PLEASANT SMELLS AND OBNOXIOUS SMELLS

interesting DrBob-- marigolds chrysanthemums and dahlias are an odd smell to me puts me in mind of my olevel english, the story was called ' the odour of chrysanthemums' all about death and wreathes-- just the thing to enthral a class of teenage girls--- :-(

Fascinating Dr.Bob. Thank you :o)

Very interesting and useful, thanks DocBob, but one question - what the devil ARE mangles? I've heard it before, but the only mangle I know is the one my grandmother used to squeeze the water out of the washing...

arn't they mangolwurzels (think worzle gummige) fed to cattle bit like a swede but needing more than one human stomach to digest :~) and my grannie used to have a mangle as well I understand my grandad use to use it to ' mangle' the rhubarb to make wine with-- didn't go down well with gran when she came to do the washing! Lol

Thanks Pam, Strange isn't it. My late mother-in-law (God rest her) loved Geraniums, she grew hundreds so my wife grew up with them all over the house. The result of that is although she loves the flowers she can't be within 500 yards of the smell.
Sorry Bamboo, going back to my Dorset roots, mangles are a member of the swede family, Dorset people call them mangle worzels. They were grown for cattle feed before man made cow cake. We had a chipping machine in which to cut them up to put at the head of the cows at hand milking time to keep them quiet. Or throw them off a cart around the field when feed was short in winter.

Sorry Pam, you answered while I was typing, (I'm not very fast).

A very interesting blog Dr Bob, I think many of us tend to be 'visual' folk and miss out on other scenes. We know much about sight and hearing and much can be done to improve them, Smell on the other hand comes a distant third. As we get older we loose some of all our important scenes, even common sense in my case;-) If only scientists could restore our ability to smell to when we were young, maybe not pheromones though :-) Not sure if I'm alone in this but I can imagine a smell when it's not there. As you've just pointed out smell can have a dramatic effect on some of us. For me it comes before colour in my garden so I choose lots of scented plants. My favorite is the house plant Stephanotis though I can't grow it as I haven't the right place for it. In the garden I'm not sure as there are so many. Obviously Roses (some) Jasmine, Honeysuckle, Carnations, Dianthus....I could go on and on. Right now all I can smell is the box of Belgian chocolates I was given at breakfast Lol

Oh! Heron, Belgian chocolates, yes it's coming through to me now. Have I forgotten it's valentines day, I'll be in trouble. Lol.

I know all about chemical smells sticking to clothes, Docbob - I still can't get rid of the smell of Jeyes' fluid!

I'd much prefer maybe Lily-of-the-Valley, or sweet peas!

Yes Barbara, I know you are the expert when it comes to Jeyes Fluid, hope it goes soon.

Very interesting Bob - I dont like the smell of geraniums and Im allergic to marigolds.

Thanks for the info on manglewurzels - I thought they were some sort of bucolic joke...

No Bamboo, mangle wurzels are nothing to joke about LOL.

We've got 'The Wurzles' down here in Zummerzet. They have a brand new combine harvester! LOL.

Are they still going?

Yes Barbara, but do you have a brand new key. Lol.

Just seen your comment Heron, yes they are still touring.

Not the original group, though. I think it's two of them.

Yes, I think they're a bit like creaking hips, they have to keep replacing them

Ha ha, Docbob,oh the joys of getting older, no-one's exempt, even pop stars...

Funnily enough, as we drove through Bridgwater today, I spotted an advert for them - playing there soon! Creaky or not - they're still around.

I'm sure there is a group called the Mangle-wurzles! they might have heads that look like turnips maybe "just like my passengers on a sunday morning going to Bristol Airport!"

Funny, I love all those strong smells - geraniums, hyacinths, tomatoes, chrysanths, even those trumpet lily things which have a seriously overbearing pong to them. Lately I've been spending every second available sniffing the living daylights out of wallflowers, now they smell just amazing.