Autumn scents

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John J

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Autumn scents
« on: November 16, 2014, 03:09:59 PM »
Following hard on the heels of the first significant rain of the season the garden has begun to come back to life with several plants beginning to flower. Three of them that have begun to add their scent to that of the freshly watered earth are below;
Eriobotrya japonica (Loquat).
Clerodendrum chinense.
Murraya paniculata.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

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Alisdair

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Re: Autumn scents
« Reply #1 on: November 19, 2014, 07:25:39 PM »
I'm just back in England from the Peloponnese, where for me the dominant autumn scent was the carob...
Alisdair Aird
Gardens in SE England (Sussex); also coastal Southern Greece, and (in a very small way) South West France; MGS member (and former president); vice chairman RHS Lily Group, past chairman Cyclamen Society

meltemi

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Re: Autumn scents
« Reply #2 on: November 28, 2014, 12:37:08 PM »
one can also smell the jasmine still in bloom the lemony scent of winter honeysuckle now beginning to flower and of course the tart scent of wild lavender early in the morning...meltemi

Umbrian

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Re: Autumn scents
« Reply #3 on: November 29, 2014, 07:53:44 AM »
After a night of torrential rain I was assailed the other morning by the strong smell of pineapple coming from the drenched leaves of a large Salvia rutilans planted close to the back door.
MGS member living and gardening in Umbria, Italy for past 19 years. Recently moved from my original house and now planning and planting a new small garden.

Sandra

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Re: Autumn scents
« Reply #4 on: November 29, 2014, 10:21:50 AM »
Following hard on the heels of the first significant rain of the season the garden has begun to come back to life with several plants beginning to flower. Three of them that have begun to add their scent to that of the freshly watered earth are below;
Eriobotrya japonica (Loquat).
Clerodendrum chinense.
Murraya paniculata.

My Murraya also flowered beautifully at the beginning of November and the scent was glorious. However, in previous years it's always flowered in August so I was surprised to see it in full bloom a few weeks ago. When is it supposed to flower?
Sandra Panting
I garden in the Southern Peloponnese, Greece and will soon be creating a small garden in Northampton, England.  I'm co-head of the MGS Peloponnese group and a member of the RHS.

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John J

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Re: Autumn scents
« Reply #5 on: November 29, 2014, 11:23:07 AM »
Sandra,
Murraya is basically a tropical plant from the SE Asian region where I believe it is capable of flowering pretty much all year round. It probably retains this ability in regions outside its home area but is more likely to be prone to reacting to the conditions it encounters, ie it may flower more readily if kept irrigated or following rain if not regularly watered. Maybe not scientific but that's my best guess.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

David Feix

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Re: Autumn scents
« Reply #6 on: January 14, 2015, 10:15:47 PM »
Some of the most fragrant plants at the moment here in my Berkeley, California garden are the Michelia doltsopa, some remnant flowers on the Brugmansia 'Charles Grimaldi',  Edgeworthia chrysantha, Pittosporum undulatum and Daphne odora marginata.  Several Mexican Salvias such as Salvia iodantha and Salvia elegans 'Golden Delicious' are also in full bloom, but any fragrance is really from the foliage, not the flowers. But of all of them, the Michelia is my favorite.
David Feix Landscape Design
Berkeley, California, USA

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Alisdair

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Magnolia (Michelia) doltsopa
« Reply #7 on: February 05, 2015, 12:23:55 PM »
David, I do envy you your Michelia! I can imagine them being happy in San Francisco, but as you're presumably hotter and drier do you have to do very much to keep it happy through the summer months? I've never seen one of these lovely trees being grown in Greece (the first one I saw was in Bhutan!).
Alisdair Aird
Gardens in SE England (Sussex); also coastal Southern Greece, and (in a very small way) South West France; MGS member (and former president); vice chairman RHS Lily Group, past chairman Cyclamen Society