A large amount of flowers certainly helps.

I heard they used to change out the flowers up to 30 times!

I'm using a relatively small amount of coconut oil to gardenia so hopefully it works. Coconut oil has a very long shelf life so I'm planning on keeping it sealed tight, and adding flowers over the next year.

I currently have a set up for gardenia, Arabian jasmine, and my water lily.

Hopefully they go well.

Perhaps it was down to the type of enfleurage?

Apparently some flowers do better when macerated gently in warm oil.

And others need to be kept in for longer. Like gardenia. Gardenia should be kept in for longer than most flowers.

As I understand it some flowers have a set amount of oil from the start and release it over time, like roses. But others make a set amount daily for the life of the flower.

Or maybe you just didn't have enough lol

I certainly didn't have enough, but it worked, that much was obvious.. I think I changed them as soon as they looked spent and they obviously didn't smell any more, I think it's logical to keep them as long as they look like they are alive and still have scent... gardenia would last longer than jasmine of course. Keep us posted!!

I wish I had enough freesias for the process but sadly these are my last flowers. Still it would be awesome to capture their scent! :)

Nice shot Robert :-)

I found that the local swap meet florists have tuberoses now. The scent isn't as great as good old home grown tuberoses and there is some weird metallic smell up close, I guess from the chemicals used.

My blooms in may

hi

Here is a pic of my smelliest flower by far Coconut orchid. Maxillaria aroma is so strong I can smell it in the house lol gary

I love it when the Sombreuil rose has a pink blush in the center. :)

My unknown epiphyllum (possibly 'Fruhlings Gold') is blooming again. It's hard to enjoy its scent with the Brunfelsia gigantea overpowering the arbor. :)

My 2nd most fragrant tulip. Princess Irene. Of the 10 planted a couple of years ago, this is the only one left.

Maggie I haven't forgotten about the tulip list. But if there were only one tulip to buy, is Lilly shaped tulip Ballerina (they have it at botanus). It is fragrant and it wafts.
The only hitch it's orange not your favorite color, white.

Thanks Trueblue, i'll def check out Botanus. I've been saying for a few seasons now that I should get some tulips to fill in the gaps for spring flowering

Rosebuds are finally opening. Yay!

'Gertrude Jekyll' - very strong Old Rose fragrance

'Sachet' - quite strong for a mini, damask fragrance apparently. This one is more pink than the usual mauve (temp?)

Ballerina, only one this year out of 10. Probably not enough sun.
Lovely scent:

Passiflora x belotii is finally blooming again. The buds had seemed stalled with all the rain we've been getting. This particular bloom opened yesterday but stuck around for today as well and smells wonderful.

Passiflora is another flower on my wish list. Hmmm...

Gertrude Jekyll's perfume is amazing indoors

The good news is the scent has definitely improved on my 'Comte de Chambord' rose (the blob on the upper right smells awesome), the bad news is so far it has been balling in all the rain we've been having. :(

I wish we have some more rain!

A classic: Fragrant Cloud. A must-have. The first fragrant rose that hooked me on scent, and it is always a joy. Old Rose fragrance

One of the best in my opinion: Evelyn. Fruity apricot fragrance & beautiful colours that are slightly different every time. Love

'Abraham Darby' Strong peachy fragrance similar to 'Evelyn' but not as strong

Ugh. So many beautiful roses that I want to sniff!

Noticed I finally have two blooms on my Jasminum sambac 'Belle of India'. Guess I missed the one in the middle of the plant towards the back but I did sniff the one up close last night and this morning. I love its divine scent!

Gorgeous roses everyone.

Mine are starting to go dormant for summer so I probably won't see many blooms till fall.

I thought I'd update you on my enfleurage attempt.

My final flush from my Vietnamese gardenia is in the fat, and after the blooms are spent I'll jar it up till another gardenia enters a flush.

I think I changed the flowers... 5 times? Fresh white flowers are placed on the fat, and old yellow flowers on top of those. Flowers that have rot were removed as they started to brown.

Not very pretty lol.

But! The coconut oil is very very fragrant and this worked out very well. The scent is not light, but I feel like it could be twice as strong.

I think that another flush or two and I'll have extremely fragrant pomade.

That's what the fat is called before you extract the fragrance. Enfleurage pomade. I think....

And I'm not sure if I'll extract the fragrance. I use coconut oil as a body moisturiser and I think I'm fine with it as is. Gardenia body moisturiser is pretty great.

Very cool, Ordphien. Never knew of this process...

Sadly...about the last month of good growth before the Death Star sun incinerates everything lol. Blooms from Aimee gardenia beautiful and smell wonderful mixed with the night blooming jasmine on a heavy humid late spring night. Did some butterfly/hummingbird planting this year and love the faint buttery smell of the coreopsis, reminds me of childhood in the wild fields back in NY. Very excited to get Miltoniopsis Andrea West HOF and a noid oncidium to flash their beautiful blooms and fragrance. Andrea just about ready to pop. Even though supposedly cool growing, I believe the hybridizing has increased their warmth tolerance. She absolutely thrived in Fall, Winter, Spring here in Tampa area. Just now bringing her in so snails, bugs don't obliterate the buds as well as night temps are getting toasty now so in she comes til Oct. The oncidium gets an A/C break for as long as she blooms then back out to the furnace which does not seem to phase them.

Sorry, still getting used to the new pic posting process lol.

I bet your gardenia bush smells amazing with all those blooms, Blutayle!

It's officially the start of jasmine season. Jasminum sambac 'Mysore Mulli' opened its first water lilly like bloom last night. Not as sweet of a high note as 'Belle of India'.

The hardy jasmine (Jasminum officinale) is starting to bloom on the arbor. It's nice since I don't have to lug it in every winter and it can grow in the ground but scent wise it has nothing on the sambacs.

'Spirit of Freedom' climber. Gorgeous flower form - so perfect that I keep staring at them! Strong myrrh fragrance

Paeonia lactiflora 'White Sands' - pleasant moderate fragrance

P. 'Norma Voltz' - wonderful fragrance & lovely colours

I was just enjoying a moment after lunch, when the fragrance of roses distracted me. The warmth of the indoors really intensified the scent. I just have to say, the complexity of the fragrance notes of Evelyn is intoxicating. After deeply inhaling both flowers, I realized that Abraham Darby (darker rose on the side) while pleasing has a simpler fruity scent. But Evelyn is a mixture of fruit (peach) and sweet rose that is so intense and complex, especially this particular mature specimen (open for 4 days?). Evelyn had very high praise for fragrance when first introduced but I wonder if it has since lost marks for susceptibility to black spot. Anyways, I hope some of you will include her in your fragrant garden:)

The warm winter we has brought forth so many blooms in the garden this year:)

Pittosporum tobira 'Korean' has a wonderfully pure & strong mock orange fragrance

'Eden Climber' - a modest fragrance but the unusual colouring & romantic 'cabbage' flower form are so exquisite

'The Generous Gardener' - smaller flowers but a powerful Old Rose/myrrh fragrance

'Tiffany' - another old classic. Very strong fruity fragrance

Brugmansia 'Dalai Lama'

Finally trying to open in between all the rain we've been having. Nice scent so I'm happy!

Wow. You are the king of brugs. How many of these monsters do you have to lug into your gigantic basement every year??

Ha! You had to make me count, eh?

Currently have 15 potted brugs and 5 in the ground. Of course our tiny basement won't hold that many what with all the other tropicals I have so come fall it will be time to cull the herd again. ;)

Really interested in your pittosporum. Cursing you since it's cold hardy where I live. :)

How long does it normally bloom?

So far this has been an awesome plant shopping weekend. Nabbed a 'Thai Surprise' Plumeria and a Rangoon Creeper (Quisqualis indica) plus some hummingbird plants. Whoo hoo!

Maggie you should know we call Robert's little basement, the botanical garden ;-)

The botanical garden will be bursting at the seams come winter! Just went back to the nursery where I got the Rangoon Creeper and bought a 5ft tall standard Cestrum nocturnum for 25 bucks. Nursery didn't know what it was and labeled it gardenia. Ugh. I have a serious problem!

Robert, I think your basement must be like Mary Poppins' carpet bag! Ha, that is like the gardenia tree I bought last year. I already had one but this one had huge flowers & was only $34. I had no choice but to bring it home:)

A couple more brugs to share.

Brugmansia 'Xena'. B. aurea scent (fresh powder scent?) with some cherry vanilla thrown in?

B. 'Rosamond' finally bloomed outside (had some crappy blooms in the basement over the winter but couldn't get any scent). Outside it's got a strong aurea scent but I've got it placed where it's hard to sniff so this isn't my final report. ;)

Finally I've got some lilies (Lilium regale) blooming that I almost forgot about since all the rain has them beaten down into the lemon mint. This morning I went out in pajamas barefoot and cut some since the slugs are feasting on the blooms. My feet were attacked by mosquitoes. Going to be an interesting year!

It rained overnight so everything is a bit droopy but all refreshed:)

'Jude the Obscure' is not even fully open but this huge bud's complex, delicious scent is already amazing. Like lichee:)

Pittosporum parvilimbum has tiny flowers but the scent is lovely - mock orange with sweet notes

'Stephen's Big Purple' - good Old Rose fragrance. If only the stems weren't so tall, haha

Gardenia 'Frost Proof' - loaded with buds just starting to open. This one has overwintered outside very well for me

Lets not forget the little guys:). Dianthus 'Pike's Pink' has a nice clove scent

'Madame Hardy' - thorny! But I forgive her;) Damask fragrance with lemony notes. So pure white, and a romantic form

The classic English rose: 'Heritage'. It is so-o pretty

The roses are king right now:)

Bounty from the garden:

Brother Cadfael - very pretty pure pink & nice fragrance

Neptune - the only purple that does well in my garden. Strong fragrance

my belle of India jasmine in full glory

Angel-Face, your Belle's petals look more elongated than the regular Belle. Gorgeous! :)

The honeysuckles are really blooming right now. Lonicera periclymenum 'Peaches and Cream' and 'Serotina' smell amazing at night and early in the morning.

Robert, how would you compare these two with Scentsational? I think I only have room for one :( If you had to choose one? Neatness of habit, scent?

You know I hate making up my mind, right? ;)

I think all are fairly scented the same. Scensational is done blooming I believe so it's hard for me to compare. I really like Peaches and Cream but that's probably because it's planted right by the gate and is easiest to sniff. Its blooms are larger than the others (another plus) so for now I'll go with it. :)

I wish you guys could sniff this Brunfelsia gigantea bloom. Right now it smells amazing on this cool overcast day. If you've got room for a huge evergreen tropical and love scent I highly recommend this beast.

Chuck Hayes gardenia today.

later in the day...

Angel-Face, your Belle's petals look elongated than the regular Belle as robert said. Did you buy the plant locally or through a mail order source? The flowers also look different from regular BOI jasmine.

Kandhi, I found a thread where Angel-Face describes their jasmine from India (meaning we probably can't get it in the states). :(

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1905533/jasmines-from-india#14194784

Thanks Robert! Sorry to make you choose a favourite child;)

Btw you are leading me down a dangerous path with your brugs and bruns. (Wikipedia says brunfelsias are small trees!) So will I one day be dragging these monsters into my basement?! Oh my poor back!

I finally fed my gardenia and it has rewarded me with a wealth of huge flowers. Huh, flower food, who would've thought:)

Maggie, brugs and brunfelsias can get huge, that's for sure. That's why I'm doing it while I can before I'm too old. ;)

Hymenocallis 'Sulphur Queen' is starting to bloom. Didn't pay attention to it and then this morning I noticed a bud and it's already opening! So far a light citrusy scent.

Robert, did the scent of 'Sulphur Queen' ever get stronger? It sure is a beautiful one.

The scent has increased especially at dusk and in the early morning. Lemony sweet tart like scent? Has a bit of an off putting after scent to my nose though. Still it's a fun bulb to try. :)

Looks great next to the Cestrum 'Orange Peel'!