Ok, well call me the Good News / Bad News girl. Good News: the most fragrant rose that I have ever smelled is Color Magic (an HT). I planted one by my former back door and was so amazed that I planted two more. Magnificent wafts of fragrance as soon as I opened the door ~20' away, and that's with avg. coastal SoCal humidity, not Florida. YMMV, but I also loved the GIANT, mutable blooms which, even when cut fully open last a week in the house. ONE bloom will *completely* fill a LARGE room with sweet, sweet fragrance. Bad News: It could bloom more (or I could fertilize more). BUT, more important, it really would have done better for me with regular spray for mildew. Rust is not that big a deal, plant-wise, but in my experience, mildew will debilitate and kill it over time. It's a bloody shame, as Suzy would say. If you spray and have a cutting bed, this is a keeper. More Bad News: You will need to cross-reference mildew susceptibility for the fragrance suggestions above if you do not spray regularly. In particular, Double Delight: 2+ mildew; 4+ rust Rouge Royale: 4+ mildew even in 9% humidity in SoCal Mtns, don't bother Freddy Mistral, Sonia Rykiel: lovely but gone because I didn't spray Fragrant Cloud (and most anything orange) & Tiffany: 4+ mildew Good News: GramHat & Golden Celebration are bullet proof and I could not recommend them more. GramHat is pink, floppy and old-fashioned in fragrance and form, while GC, to me, is such a happy looking bush in bloom, no doubt due to my reaction to yellow, and also has very good fragrance and will try to fill a room. Blooms will blow faster, but it's a great repeater in this area. Good News: Anything Jeri recommends. Seriously. Good Hunting!

I can't keep the list down to four From my childhood in Arizona: Gardenias Citrus blossoms Freesia Star Jasmine (known as Confederate Jasmine elsewhere and not really a Jasminum) From my years as a florist Stephanotis Tuberoses Orchid colored carnations they had a really spicy clove scent Easter lilies From my current garden Daphne odora Oriental and Orienpet lilies Buddleia Hyacinths Hosta 'So Sweet' and others

Whitejade "Over 250 nonprotein amino acids have been identified in plants (Swain, 1977). A number of these compounds are intermediates in the synthesis and catabolism of the protein amino acids (Lea and Norris, 1976). However, many of these non-protein amino acids may play roles as defensive agents." From (Polyamines, nonprotein amino acids and alkaloids, http://www.hort.purdue.edu/rhodcv/hort640c/polyam/polyam.htm) You are correct in that there are many potential amino acids but they are not directly involved in the production of plant volatiles. Many of the volatiles are terpenoids and are produced by the non-mevalonate pathway from carbohydrate precursors (building blocks). Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and enzymes are proteins. Plants manufacture their amino acids. Enzymes are required for the production of the volatiles and act as catalysts in the chemical reactions that build those volatiles. You are also correct that if a rose produces a volatile such as orcinol and that if a civet cat also produces orcinol it probably does not do so using the same enzymes as the rose. However, in general, when different species are compared the genes are relatively well conserved between species in their functions and their metabolic pathways are similar. Evolution, gene duplication, mutations, etc do occur and make absolute generalizations difficult but overall it is reasonable to assume similarity between reasonably related species than to assume complete dissimilarity. The metabolic pathways for the production of specific scent volatiles are likely to be more similar between roses and carnations, snapdragons, etc than different. This research examined genetic differences between two rose cultivars, Fragrant Cloud and Golden Gate: (Rose Scent: Genomics Approach to Discovering Novel Floral FragranceÂRelated Genes, The Plant Cell, Vol. 14, 2325Â2338, October 2002,) and is available as a PDF file at http://biology.lsa.umich.edu/research/labs/pichersky/references/pub24.pdf In general, modern genetic research often involves identifying, extracting or otherwise obtaining the DNA for specific genes from plants and inserting those genes into bacteria to build quantities of the enzymes involved. The bacteria typically are able to build normally functional enzymes using their own amino acid pathways so I expect that differences in amino acids are not likely to be important to most metabolic pathways in plants.

Hi, I'm interested in 5-10 seeds of the following which are listed in order of importance to me. Hope you'll find SOMETHING in my seed list of value to you. Quite an impressive list you already have. Brugmansia Charles Grimaldi, Versicolor Peach & Moonflower Datura metal double purple & Wrightii Regal Alcea Hollyhock doubles Passiflora incarnata,quadrangularis,ligularis TY-Sandy