A Pain in the Olfactory....

Enjoyed your blog & lovely photo's

Lovely blog Lori and great to see so much colour - a real treat.I have an evergreen honeysuckle with flowers similar to yours but no scent.

Think its called tellmanniana cant find a common name for it.

We love our lavenders which have great scent for us and bees love it , foxgloves and delphiniums attract them too but not sure if they suit your zone.

lovely flowers Lori ,enjoyed your blog!

Thankyou Clarice...
How could I forget the lavender?...good memory jog, BB. thanks... the lavender blooms at the same time as the second flush on my Rosa, Therese Bugnet they look beautiful together and the scent mixture is heavenly...Watering brings up scents too... the mints, the geraniums, the artemisia~ all have aromatic foliage! and when watered they smell heavenly too. New mown grass and clover smell sweet and summery...mmmmm....I have foxgloves, (have a small expanding clump under the maple in the front garden) and my delphs have been blooming spring and fall for the last two growing seasons!!
thanks Arlene!

Lori. I loved reading your blog.
I actually love the look of the Russian Olive and when it flowers....I just stay away from that area for a couple of weeks unless there is a bit of a wind to blow the scent away. Not a problem for me. Until I realised that the scent was a problem for me I was thinking of putting one or two in the back garden. I believe they root from cuttings fairly easily.
For the rest of my garden I too try to choose fragrant blooms or foliage. Don't forget Bergamot...I have plenty of that in my garden. I have a hardy geranium which has a lovely fragrance to its foliage. It was here when we bought the house so I don't know its name. Moss roses (even minis) have fragrant blooms and the mossing on the stems and buds very often has a strong balsam-like fragrance which can permeate the air in the heat.
I love your "la vie en rose". It is very beautiful. And I love it paired with the sage...it is a perfect foil for the shade of pink. :o)

Thanks for this great blog, Lori! I may not be familiar with some of the shrubs/trees, but you are right - we do need fragrance in the garden, too. Unfortunately we don't all share the same 'tastes' (ha ha) in scents. Can you believe that my daughter doesn't like sweet pea fragrance? And there's me planting the most fragrant varieties because I do!

There are some plants which have a strong scent - do you know Phuopsis stylosa? I can't take to that scent at all. Scented leaved Geraniums? No thanks, Gilli! I don't even like the smell of the ordinary ones!

hahaha...Gilli...I have to plead senility again...I completely forgot about the Bergamot....I have the Cambridge Scarlet...it is wonderful hardy (native) stuff and it's a staple in my garden, too. I too have the perennial geranium, it has the most wonderful smelling leaves...a spicy woodsy resinous kinda smell...I just love it and it is not prevalent..I only smell it when I put water on them or weed around them...I really must find myself a moss rose...and the sage that grows with my mini rose, I forgot as well! And Spritz just mentioned sweet peas!! one of my all time fav's ... one of the best floral scents right up there with roses... I don't have the scented leaf geraniums tho', Spritz...they do well but they have been extremely popular in the last few years and as a result crazy expensive... I try to stay away from crazes...lol. Speaking of frenzy around a release...have either of you seen the new var. of Annabelle Hydrangea called "Incrediball"? I just received my Dominion Seed House catalogue e/m with new releases in it...and they are selling it in 3-1/2" pots ONE PLANT (read cutting) for $18.69!! 3 for $50. Yikes! I actually knew it was coming out last fall...from a subscription to a news letter from the plant hunter/breeder who helped develop it...
check out Tim Wood Planthunter on google...an interesting site ...I guarantee! LoL...

Hi Spritzhenry! I just checked out Phuopsis stylosa...It is a lovely plant...is it cloying sweet or resinous?

Hi Spritz...I don't know Phuopsis stylosa either. I will have to google it.
Lori ~ When I refered to Hardy geraniums it was actually the perennial geranium I meant...not the scented leaf ones although I like some of them too. The perennial geranium sounds to be similar to yours with a spicy woodsy resinous smell when you water or weed or cut back. It is a shame that it only flowers with a few hot pink bloom for a couple of weeks and then that is it for the year. The leaves turn a lovely reddish orange in the fall though.
I saw the hydrangea in the Dominion catalogue and did a double take at the price. Outrageous for a 3 1/2" pot.

I love scented plants, and you're right about some people not liking the same scents as you. I remember my grandmother had lots of pelargoniums. I like the smell of them but my aunt couldn't stand them. My gran and i would both laugh at her.

Hi Hywel...just to clear up the confusion here about geraniums vs. pelargoniums...the pic of my perennial geranium is number 121...page 22 of my pics (i think!)
The leaves of the pels. have a smell unlike anything else, don't they.... ? can't say I like it much either...but it is distinctive.

Hi Lori, I can't seem to find the photo but never mind.
I have some scented leaf pelargoniums. They have lovely scentes and the flowers are asymetrical. But also I have what's called Zonal Pelargonuiums with large bands on the leaves. Those flowers have all the petals the same size.
The Zonals also have scented leaves but not such a pleasant smell as you say. Those were the ones my gran had. I have one or two of hers still after many years.

My Mom loved the pelargoniums too, but she called them geraniums...which confused me a little at first.... she tried to keep them overwinter as a house plant...they would bloom but reluctantly.... then she'd put them outside for the summer...and they'd go berserk! Dad always just tossed the excess plants into the cellar...where they'd rest til March..then they'd start leafing out! My dad's method seemed a little strange in the early season...all these brown sticks poking out of the ground....but very soon after that... many leaves and non stop blossom... my Mom's fav colour was the salmon pink. I can still smell that odd mustiness of their leaves.

Interesting blog with beautiful pictures and food for thought, Spritz I grow Phuopsis stylosa, a good friend gave me a cutting about 20 years ago, never did well when we lived in the midlands, we still grow it here in the south, and you have amazed me I did not know it had a perfume, will have to get down on the ground when it comes into flower, just hope I can get back up again lol

The old pelagonium hardy geranium thing, my husbands favourite debate please dont get him started, will be here all night!!!

LOL... sorry DD2.... don't worry... mums the word!

I love scented plants. I have sarcococca, hyacinths, jasmine, roses and I'd really like to get more. I also like herbal foliage scents like bronze fennel, mint, myrtle, lemon balm (I want to get lemon verbena, that's the best one). My favourite scented pelargonium is P. tomentosum which smells minty, only better. Unfortunately it's looking decidedly dead in the GH right now in spite of successfully overwintering it during the previous milder winter. There's also a pelargonium called 'Orange Fizz' which smells just as you'd imagine. I don't like the smell of ordinary zonals at all, though, never have.

Just saw Milky's pic of her Sarcococca....it's a terrific looking plant and it always blows me away that they are "winter bloomers"!! Yes, I do realize that they're talking about plants that flower in winter...not snuggies...but it was worth a snicker...lol. NOTHING blooms in winter here in my part of N.A. If a Canadian wants a winter garden they have to live in two very small distant parts of the country!! (coastal B.C. or Point Pelee, Ontario!!) and personal greenhouses are only in use from March onward...as heating them thro the winter is extremely expensive. liked the sound of "orange fizz" must see if I can find that...the plants available for sale around here rarely have specific var. listed...any that do are premium priced! I'm with you on the zonals...lol.

Hi Lori,
Good blog.
"Was I selfish not to consider the sensitivities of others...?"
NO! Your garden is great, and great for the bees and other wildlife I'm sure.
Even if a neighbour minds the short scented time of that one particular tree, surely he/she appreciates the benefits of attracting wildlife not just to your garden, but to the whole area?
How could anyone object to bees? They are not wasps, and not aggressive, and these days their food sources are dwindling so rapidly. You've done the farmers and all of us a favour!

Do you already have witchhazel and that nice scented viburnum?

No Weeding, I have two viburnum...an arrowood and a trilobum, I was thinking of a witchhazel...but I think that will have to wait until next season and the next garden.
I have also seen mention of the problem with honey bees...we had better pray that our extension services and research facilities find a control or cure for the bees or our crops will fail...and then where will we be?? Imagine ...no apples...etc.
The only folk I know of who are worried about bees are those who lapse into allergic shock from a sting...and careful as we usually are it's not hard to pinch a bee unexpectedly while weeding or deadheading. My sister has to carry an epi pen. If she gets stung she needs anti venin within 8-10 minutes or she could suffocate!
and the question of whether my neighbour appreciates my Eleagnus, or not, will be moot...as we are moving in early summer... Thanks for your supportive comment...of course good common sense should prevail...If they really don't like it they can take it up with the new owners!!...

i guess this is your new garden lori, its a lovely blog and your pics are great,,