REPLY: [pbs] Fragrances that Surprise--TOW

Many flowers, including hyacinths, the Oriental and trumpet lilies and
hyacinths mentioned by John Grimshaw, and the tazetta narcissi mentioned by
Dave Karnstedt, have fragrances that are unpleasant in a warm room but much
more tolerable outdoors on a cool spring day or summer evening. One also
thinks of shrub flowers such as Hamamelis and jasmine, and I wouldn't bring
in my beloved Acer cissifolium's flowers, either. A few years ago I was
sold an Azara (not the commonly grown one) as a desirable fragrance plant,
but one day in the house when it was blooming, and it was banished. I don't
know whether it is the concentration of the scent that makes it unpleasing
to many people, or whether different aromatic compounds are released at
different temperatures. It may also depend on the age of the flowers -- the
scent of many seems to deteriorate after a day or two indoors.

Regarding Narcissus tazetta, different subspecies and cultivars have quite
different fragrances. I like to have certain paperwhites in the house, but
not others. N. tazetta subsp. panizzianus, which is hardy in my garden, has
a very good fragrance, as does an Italian wild form of the bicolored subsp.
tazetta that I grew from seed.

What smells we like are as different as what tastes we like. This may be
due in part to memory and in part to individual sensitivity, like the
hypersensitivity of about a quarter of individuals to bitter taste (I'm
among them and can't stand tannic wines, hoppy beers, and bitter greens). I
can't bear artificial musk elements in perfumes, but some women wear
nothing else, and these elements are prominent in many men's colognes. Some
people dislike the smell of dogs, even
clean ones; for my part I dislike the smell of cats, not just their
leavings but their carefully cleaned fur too -- and this may be memory and
habituation.

Jane McGary
Northwestern Oregon, USA

At 09:53 AM 4/14/2004 -0400, you wrote:

In a message dated 13-Apr-04 11:46:55 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
johngrimshaw@tiscali.co.uk writes:

I have no objection to the stinks of aroids and frits, but what I really
hate is the scent of lilies and hyacinths. A bed of trumpet or oriental
lilies pumping out their sickly pong pollutes the air about it, and I have
to leave - much though I admire the plants and their flowers.

John ~

Fragrance is a funny thing, to say the least! What is fragrant to one, can
be nauseating to another. Then there are folks who can't smell anything! I
grow a great many lilies (and specialize in L. martagon and hybrids; to my
nose,
they have a musky and unpleasant fragrance that others find appealing), and,
while I find most lily fragrance wonderful on a warm afternoon, true, it can
be overwhelming if from a large bouquet in a closed room. I just cut fewer
flowers and often put the vase outside overnight where it is cooler; makes
the
flowers last longer along with cutting the fragrance load indoors!

However, I must say that I find your dislike of the fragrance of hyacinth to
be unusually severe. To my nose, the fragrance of hyacinth represents the
very essence of Spring!! I couldn't have a garden without waves of
hyacinth. I
will often sit near them just to inhale deeply of that fragrance distilling
itself on the edying currents of air. I do have to say, however, get the
fragrance when the flowers are fresh because, like a good brie when
mature, the odor
deterioates to intolerable as the flowers fade.

Many daffodils with jonquilla, tazetta or poeticus heritage can be intensely
fragrant. It's not common to find appealing fragrance in the large hybrids
(to my nose, they often have a sharp and acrid stink!). There is one,
however,
that I would recommend to anyone with an interest in this flower: 'Fragrant
Rose.' Like it's namesake, this white with rose-pink corona daffodil has a
light and appealing tea rose fragrance. Many can readily detect the aroma
but
for others, alas, they perceive nothing.

Dave Karnstedt
Silverton, Oregon, USA
Cool Mediterranean climate; USDA Zone 7-8

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