Honeysuckle
Mock Orange 'Belle Etoile'
Lilacs
Sweet Peas

Annette

Kevin, I think, like you, my favorites are from childhood:

lily of the valley (my grandmother's yard)
honeysuckle (growing on a fence in the back alley)
lilacs (again, in the back alley, a HUGE shrub of them)

Hmm, can't think of a truly favorite 4th to round out the group, but I suppose I can always throw roses in there, lol. Can't go wrong with roses! Although I do like phlox also...

Dee

My favorite scent, I think, is shared by two very different flowers which smell the same, Ephiphyllum oxypetalum, the "Queen of the Night" or Night Blooming Cereus (which is is NOT) and the Peacock or Abyssinian or Sweet Glad, Acidanthera bicolor.

There are so many flower fragrances that I enjoy but my favorites are, in no particular order:

Lilies
Lilacs
Lilies of the valley
Japanese honeysuckle
Rosa 'Madame Plantier'
Phlox
Winter honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima)
Clematis paniculata
Tilia cordata
Apple blossoms

Many of these are scents remembered from childhood.

There are so many scents I enjoy, but these are my top:

* Oriental lily
* Hyacinth
* Petunia
* Heliotrope
* Lilac
* Buddleia

I also love the scent of various herbs and conifers (e.g. pine, spruce)

I love the smell of Bee Balm.

Monarda fistulosa x tetraploid(it has exactly the same smell as Dictamnus albus)
Matthiola bicornis
Narcissus poeticus
Some bearded Irises.

Many flower scents I find to be unpleasant/uncomfortable, either too strong or causing allergies. However, I love the scent of Nicotiana which wafts through the garden and house in the evenings starting around now and lasting until hard frost. I also love the scent of old-fashioned roses like Rugosas.

My four from childhood, too:
Lilac
honeysuckle
jasmine
lily

Also, from childhood-hyacinth

I forgot about apple blossoms.

ponder, ponder, ponder.....

They were and are a fav, but my list still stands.

Kevin

Gardenia is the winner by far for me. Absolutely intoxicating fragrance.

I enjoy these every year in my garden:
Lilac
Lavender
Butterfly Bushes
Some fragrant daylilies
Echinacea Paradoxa - smells like spice to me
Rugosa Roses

Linda

Can I add one more, Pinks, how could I not have thought of those, that is the fragrance I remember most from my childhood.

Annette

I guess we all like the same fragrance especially us snowbirds/
-Mock Orange
-lily of the valley (my grandmother's yard)
-honeysuckle (growing on a fence in the back alley)
-lilacs (again, in the back alley, a HUGE shrub of them)

I will add
-All fragrant Hostas.
-If you like honeysuckle and you would like to get the same fragrance later in the summer you should buy "Clematis triternata Rubromarginata"
-Viburnum x carlcephalum (Fragrant Snowball Viburnum)

Gardenia (agree with mistascott above)
Echinacea purpurea (the old fashioned ones, extremely sweet scent)
Hosta 'Abiqua Ambrosia' (like gardenia but a lighter fragrance)
Lantana (the whole bush)

My absolute favorite is Jasmine Sambac which used to grow in our garden at home! Mock oranges because they remind me of Jasmine. Lilacs. Lemon thyme (not technically a flower I guess).

Oh geez, how could I forget hyacinths?! Okay, move over roses, hyacinths is my fourth choice!

Dee

P.S. I have to put a plug in for marigolds. I'm fairly certain no one will pick them as a favorite - I don't know if I would even have them in my top half dozen - but I do like the smell of them and just wanted to give them a mention! They're definitely not one of those sniff-and-be-transported-into-bliss flowers, but they do have a somewhat unique, enjoyable scent.

diggerdee,.... marigolds,,,,, nope. lol

Lilac, also from childhood, spring at last in South Dakota
Phlox
Star jasmine, lost my jasmine this past winter, :(
Alyssum
Actaea
I listed five as you added another, Kevin.

From childhood: Orange blossoms are wonderful. I walked through orange groves on the way home from school. Roses that had that great rose fragrance that is so often missing in the newer cultivars.

Now I enjoy lilacs, peonies, and the other day I noticed my tall phlox has a beautiful fragrance.

Magnolia above all else
Brugmansia
Four O'Clocks
Carolina Allspice

Oh yes, hyacinths and mock orange! However these were kind of latecomers to my childhood brain. Hyacinths in particular were rather an exotic where I grew up. They really weren't considered all that hardy, so not that many people grew them.

Dee - I agree with your comment about marigolds. They have a fragrance I wouldn't consider perfume-worthy, but there's just something about it I like. Again, I think they conjure up lots of childhood memories.

Kevin

Lilac
Sweetpea
Mockorange
and, strangely enough, Marigold as it reminds me of carefree childhood days.

Lilac
Sweetpea
Mockorange
and, strangely enough, Marigold as it reminds me of carefree childhood days.

This thread has stirred fond memories of my childhood, my first list is one of favorite fragrances in my garden now. Favorite fragrances from my childhood would be the scent of crabapple blossoms from the ancient tree outside my bedroom window, Pinks especially Mrs. Sinkins, Romneya coulteri the california poppy tree beside our front porch and the patch of very fragrant violets almost hidden under an old Deutzia bush in a side garden. There are a couple more but those are the 4 that first came to mind.

Annette

Freesia !!!!! all time favorite
Lily of the Valley
Lilacs
Peonies
Heliotrope
Magnolia
Carnation/pinks
Tea rose

Thanks for reminder marquest and aftermidnight. I forgot about the fragrant dianthus-pinks- and some of the hostas. I also have a potted Star Jasmine that spends the winter in the garage and blooms in late spring and summer when we bring it outside again.

I don't grow Lily of the Valley at this house but have before and it's wonderful. I have cologne that is Lily of the Valley and love it.

And shame on me, I forgot my Mock Orange.

Peony
Buddleia
Agastache
Lavender

I grew up as a city kid so no grandma garden memories for me!

Peonies can mean many things as far as fragrances are concerned. Some are straightforward unpleasant. I have some tree peonies that have nauseating smell(something rotten).

That's interesting that so many people remember fragrances from childhood, I don't remember any. I like the fragrance of shrub honeysuckle, but remove them - they along with vine honeysuckle Lonicera japonica are extremely invasive, not all things from childhood are good.

My favorites, of the fragrant plants I grow here in zone 5, in no particular order:

Hyacinthus orientalis - have to buy a pot or 2 of Hyacinth every Spring for the kitchen, then plant in garden
Syringa - common and "Miss Kim' - heavenly
Peonies
Buddleia
Hemerocallis 'Hyperion'
Tilia americana - when the Linden/basswood/whatever tree is in bloom, the whole yard is perfumed, it is amazing!
Prunus x cistena - Purple sand cherry - smells SO sweet, like candy
Asclepias syriaca - common Milkweed
Nicotiana alata
Hosta plantaginea

I haven't seen anyone mention Osmanthus fragrans, one of my favorites.

Some of the stuff in bloom now around here that smells nice:

Clethra (summersweet) -- permeates the garden
Crepe Myrtle - mild but pleasant
Hydrangea paniculata - mild but put your nose in it and it smells faintly like roses

wieslaw - I agree, not all peonies are created equal and trying to determine the "true peony scent" would be next to impossible. In my mind at least, when I think of the true peony scent, I think of something like Festiva Maxima or Sweet Sixteen. Now that I think of it, in my limited experience, the truest peony scent seems to appear in double white or very pale pink double varieties (not the singles). Again - in my limited experience.

I don't think I've ever smelled a peony I didn't like, but an awful lot of them are not very peony-like. Vivid Rose is too rose for me, but I guess the name should have been a clue.

Kevin

I forgot this awesome scent - Hosta Guacamole. The flowers are bigger than many Hosta flowers too, and the scent is sweet, reminds me of soap or handcream. I feel lucky because I'm one of those people who cuts hosta flowers off fairly quickly, and laziness got the better of me with the Guack! The scent can be nicely overpowering at night, too.

About half my peonies are very fragrant, like Festiva maxima, Duchess de Nemours, and a pink noid, and half are not very or not at all fragrant. Yes a huge difference!

I didn't purchase any of them however, they were left behind by the previous owner, otherwise they would all be fragrant. Double peonies are so high maintenance, and floppy, that a non-fragrant one is hardly worth growing.

Stocks, daffodils,lemon balm (although keep it in a pot), and daphne, haven't been listed yet and are my favorites. And I fully go along with mockorange, jasmine tobacco (Nicotiana alata), Carolina allspice Athens, brugmansia, and Jasmine sambac.

I considered hosta Guacamole also when I made my list. It is indeed a heavenly fragrance, and I planted mine close to a walkway to be enjoyed. It didn't quite make my top four list, though - but would probably make a top ten!

Dee

auriculas,
jonquilla narcissus
japanese honeysuckle
sarcococca

Did we mention any Hawaiian flowers yet? Pikake and tuberose are wonderful.

Like the smell of tomato leaves when you brush them with your hand, marigolds remind me of summer even though the fragrance is not very pleasant.

Don't think anyone has mentioned Korean Spice Viburnum - I like to stand with my nose in the one beside our deck and imagine how rich I would be if only I could put that in a bottle!
Jan

I can't keep the list down to four

From my childhood in Arizona:
Gardenias
Citrus blossoms
Freesia
Star Jasmine (known as Confederate Jasmine elsewhere and not really a Jasminum)

From my years as a florist
Stephanotis
Tuberoses
Orchid colored carnations they had a really spicy clove scent
Easter lilies

From my current garden
Daphne odora
Oriental and Orienpet lilies
Buddleia
Hyacinths
Hosta 'So Sweet' and others

Oriental Lilies
Coneflowers

My first brugmansia bloom this year is wonderful--have to walk out to the garden in the evening just to breathe in the fragrance.