thanks.

Banana Magnolia- think the botanical name is Michelia Figo. Look for one with the name Skinners in the name- it is a better strain.
If you have never smelled this plant, you are in for a treat. I am big on fragrant flowers...most all others pale in comparison. So powerful it will knock you on your can. When people visit my home and smell this, they are stunned! Sadly, I do not believe folks in zone 6 or above can grow this.

Vibernum Carlisii...uhmmmmm. Now THAT is one most people in most zones can grow- and should.

Gosh Tim... you beat me!
For shrubs/little trees that live over here, definitely Viburnum carlesii.... my all time favorite!
Of course the fragrant lilies.
For spring bulbs Hyacinths.
In pots Gardenia.

TIM -

I've begun experimenting with tropicals by wintering them indoors.
My baby avocado trees have survived the winter.
Maybe your banana tree is next!
It sounds delicious.

Some of my favorite fragrant garden plants are Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) and Gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides) I have a little Mock Orange but alas, it is the unscented variety Scentless Mock Orange (Philadelphus inodorus)

I agree with Tim, the bloom fragrance of Banana Shrub (Magnolia figo) is amazing but it is considered a tropical plant and would have to be grown as a houseplant for most, unless you live in zone 10 or 11.

The same goes with Hoya plants that someone mentioned earlier. Many of us grow these as houseplants because they will not survive cold winter temperatures for very long. There are many Hoya's with great fragrance. These are a few that have wonderful evening and night time fragrance:

Wax Plant (Hoya australis subsp. tenuipes)

Wax Plant (Hoya lacunosa)

Wax Plant (Hoya obovata)

I grew the Confederate Jasmine in CA. Lovely plant. I luv the hoyas as well. Some of our azaleas are scented and some aren't.

Hi Lin,
I wanted to show you my Banana magnolia. I am in Zone 8...more at the Northern(harsh) part. This species is very hardy here, in fact, I have never seen a bit of cold damage. It has been covered in snow and ice more times than I can remember. This morning it was a lovely 22 degrees (ugh). I would not be afraid to plant one in zone 7. The bush/tree in the photo was planted in 2005 as a 1 gallon. It has never been babied at all; in my yard, for most things it is a sink or swim situation lol. I just wanted to encourage people to give it a shot if they are in a marginal climate such as mine. This photo was taken this a.m.- it was white with frost an hour earlier!

TimHoover said: in my yard, for most things it is a sink or swim situation

Yep. I'll try to put them in the right spot, but I won't fuss.

GREAT banana tree!

Tim: Thank you so much for sharing that information, I had no idea that Michelia figo (which I see is now known as Magnolia figo) would grow so far north, I might have to plant my little one in the garden! Your shrub is gorgeous!

It is so great to find this thread. We have been talking on cubits.org about our fragrant favorites but most of them have been houseplants. I am not fortunate enough to be able to have many garden shrubs that I think are worth mentioning as having a good scent. I do have the sweet shrub, Michael Lindsey which has the aroma. These are the little flowers that in the old days women would put them in their bras and handkerchiefs instead of perfume. Seldom did we use perfume when I was a kid...but these shrubs were very popular. Michael is no doubt a hybrid of the old sweet shrubs because I have three here and he is the only one who has a strong aroma. Do you remember them?

@JB I LOVE the old fashioned sweet shrub. We had them in the yard when I was a kid (about a century ago). I bought one when we first moved here, but it was such a disappointment -- no fragrance.

Same thing happened to me twice.

You all inspired me to look that up. I don't know where I'll have room for it but I put it on my want list anyway.

No matter what you plan, monkey wrenches come into play and everything changes.....

Michael Lindsey is the best hybrid for fragrance that I have found. It is soooooo nice. I have one and some of the girls are doing the experiment with the seeds I gathered. Maybe we will get lucky and someone will have a plant to trade. There are 8 of us with seeds.

Take a look at my have list - pretty tiny - maybe we could trade seeds?

Koreanspice Viburnum (Viburnum carlesii), most definitely!
Orienpet Lily (Lilium 'Conca d'Or')
Lily (Lilium 'Casa Blanca')
Rose (Rosa 'Sunsprite')
Hosta (Hosta plantaginea)
European Bird Cherry (Prunus padus 'Summer Glow')

Russian Olive is nice, too, for a week or so in spring, but it's taking over our wild areas, so it's not something I would ever purposely plant.

In between scented bloom periods -

Citrosa Geranium (Pelargonium citrosum)...mmmm, love these leaves... just slightly bruised...
Mints, especially when freshly mown, and other yummy herbs, too.

Yum indeed, Chelle!

I first smelled the wintersweet for the first time last year February. The scent was so heavenly. My neighbor cut a small branch with 3 flowers on it and gave it to my mother. It filled up the whole kitchen dining area.

I then went for a search online and bought the seeds to plant. They only had the Purple Heart. Not the luteus that my neighbor had. They grew to about 1 foot tall in the past year.

While planting the wintersweet Purple Heart, my brothers friend told me about the michelia alba. The smell was just as nice. I went online and bought the plant since the seeds were hard to germinate. Another fragrant plant I love.

After looking up wintersweets, I landed on calycanthus floridus Carolina allspice sweet shrub that suppose to smell really nice. Bought that as well as seeds to germinate.

On a hunt for fragrant plants.

Keep us posted, @blankspace!
I am ready to add more to my garden, too.

My favourites would have to be the classic Tulips, daffodils and roses, I just love all there scents