Thought it might be fun to do a "Fragrance of the Day" thread here - maybe we'll do one for each month as they come and go. So if you have anything of note to the Schnoz to report, would love it if you could share some here. (Although I'm sure we'll find other themes/excuses to drool over our fragrant pretties.)

Daylily 'Dinner Plate' taken today in our garden, 7/10/11 - is actually a pale yellow, big flower that 'floats' above its aster neighbors...intensely fragrant of lemon & honey. We are woodchuck-challenged, so I don't know how many more blooms we'll get to enjoy of this one.

Karen

Hello Karen. Right now I have a Maid of Orleans Jasmine that just keeps on blooming. I'm patiently waiting for my Cestrum Nocturnum to bloom. My gardenias are done, and I've already cut them back.

Not sure what is up with my gardenias this year. They are usually blooming about now but I'm not even seeing buds.

The leaves look healthy so maybe they are just taking a rest period.

Did your winter daphne bloom this year Susan?

It sure did! I love that plant. I have yours and one my Daddy gave me.

This morning the Gardenia Jasminoides 'Frostproof' gave me another pretty bloom. The Maid of Orleans is going strong, the Gardenia Jasminoides 'Aimee' are doing their best to out smell everyone else. I hope your day is delightfully sweet.

JB, Vic or anyone, which jasmine(s) and gardenia(s) would you recommend for most continuous bloom during July and later? If you could only have one of each, which one would it be?

Susan, good on the Cestrum noctiflorum, especially since it's something to look forward to. This heat has singed and pfffftd so many plants - Vic, I'm glad I'm not the only one not pouring concrete today

Eventually, maybe we'll give certain plants their own threads so we can index them with a sticky.

Dave, when you post about crepe myrtles, howdja like to start a new thread for them? This far north, we might be growing some a little different from yours - there was a line of crepe myrtles bred for being extra hardy for northerners, with individual cultivars named after Native American tribes. There's an "orchard" at the National Arboretum nearby where I think the breeder had his test garden, though some of the breeding occurred in New Zealand, also, if my memory is working today. If we get a day with lower temps and no air quality alerts, we'll get some pics for y'all. Walking down those crepe myrtle alleys and clearings is pretty close to heaven in July and August - some towering way above - those make impressive showers of the flowers

Karen

Bluespiral, I've sent this link to Horseshoe. He gave me my gardenias so maybe he can better answer the question than me as I'm clueless

You poured concrete today? Yikes! We're under a heat advisory until tomorrow night. Our index today was 107. I wouldn't want to bloom either.

Lilium Queen Of Hearts is perfuming my whole garden. I so want the windows open, so the scent wafts in, but it's 90s and humid, so the air is on for the third time this year. I can't cut it and bring it in, it's overpowering in a closed area.

I like this forum!

"Not sure what is up with my gardenias this year. They are usually blooming about now but I'm not even seeing buds."

Vic, was that the question you're referring to? Or BlueSpiral's question about long blooming gardenias?

As for your gardenia not budding it sounds like you may have trimmed it back too late in the year last year. The buds tend to be on the new growth wood of the previous year so if you trimmed late summer/fall you may have cut the buds off. If you didn't do any trimming I bet the buds just didn't form, maybe because of our excessive heat/drought last year(?).


My gardenia up by the back steps is blooming like crazy this year though but I remember throwing a shovel-ful of manure/compost around it at some point last year. Plus it is in semi-shade so maybe it didn't suffer from intense sun or winter winds (which may have burnt your buds if your plant is in a windy area).

BlueSpiral, I like August Beauty because of the double flowers it produces. It'll bloom early (June/July) and also have a few more flowers later on. Kleim's Hardy would be a good one for you (aren't you further north than us?). Although it only has the single flowers it blooms longer than other shrub types. If you want a low-growing variety that really blooms later into the year then go with Radicans. Or heck, why not get all three and have a blast ! :>)

Hope this helps!
Shoe (break is over and heading back out into the semi-heat before the real heat hits)

Beautiful Queen of Hearts, Polly!

Love it!

Shoe

Thanks Shoe, I knew you would answer the question

OT and Oriental Lilies are perfuming the yard up nicely now, and I've got a couple of Brugs and some tall Phlox in bloom. At night the fragrance is particularly intense, the other night I walked out (where some of all 3 of those plants are blooming), took a sniff, and was like "Wow!"

I was pleasantly surprised to see the Star Jasmine blooming on the South Deck in all this heat. It is full of new buds. The fragrance is wonderful.


The Red Mandeville has little or no odor, but that just keeps blooming. It is not a pretty plant I would guess because it is so old and I left it get straggly because it is patented and I have not taken the time to cut it. The hummingbirds used to love it but I have not seen any this year.



You can see some of our baby Christmas Trees in the background of Red. They are really suffering from this heat, even with the irrigation.

Have a nice day everyone and please stay cool and drink lots of water.

Shoe, are your gardenias planted outside all year? I lived in Wilmington years ago but was not into gardenias then. I was a Marine Corp wife with no money for plants. My Kleims Hardy can not take the NJ winters either. None of my plants can unfortunately which keeps me very crowded during my busy cutting seasons. Do you sell any of your plants? I am looking for a few to replace mine and I was going to see what Logees and Top Tropicals had. Do you have any other places where you purchase yours? It is too hot to ship now anyhow.

I am too far north to have them out, but I am having a delima just now. The Gardenia Jasminoides 'Aimee' 2 y.o. standards and regulars that I have potted and am selling just now are outside on the north side of the GH in morning sun, shade and very late PM sun. They may not ever dry out or they get yellow overnight, so watering them daily is on the agenda. My question to you is, in this intense heat, do you think I should put them in the GH, which is over 100 deg. and has shade and fans, or should I leave them outside. They are almost all sold but what is left I do not want to fry outside. My gut tells me to leave them outside because Aimee came from Florida and I think they can take the heat, but I wanted your opinion. Thank you very much.

"Shoe, are your gardenias planted outside all year?"

JB, yep, outside all year here. I can even overwinter my gardenias in nursery pots most winters here. (This past winter I ended up putting them in the unheated g-house due to winter burn potential though.)

The in-ground gardenias are planted in out of the winter wind areas. Those cold dry winds are the worse thing for them, drying them out, causing leaf scorch, etc.

And yes, I sell lots of gardenia plants at the farmers mkt I go to and to landscapers. They usually only sell when in bloom though. Most are too big to ship so I don't bother with mail order.

I tend to hit up the box stores during the end of season sales if I see a variety I don't have. Some of them are big enough to immediately take cuttings for rooting. On other occasions I've ordered a few from web sites if it was something I just had to have. Last year (or year before) I ordered a variegated gardenia, it's a beaut! Unfortunately it is only hardy to zone 8 so I have it potted up and keep it in the g-house during the cold month.

"My question to you is, in this intense heat, do you think I should put them in the GH, which is over 100 deg. and has shade and fans, or should I leave them outside. "

My greenhouse has shade cloth plus two big exhaust fans, four intake vents, and it is 108º in there. Outside temp is now 98º. If it were me I'd leave your gardenias outside, preferably in a shady area or sit the pots in a pool of water. Doing so will sure cut down on the number of times you have to water them daily PLUS it'll conserve water PLUS it'll give them consistent moisture instead of the wed/dry/wet/dry cycle. I have many plants in home made pools and couldn't do with out them.

Shoe

I have the two big ones in pools. The just blew over today. We had a nasty wind storm. The 2 y.o. ones are not in pools and those are the ones I need to take care of. I keep my cuttings in pools in the gh because of what you said, drying out. It works wonders, yet some people say I over water. I don't think so. It works. I felt I should leave them outside also. Thanks so much and I do appreciate your information. I always say I am never too old to learn. I will get up early tomorrow and at least put big saucers under the 2 y.o.s and that should help. I water daily as is but that is a better idea.

I sell my Jasmine at the farmers market but I sell them young and they keep them until they want to sell them. They also want my gardenias but I am not sure these are ready. Are you familiar with the Aimee?
It is a stubborn one but oh my so beautiful and the best for cutting and using for designs that I have found.
They last days , nearly a week in water when cut and treated for floral designs. I sometimes just cut the blooms, stick them in water, change the water daily and in a week or so the flowers die and in another week or so they root in water. Never saw that before. I have 3 in. , 6 in. and 2 y.o. to sell just now. They can be standards or regular depending on the cuttings I take. The standards are so popular because they look like trees and people seem to like that up here. They are very scarce up here.
Thanks again Shoe. You are so helpful.

Dagnabbit! You're enabling my gardenia addiction, aren't you! *grin

No, have never grown Aimee but want to now. I'll check out your website when I get a chance.

Off to pack some more for tomorrow's mkt, back in to cool off, back out to pack, back in to cool off. I feel like a record being played that has a scratch on it and the needle keeps repeating... :>)

shoe

Shoe, You have been "branded" by Dave. I love your horseshoe icon!

Shoe, I am tempting you. I will send you one at no charge when the weather breaks. Go to Top Tropical website and look up the different Gardenia Jasminoides....they have an entire section on all the different ones. They have your Radicans listed, Veitchii,Belmont, Coral Gables, Mary Ann, Miami Supreme. I think the Veitchii is really neat and then there is a Veitchii Supreme. I would love to try and propagate all of them since I have such good luck with the Aimee. I just do not have the space and this year I am switching my cutting space to Holiday Cactus of all colors. To be honest, the gardenias take so much more of my time keeping them happy than the cactus, i thought I would try to make the change. I could sell ten times as many jasmine as anything I have. We have a large population of people here who use Jasmine for other reasons, and eat a lot of goat meat. I even thought of raising meat goats, but I am just too old to do that anymore. My mind is much younger than the old body.

Have a good day!

Great! Thanks, JB....and I can send you something you don't have, if you like.

I wonder if you sent me cuttings and I rooted them for you then sent them back as small plants. Would you have to keep them inside during the winter, using up your available space?

Just home from the farmers mkt, very HOT there (on black pavement in a parking lot). Back later, time to cool off a bit and wonder why I do this for a living....

Keep smiling!
shoe