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Hosta 'Fragrant Blue' - fragrant, or not?

14 years ago

Okay, it sounds like dumb question but NGP's catalog online says it is not fragrant - which was true of the one I had - but the name itself, and other vendors, such as Hilltop, say that it is.

So what's your experience?

I loved it for its odd color. Those of you who grow FB along with many other blues, is there some other hosta that matches that color? Allowing that "matching" means nothing in different soils and sun, etc.

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Comments (7)

Janice
14 years ago
Nope--not AT ALL~~~but, I love it just the same. I didn't buy it for the fragrance but the fantastic
shade of blue it has!!!
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
14 years ago
NOT IN MY EXPERIENCE

ken
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DON THANK YOU SO MUCH... I missed the whole thread for sure. And I see it is best to start at the top and try to reach the bottom. And Don, I think you previously mntioned PEZ candies, which I looked up and then ordered a bag/box of. My goodness, fella, my hosta don't smell that much! However, on a late summer afternoon approaching 6pm or maybe 7pm, you can catch the beginning of the fragrance as the major fragrant players begin to open for the evening. I sat in the garden several times last year from that time until full dark. I even took photos of Doubled Up and Mama as they both had blooms opening the same nights. Not good photography, but indeed they are night bloomers. So the scent is stronger in the evening, and less so the next morning. I'll have to cluster my Guac family together a bit more....to see if they share a common aroma. I'm headed for bed early these days....hope this house remodel is over before the hosta awaken.
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dbowemd
14 years ago
I can smell it, and it IS supposed to be fragrant, however a lot of people can't detect it. It is faint compared to the Guacamole family. and VERY faint compared to Plantaginea.
I have a cross of Salute x Plantaginea that is about the same degree of fragrance, so it is special to me mostly.
There are some tastes and smells that are only detectable by some people who have the right genetics for it. We did an experiment on that in High School.
I can't smell Lily of the Valley, but people tell me it smells great.

Dave
Jennifer Schwarz
14 years ago
That is really interesting Dave. I can actually smell my Fragrant Blue. I always thought I must be imagining it since I've heard others say it has no scent. You are right about it having a much lighter scent than the Guacamole family. I love its blue color so I would buy it again even if I couldn't smell it. It also holds it's color well in the summer heat.
dbowemd
14 years ago
Ken
You can smell the fragrance on your Warwick Essence, I think you pulled a flower off for me when I was there. I thought the degree of fragrance was similar to Fragrant Blue.
I don't have that in my garden, that's just how I remember it. It would be good to compare them side by side.
Oh, and Fragrant Blue's color and leaf form make it easy for me to recognise in most gardens I have visited. I have several of them and like to give pieces to visitors to get their addictions going.
Dave
tomahawkclaim
14 years ago
I detect a fragrance on my FB. I've noticed with my some of my other plants including daylilies that some are fragrant a different times of the day -- I may detect fragrance in the morning, but not in the afternoon. Nance
lisasmall
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you all for weighing in.

Looks like I'm going to have to take timed sniffings to figure out if it's fragrant -- after I replace it.

The voles got mine. Grrrr. Grrrrrrr.

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