raging outside.

So if the requirement is that it has to *look good* indoors, I agree with Ispahan on the hoya obscura.

See how I cheated and squeezed in two? ;)

My favourite in absolute is ylang-ylang (Cananga odorata), followed in the order by Jasminum Sambac Grand Duke of Tuscany, Mandevilla suaveolens, Plumerias, Heliotropium peruvianum, Cestrum diurnum, Brugmansia candida x Maya, and a robust vine of which I don't remember the name now. I grow them here in the Italian Flower Riviera where temperature ranges +5 to + 30°Celsius, with varied success. For instance, my Plumeria acuminata rubra is resolved not to bloom, and if someone can help I would be really grateful for any hints. I am available for sending with my compliments seeds of Mandevilla suaveolens to those who ask.

My favorite is my sweet olive.
Blooms are extremely fragrant and at Christmas the smell is intoxicating if it is shut up in a room for the winter.
In spring I bring it outside (May) and it blooms like crazy.
The neighbors smell it and no one knows what smells sooo good.
It is slow growing too, although mine is a couple of years old and starting to get big. Next eyar it will have to go in a bigger pot.
But my VERY favorite is (you know what). I am not going to say it. You know what it is.
Mine is blooming right now. Oh, the sweet frangrance.
Mersipoo, buy the sweet olive, it's easy.
Try Ebay, that is where I bought mine about 3 years ago.
The smell is intense sweet apricots all winter. And it's EASY.

Mare2,

Yes, Arabian jasmine is sambac; it's got more nicknames than an organized crime boss meeting. It seems to come free with mites when you grow it indoors, I don't know anything that will completely cure it, but here are a few suggestions:

1. Air movement -- a fan will definitely discourage mights, and keep winter growth stronger and healthier. Serious orchid growers have fans going 24/7.

2. Spraying, not misting; hosing down the leaves and stems a couple of times a week will knock off the little buggers, or you can wash the plant off in the sink or shower.

3. No hot air: spider mites love warm, dry conditions, so keep your plants away from radiators and floor registers.

Sailorman, you should talk to the folks over at the plumeria forum, they know tons of information! I doubt your problem is lack of sun or water, but I do know plumerias need a lot of fertilizer during growing months, and many growers add a dose of epsom salts in the late spring/early summer.

Keep the favorites coming!

Jim

Well, since gardenias are not allowed, and they're practically impossible indoors anyway.

I would say Jasmine Sambac 'Maid of Orleans' if I still lived where I had lots of big sunny windows, but don't have good indoor lighting anymore. All my windows face awful directions.

So I'm going to suggest a very unusual one that fulfills all the requirements: Persian Violet (Exacum Affine). The fragrance is very nice but subtle, elusive, strongest in the morning hours when it is sometimes even detectable from a distance. The plant is pretty, easy to care for, seems to love it indoors, and blooms effortlessly.

Butterfly, I think I will try to find a fragrant olive, sounds wonderful! :)

Night blooming Jasmine, no doubt my #1 house plant because its intense fragrance and low care.

I love O. Fragrance and Gardenia, but I have zero luck to grow them in pots, and they are not really cold hardy here.

I have 2 O. Fragrance and 7 Gardenia growing outside now. They are doing great so far. It is their first year in my yard, and they all have very nice growth, lots of fragrant flowers, and beautiful green leaves now. It will be their first winter here. I am crossing my fingers.

Tropicals are very hard to grow indoors in Canada: our homes are really much too dry. For me, a fat rosemary bush in my kitchen is great, every time I walk by, I just gently brush my hand against the foliage - mmmmmmmmmmmm!

Shapiro, have you tried a humidifier? We have a woodstove and are using propane heat as well this year, so will see how well my gardenias do from the dry heat, so I'll try misting them and have a tray of water under them. I'll also have a pot of water on the woodstove too.

I love rosemary! I bought a so called 'hardy rosemary' from a catalog last year for my mom, and it was supposed to be hardy to zone 5. She had it near the brick wall of the house south facing and it croaked! :(

My next door neighbor's viburnum.... I have been sniffing viburnum blooms at every nursery in the area for the last 4 years without finding anything to compare. The mail order nursery he thinks he may have bought it from hasn't carried anything like it for years. Along the way, I have picked up a couple of bushes, both of which have very fragrant flowers. I would be happy with them if his weren't so much BETTER!

I am going into this winter with 6 rooted cuttings. I hope my luck is better than last year!

For me, a close call between Plumeria obtusa and Jasminum sambac. Tiaré (Gardenia taitensis) close behind.

Here is a link that might be useful: Growing on the Edge - a forum for 'exotic' plant enthusiasts

Awesome pics, Pete!

I should have added dwarf deciduous plumeria to my list, but I'd already gone over the limit . . .

Jim

Right now, it's the blooming lemon tree overwintering in the living room. It's out-smelling all my fragrant orchids! We can smell it as soon as we walk into the house, 20 feet away from the plant.

Mandevilla Laxa. I love it.