What Smell??

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

We have Begonias. There really isn't a large variety that is just easily, readily available.

It's a whole hobby unto itself. If say, for example, I really wanted to collect some really rare or interesting Begonia species or hybrids, I could very well do so with some effort.



About orchid scents...

It is quite possibly that all orchids are scented to some degree or another.

And here is what I mean -

Here is something interesting that we human beings take for granted - our sense of smell is actually not as developed compared to many different animals throughout the animal kingdom.

When you look at the brains of animals such as dogs or cats, the proportion of their olfactory bulbs compared to the rest of the parts of their brains are several times larger than the proportions of our own olfactory bulbs.

This is a link to a photo of a dog's brain where you can see the size of the olfactory bulb:

NER DOG BRAIN Ventral view optic nerve cranial nerve VIII

Here's a link to a photo of a cat's brain where the olfactory bulbs are harder to locate, but you can still see that they are fairly good sized in relation to the proportions of the other parts of the cat's brain:

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser...1220046lbd.jpg

Ironically, even an animal such as a frog has larger olfactory bulbs in relation to the proportions of the other parts of their brains than we do:

http://php.med.unsw.edu.au/embryolog...y_frog-dog.jpg

This is a link to show just how small our olfactory bulbs are in relation to the proportions of the other parts of our brain:

Human brain Ventral view olfactory bulb mammillary body optic


Q: What is the point I'm making?

A: The point is that our sense of smell is far more limited compared to those of many other animals. This plays into the idea that many of those orchids that are deemed by us to be "unscented", may not be truly unscented at all. The truth of the matter may be that their scent may not be detectable by humans.

[NYCorchidman]

The most common begonias sold in the USA are small flowering, more heat resistant Rieger Begonia and similar hybrids.
I like them too, but what I'm referring to are the large flowering tuberous begonias, which are also available but only suited for certain climate in the USA unless you have a specialized greenhouse where cool temp is maintained.

Otherwise, they will not grow and flower properly, if at all.

On the other hand, in UK, it's a tuberous begonia heaven!

Major hybrids are also brought in from UK.

---------- Post added at 12:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:41 PM ----------

but when we talk about fragrance, we are talking about it in term of human perspective.

If you don't sense any scent, then it can't be sold as fragrant plants simple as that.

Animals are amazing but we have language.

[lornaheath]

Oh Wow! What a flippin great answer.

I bet everyone wanted you on their team at the Pub Quiz.

You are awesome with your amount of knowledge and understanding of people, questions and situations here. Your research skills are considerable and you should be highly commended.

Thank you yet again Mister King. You are remarkable Sir.

Lorna
x x x

[Myrle Diefendorf]

Yes, Miltoniopsis are wonderful COOL growers. I have trouble here in So. Carolina because it gets so hot in summer. My cattleyas are wonderfully fragrant when the sun is out, but lose their scent in evening. Oncidium Sharry Baby is easy to grow and flower and has a nice scent also EPcty Serena's Tinkerbell is a pretty little orchid with a lovely morning scent.

[catherinecarney]

Orchids aren't the only flowering plants where we see breeding programs sacrifice fragrance for "looks." Roses and daffodils are other common garden flowers that are in the same boat. Yes, the modern hybrid tea roses have some fragrance, but nothing compared to the Bourbons, Hybrid Perpetuals, Gallicas, etc that originated before the late 1800's. Ditto for daffodils/narcissus--the species/primary hybrids and early (pre 1920) cultivars tend to have much more fragrance than the modern varieties

As a gardener (and the child of a seriously hard core gardener), I choose my plants first for adaptation to my growing conditions (hey, it's gotta survive in order to bloom, right?), but fragrance is a factor almost on par with looks in my final decisions. After all, if I can have something that's pretty, or something that's pretty AND smells good I will almost always go for the latter.

I do the same with my orchids--my bias is for fragrance if possible, and if I have a plant in my (far too rapidly growing) collection that isn't fragrant and can replace it with something similar that smells good, I will....

Be aware that the way we experience fragrance on plants can be highly subjective, and what smells good to one person can be overpowering or even nauseating to another. I tend to find musky fragrance, for example, overpowering at best and prefer citrus, spice, rose, or sweet fragrances in my flowers...But that's just me.

Lorna, there are tons of orchids out there with attractive blooms, easy care, and wonderful fragrance. Many of them are readily available (at least on this side of "the pond") and not terribly expensive. If you can, go to an orchid show (have someone else hold your checkbook and charge cards so you don't come home with one of everything--trust me on this), and see what plants smell good to you!

Catherine

[NYCorchidman]

I thought daffodils are all scented.
Two sections, Jonquilas and Tazettas, being the most sweetly scented and other large flowering have that distinct daffodil smell...

I used to grow lots of them along with other bulbs.
I miss having gardens with lots of bulbs in it.
oh, well...

[catherinecarney]

I feel for you NY Orchidman--daffodils are one of the things I most look forward to every spring--just something about color after a long, grey Ohio winter....There's something special about being able to go outside on the first almost warm evening of spring and see and smell the flowers....

Tazettas/Poetaz and Jonquillas are the most fragrant, and many of the Poeticus as well (the old Pheasant's Eye is a classic example). However, if you look at newer cv's like Ice Follies (and I have them in drifts because they're early bloomers and unkillable) there's no detectable fragrance. Ditto for the King Alfred types (the classic yellow trumpet type daffodil).

Geranium is quite fragrant (again, a Tazetta/Poetaz type), so is Cheerfulness (another Tazetta/Poetaz type), but the butterfly/split corona types and many of the modern doubles are not. Interestingly, I haven't found many of the pink/apricot shades to have fragrance either....

What drives me nuts as a gardener is how tough it can be to find fragrance even mentioned in the literature--catalogs list color, bloom time, etc, but rarely fragrance, so for me it's too often trial and error both for my gardens and my orchids.

Catherine

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

This problem you guys have with daffodils is happening with the orchid species Bletilla striata. It is supposed to be fragrant. But color, form, and leaf variegation takes precedence over fragrance with the breeding of this species. What a shame.

[Discus]

Originally Posted by butterfly_muse

Thank goodness orchids don't smell like this!!

Oh, I don't know about that. Some of the bulbophyllums are close to chemical weapons grade stinkers. beccarii has been likened to "100 dead elephants rotting in the sun".

[NYCorchidman]

Originally Posted by catherinecarney

I feel for you NY Orchidman--daffodils are one of the things I most look forward to every spring--just something about color after a long, grey Ohio winter....There's something special about being able to go outside on the first almost warm evening of spring and see and smell the flowers....

Tazettas/Poetaz and Jonquillas are the most fragrant, and many of the Poeticus as well (the old Pheasant's Eye is a classic example). However, if you look at newer cv's like Ice Follies (and I have them in drifts because they're early bloomers and unkillable) there's no detectable fragrance. Ditto for the King Alfred types (the classic yellow trumpet type daffodil).

Geranium is quite fragrant (again, a Tazetta/Poetaz type), so is Cheerfulness (another Tazetta/Poetaz type), but the butterfly/split corona types and many of the modern doubles are not. Interestingly, I haven't found many of the pink/apricot shades to have fragrance either....

What drives me nuts as a gardener is how tough it can be to find fragrance even mentioned in the literature--catalogs list color, bloom time, etc, but rarely fragrance, so for me it's too often trial and error both for my gardens and my orchids.

Catherine

Oh, yeah, poeticus also smells wonderful! I just never liked the flowers. Pretty on its own right, but they just do not look like daffodils to me.

I have never heard of geranium daffodils.
well, it's been years since I last enjoyed having garden and bulbs. so I haven't kept up with the info much.
Now I just enjoy small pots of bulbs in the spring or fresh cutflowers anytime they are available.

You are right, there are something magical about seeing yellow and white daffodils shooting up here and there in the dry field or even here in the city. I just can't get enough of them.

Ice Follies are among my favorites. luck you!