I really like the smell of vanilla, but don't think an actual Vanilla plant can be grown outdoors in the Lower Mainland. Can anybody here recommend plants that smell like vanilla and can be grown here in the Lower Mainland?
I realize this is not exactly what you’re looking for — it’s on the Okanagan side of Manning park Next time you’re up on a warm sunny day - sniff the PONDEROSA Pine tree BARK - the bark on the tree Vanilla! As kids years ago - we thought ponderosa bark bits and pieces were jigsaw puzzles If you see around the base of tree trunk - you know what I refer to Back to your topic - I cannot think of any vanilla scent so will keep my garden ears open to what fellow green thumbs suggest - Best of season to you
Definitely give Azara a try. They had a nice selection a couple weeks back at Maple Leaf in North Van. Azara are winter flowering and smell of vanilla and chocolate. It’s absolutely incredible! Buy a 5gal if they have and it’s in your price point as they are a bit hardier with age in my experience.
Yes Maple Leaf garden centre No I am not associated in any way They have earned a good reputation over many years Worth a drive over the bridge
Do you have a Latin name for this suggestion — I would like to look it up Does it do well in coastal dry Vancouver summer?
Mine does nicely in full sun/slow-oven conditions of central Ohio summer, so...I'd say it's a fair bet it would do OK there too. Give it good drainage, support, and keep its 'head in the sun, feet in shade'. Flower-carpet blooms in August-September---glorious in both sight and scent. Sweet Autumn Clematis: Plant Care & Growing Guide Clematis terniflora | CLIMBERS
The aromatics from the ponderosa pine are best on hot summer days with direct sunshine, while the Azara gives you that scent wafting in the air for a couple weeks in early spring... if you are considering timing.
In a somewhat similar manner, the cone stalks of old Pinus radiata (Monterey Pine) and Pinus muricata (Bishop Pine) cones. Pull a many-years-old cone off the branch, and grate the resin-filled cone stem with sandpaper, you'll get a strong vanilla scent.
I was looking at another thread today and as a result looked up Clematis Montana « Elizabeth » and the major wholesale grower for decades now says blooms have scent of vanilla They’d be in flower now if you find one at the nursery store Clematis montana Elizabeth - Clearview Horticultural Products
Sarcococca ruscifolia may be of interest. Plant Primer: Fragrant sweet box Sarcococca ruscifolia - Wikipedia
How about good old Heliotrope? Smells a bit vanilla-y to me, although also like baby powder. I think some folks called it "Cherry Pie" as that is what it smells like to them.
Two of my most-enjoyed fragrances remain indescribable by me: Sansevieria flowers and lamb's-ear (Stachys byzantina) leaves. Vanilla? Yes, and a dozen other scents as well, mingled in unique and wonderful ways. I also like the stench (I use the term fondly) of my smallest hoya's flowers. I can smell when the plant is in bloom before I see it is. Distinct (ha! perhaps variant spelling appropriate here---'distink') from the above 2 but equally indefinable. Interestingly, the flower heads it produces are a quarter the size of those of my biggest hoya...but pack ten times the fragrance power. In re Sansevieria, this: The flower scent is so unique that it is difficult to put into words. The chemical composition of the Sansevieria Trifasciata Laurenti [sic] flower fragrance include around 69 compounds, several esters, alcohol and aldehydes. Chemical Composition of the Fragrance of the Flower of ?Sansevieria Trifasciata Laurenti? by SPME / GC-MS: Perfume Applications Where is this perfume? Lead me to it!
@togata57 - i googled around but find no answer to which perfume brand name contains mother-in-law tongue! I can relate - I have « bain de soleil » locked in my sensorial mind bank - and if they still made the 1980s version, I could just go and buy some ... Back to plant scent - I like héliotrope too And I find the scent of the leaves of common PJM Rhododendron vaguely « Nabisco vanilla wafer » cookie scent ... I can’t pin down the exact scent but it’s distinct And speaking of strangely appealing - I love the close-up scent of lupin flowers — vaguely peppery. I have clear childhood memories of the scent so it appeals to me to this day.
I will cast the net of scent a bit wider: why o why bother with vanilla scent when you can plant honeysuckle? Notes of "swoon" tempered with "intoxication"! And every year I overwinter scraggly, unhappy brugmansias just to have those gigantic orange bells emit their transcendent scent on late summer evenings. Heaven must smell like brugmansias at sunset...
Spring-flowering Clematis montana can also be quite strongly vanilla-scented. Varies a lot from individual to individual, though; some are scentless, others strongly scented.
Yes, it does! Plus an array of other insects as well. Between the clematis and my flowering stonecrops the bees are busy indeed!
i have been sniffing around the sweet pea flowers recently — I don’t know how to describe “sweet pea” floral scent — a bit peppery ? the other day (when it rained at coast) - there was definite “Petrachor” (a wonderful scent word) (EDIT: I didn’t spell it correctly — Petrichor - Wikipedia
