REPLY: [pbs] Fragrances that Surprise--TOW
johngrimshaw@tiscali.co.uk (Wed, 14 Apr 2004 12:10:56 PDT)

Dave Karn wrote:

....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 find it overwhelming in the open garden - in a room or a greenhouse it is
intolerable.

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.

I restrained myself on the subject of hyacinth odour. I appreciate hyacinths
in the garden display, and indeed have planted quite a few here at
Colesbourne, but just walking along the path, nose nearly 6 feet above them,
the smell was only too apparent.

Fortunately, in cheese, the stronger and worse the smell, the better the
flavour usually is. Forget the pussy-footed brie, try some of the red-rinded
Belgian ones, with what can only be called (politely) a faecal odour, but
heavenly flavour! There is an English one called Stinking Bishop, much the
same.

I must try Narcissus 'Fragrant Rose' - sounds delightful. There is a
snowdrop, G. plicatus 'Ispahan' that smells of old roses, rather
delightfully. For snowdrop fragrance 'S. Arnott' is hard to beat; on a warm
February day the big patch here of some10,000 flowering plants wafts the
perfume all around - a lovely heather honey scent.

John Grimshaw