WHY don't sellers describe fragrance?! It is killing mee!!

[astrid]

Guys!!

I am so sick of sellers labeling everything simply as "fragrant!"

From a phal violacea to a bulbophyllum phalaenopsis, ALL they write is "fragrant"!

I know many people describe smells in many different ways. I get that. And many of us have specific anosmias that keep us from smelling particular chemical compounds as well, which makes it harder to uniformly describe a smell in a "perfect" way.

Clearly, many bulbophyllums smell bad. Clearly, many cattleyas smell good. But there is no single database that I know of that allows me to know the smell - good or bad - of certain plants! Argh!!!

I wish we could all wrangle up every online seller and say, "Look! If this plant smells sweet, neutral, spicy, or like a dang corpse, can you please please please just qualify it somehow???"

I am so annoyed.
Even this website describes half the plants simply as "fragrant": Orchid Fragrance Information

Surely plants can have a general concensus of "pretty good for most people" and "probably don't put it in your living room" ... right?

Do you guys know any better databases? Should I just ask about fragrance on here every dang time I have a question?

I know there are thousands upon thousands of species and hybrids as well, but you'd think a nursery growing a particular orchid would have taken a whiff once or twice??

[Ordphien]

I think it's because fragrance is just truly that fickle.
I purchase alot of roses, and I find the scent descriptions (very important in the world of roses) to be almost entirely inaccurate every single time.
Despite that fact that base, middle, and top notes are very well categorised. And I have a frame of reference for each note.
Having spent time in the damask rose fields, I know what damask fragrance or notes should smell like. Yet I'm constantly perplexed by roses labeled as having "damask" type fragrance.

I'll use the three examples.
My Twilight zone rose. I purchased it for the gorgeous colour. It has a "clove" fragrance.
Half the people I show it to tell me of its incredibly intoxicating fragrance. The other half can't smell anything and thinks I'm joking that it's supposed to smell.
I can't smell it personally.

My Abraham Darby rose. Ok. Everyone can smell this one.
But to some, its got a scent reminiscent of rotting grapefruit. While others are captivated by it's intense old rose scent. Or turned off because it reminds them of grandma lol.

Sharry baby. I kid you not I know 6 people who straight up can't smell it. And another 3 who swear it smells like jasmine. But only if you stick nose in the flower. And I can smell it all the way upstairs, in my closed bedroom.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could just smell a sample online?
But then I suppose we'd need to be able to accurately reproduce scents... And if every "rain" candle I've come across is any indication. I don't think we're too close lol.

I think you also need a solid frame of reference. Since I have spent my whole life smelling things.... in a normal way... I hope.
Anyway, I have a huge database of scents to compare from, and describe.
But some people don't have that. So they might smell it and only get "flowers". Maybe "sweet". Despite nuances and intensity.

I think you're better off sniffing everything you pass, and asking here. At this point I can usually tell with orchids whether or not I'll like the fragrance by colour and shape
Does that even make sense?... I dunno. Nobile dendrobium sure tricked me. Buggers smell awful.

And just for the record I do not like most cattleya scents.

[astrid]

Originally Posted by Ordphien

I think it's because fragrance is just truly that fickle. [...]
I think you're better off sniffing everything you pass, and asking here. At this point I can usually tell with orchids whether or not I'll like the fragrance by colour and shape
Does that even make sense?... I dunno. Nobile dendrobium sure tricked me. Buggers smell awful.

And just for the record I do not like most cattleya scents.

I don't know if the color/shape business holds so true for me!! I got a gorgeous beallara that looked stunning and ... well it smelled of burning plastic.

I haven't liked most cattleyas that I have smelled; they smell really medicinal to me or like mothballs and emptiness. However, I know a lot of people like fragrant cattleyas and like their smell, which is why I chose the example.

I just bought another den nobile today hoping that it won't smell gross. It's cute, so I hope that when the sun warms it up tomorrow that it won't disappoint!

I appreciate your thoughtful response!!
I think the thing that bothers me most is that many plants which definitely smell like farts or death or rotting to many people are just bunched into the "fragrant" category. I wish there were at least a small distinction.

In my ideal world, we would all have the ability to smell and describe smells as well as we perceive and describe and see the nuance in color of physical texture! </3
But we don't live there.

I'll keep sniffing and asking around! Thanks again!

[Ordphien]

That is bothersome.
Especially since the English language came with words for this.
Fragrant for a pleasant scent, odorous for unpleasant.
Or odiferous.
I think that would help significantly. I had that issue with bulbos too.
Are you a good witch? Or a bad witch?
I must know if I'll like how you smell!

[MattWoelfsen]

It would be great if orchid descriptions used "odorous" or "odiferous" to describe its scent. That goes along the same admonishment: "caveat emptor"--buyer beware.

[katrina]

I think you've answered your own question when you stated that most cattleya smell like ICK to you and yet many people love their fragrances.

You've gone down this path before, Astrid and I don't think you're going to get different answers this time. People smell things/detect fragrances differently and attempting to describe them would be highly problematic. Add to that...not everyone's sniffer is equally sensitive...making the task even more convoluted.

Your solution might be that you don't buy anything w/out having sniffed it prior. I am highly sensitive to smells and even though I'm not growing in a super tight space I still find that I've given plenty of orchids away over the years because I couldn't take the smell. I don't think anyone who is sensitive to smells will ever completely get away from that when dealing w/flowers.

[Paul]

Let's not forget, too, that just because an orchid has a certain fragrance that does not mean that all of its siblings necessarily will too. Haraella odorata is said by many to have a nice lemony fragrance, but either I am not sensitive to its chemical compounds, or the two I had years back were duds (which is possible).

Vendors play it safe by just indicating "fragrant". Can't blame them either. As has been said time and time and time again ... perception of fragrance/odors is simply too fickle. If a vendor says plant X smells like _____ and the customer who buys it for that scent disagrees, the vendor is now left with a very unhappy customer. Even using terms like "malodorous" would present problems. It could make certain plants harder to sell. What may be malodorous to person A might not be to person B. (I have known folks who enjoy the scent of gasoline or don't find the scent of skunk musk to be at all unpleasant.) Then there is the question of just HOW malodorous is it? Will it knock you on your butt from 20ft away or is it just barely noticeable? (One of my succulents has flowers that smell a bit of fecal matter -- but only if you put your nose right up to it.) Or what about plants whose fragrance changes with the time of day? The scent of the flowers of my Hoya carnosa is different in the morning than late evening.

Your desire for an even somewhat accurate fragrance/odor list is understandable ... but also completely unrealistic.

[tucker85]

Never, never, never buy an orchid because the vendor says it's fragrant. I've bought several orchids described as "our most fragrant cattleya" or "the best fragrance of any orchid in our collection" and I've been disappointed every time. I've also found that fragrances that I like, other orchid growers won't like and vice versa. When it comes to fragrance you have to actually smell the orchid yourself. You're wasting your money if you buy orchids because someone else likes the fragrance.

[orchidsarefun]

I like the 'fragrant' label only if you are there to actually smell the bloom. It helps as an indicator in that you don't then attempt the sniff test with every bloom you come across.
With orchids you also can't take anything for granted - there are some extremely fragrant schilleriana cultivars and some that are not. Some smell 'good' ( to me ).......and some don't.

[Daethen]

The one vendor on ebay that I have found to describe the fragrance is Kawamoto Orchids. They have always sent me beautiful plants and have even listed that the "fragrance" was not pleasant.