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