A customer came in yesterday who said that, no matter what she bought,
or where, scented plants seem always to lose their scent once she gets
them into her garden. Even her Daphne bholura 'Jacqueline Postill' is
poorly scented. She says friends have said the same of their gardens
and have been told it's because of the time of soil they have. Warmth
makes no difference, apparently. Has anyone else experience of this,
or heard of soil making a difference to scent?
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk

In article ,
Sacha wrote:

A customer came in yesterday who said that, no matter what she bought,
or where, scented plants seem always to lose their scent once she gets
them into her garden. Even her Daphne bholura 'Jacqueline Postill' is
poorly scented. She says friends have said the same of their gardens
and have been told it's because of the time of soil they have. Warmth
makes no difference, apparently. Has anyone else experience of this,
or heard of soil making a difference to scent?

Yes. Whether it is soil, or what, I don't know. Many plants do that
with me, but not all.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 23/01/15 09:53, Sacha wrote:
A customer came in yesterday who said that, no matter what she bought,
or where, scented plants seem always to lose their scent once she gets
them into her garden. Even her Daphne bholura 'Jacqueline Postill' is
poorly scented. She says friends have said the same of their gardens
and have been told it's because of the time of soil they have. Warmth
makes no difference, apparently. Has anyone else experience of this,
or heard of soil making a difference to scent?

I can't say I've found many plants that are not scented in my garden,
but are scented elsewhere. I do wonder if multiple vegetative
propagation might weaken some plants in certain ways, which might
include scent, but that would not be a garden-specific change.

I do find it hard to believe that in one particular garden normally
scented plants are not scented. Plant scents are so varied in their
nature and chemical makeup that it is just not feasible for something
like soil type to affect them all. I cannot see any scientific
explanation for soil type to affect just scent anyway.

--

Jeff

In article ,
Jeff Layman wrote:
On 23/01/15 09:53, Sacha wrote:
A customer came in yesterday who said that, no matter what she bought,
or where, scented plants seem always to lose their scent once she gets
them into her garden. Even her Daphne bholura 'Jacqueline Postill' is
poorly scented. She says friends have said the same of their gardens
and have been told it's because of the time of soil they have. Warmth
makes no difference, apparently. Has anyone else experience of this,
or heard of soil making a difference to scent?

I can't say I've found many plants that are not scented in my garden,
but are scented elsewhere. I do wonder if multiple vegetative
propagation might weaken some plants in certain ways, which might
include scent, but that would not be a garden-specific change.

Well, that can happen, due to virus load if nothing else. But, as
I said, my garden is also one of the poor scenting ones.

Typically only to the scent of flowers, and then only to most (i.e.
not all). It's odd.

I do find it hard to believe that in one particular garden normally
scented plants are not scented. Plant scents are so varied in their
nature and chemical makeup that it is just not feasible for something
like soil type to affect them all. I cannot see any scientific
explanation for soil type to affect just scent anyway.

They aren't unscented, so much as with very little scent. And there
are a LOT of possible scientific explanations, some of which would
have soil involvement. There's little point in speculating on why.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
A customer came in yesterday who said that, no matter what she bought,
or where, scented plants seem always to lose their scent once she gets
them into her garden. Even her Daphne bholura 'Jacqueline Postill' is
poorly scented. She says friends have said the same of their gardens
and have been told it's because of the time of soil they have. Warmth
makes no difference, apparently. Has anyone else experience of this,
or heard of soil making a difference to scent?
--
I don't know.

Last year I bought a red rose Thinking Of You, which was described by
various sellers as having a great scent. Although it bloomed beautifully, I
could barely detect any scent, nor could anyone else that I showed it to. I
brought this matter up on another forum about roses, and one poster said
that she had grown plants with 'scented' blooms that didn't have any
detectable scent in their first year of planting, but in subsequent years
they did produce the anticipated scent. So maybe it takes time for some
plants to establish thenselves in different soil conditions before they are
happy to reward you. Or maybe in my case the rose breeder was just lying
about that rose having a strong scent and fasely describing its scent as a
sellingpoint.

In article , lid
says...

On 23/01/15 09:53, Sacha wrote:
A customer came in yesterday who said that, no matter what she bought,
or where, scented plants seem always to lose their scent once she gets
them into her garden. Even her Daphne bholura 'Jacqueline Postill' is
poorly scented. She says friends have said the same of their gardens
and have been told it's because of the time of soil they have. Warmth
makes no difference, apparently. Has anyone else experience of this,
or heard of soil making a difference to scent?

I can't say I've found many plants that are not scented in my garden,
but are scented elsewhere. I do wonder if multiple vegetative
propagation might weaken some plants in certain ways, which might
include scent, but that would not be a garden-specific change.

I do find it hard to believe that in one particular garden normally
scented plants are not scented.

OTOH many people seem to have little awareness of how much location,
aspect exposure and density of planting affect plant performance. In a
sunny sheltered garden, where the air is still, scents will be more
noticeable. In an exposed windy garden they may be barely perceptible
until you cut flowers and take them indoors.

I've often noticed in nurseries that where there are masses of one
plant all in full flower, sheer volume of flowers makes the scent almost
overwhelming and attracts customers from yards around, a great selling
point but far more concentrated than one small purchase will produce in
its new home.

Janet.

"Sacha" wrote

A customer came in yesterday who said that, no matter what she bought, or
where, scented plants seem always to lose their scent once she gets them
into her garden. Even her Daphne bholura 'Jacqueline Postill' is poorly
scented. She says friends have said the same of their gardens and have
been told it's because of the time of soil they have. Warmth makes no
difference, apparently. Has anyone else experience of this, or heard of
soil making a difference to scent?

It has to be something about conditions they are growing in, possibly
nutrients.
I say that as, and I have mentioned this before, many years ago my wife used
to ensure there was a vase of flowers in the house, normally spray
carnations which had no smell at all as bought. I noticed as I arranged them
that a few had offshoots that could be used as cuttings so I took them
potted them up as any gardener would and when rooted plated them out on our
allotment. That meant they grew hard in an open position with no care at all
other than weeding. When they eventually started flowering the next season
they all had that glorious clove like scent missing from their parents and
it was strong too. Can only have been the difference in the way they were
grown.
Too much fertiliser or rich soil perhaps?

--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

On 23/01/15 15:17, Janet wrote:
In article , lid
says...

On 23/01/15 09:53, Sacha wrote:
A customer came in yesterday who said that, no matter what she bought,
or where, scented plants seem always to lose their scent once she gets
them into her garden. Even her Daphne bholura 'Jacqueline Postill' is
poorly scented. She says friends have said the same of their gardens
and have been told it's because of the time of soil they have. Warmth
makes no difference, apparently. Has anyone else experience of this,
or heard of soil making a difference to scent?

I can't say I've found many plants that are not scented in my garden,
but are scented elsewhere. I do wonder if multiple vegetative
propagation might weaken some plants in certain ways, which might
include scent, but that would not be a garden-specific change.

I do find it hard to believe that in one particular garden normally
scented plants are not scented.

OTOH many people seem to have little awareness of how much location,
aspect exposure and density of planting affect plant performance. In a
sunny sheltered garden, where the air is still, scents will be more
noticeable. In an exposed windy garden they may be barely perceptible
until you cut flowers and take them indoors.

I am in full agreement with physical effects on presence or absence of
scent. To your list I would add, in particular, temperature. There is no
doubt that a cold site will usually result in reduced scent. But even
that isn't necessarily true for plants which flower in winter. They
don't seem to be affected by low temperatures - as one would expect.

I've often noticed in nurseries that where there are masses of one
plant all in full flower, sheer volume of flowers makes the scent almost
overwhelming and attracts customers from yards around, a great selling
point but far more concentrated than one small purchase will produce in
its new home.

It can also repel them if the scent is particularly strong and might be
deemed unpleasant by some (such as hyacinths or certain "scented"
narcissi)!

--

Jeff

On 23/01/2015 09:53, Sacha wrote:
A customer came in yesterday who said that, no matter what she bought,
or where, scented plants seem always to lose their scent once she gets
them into her garden. Even her Daphne bholura 'Jacqueline Postill' is
poorly scented. She says friends have said the same of their gardens
and have been told it's because of the time of soil they have. Warmth
makes no difference, apparently. Has anyone else experience of this, or
heard of soil making a difference to scent?

As scent is one of the ways that plants attract pollinators then if the
plant is thriving in nice rich soil and is living in the lap of luxury
then why exert all that effort producing scent?
Think of lavender a sun-baked rocky soil and the scent is really
concentrated, here in wet Wales a lot less scent.
Grow 'em hard.
David

On 2015-01-23 14:44:28 +0000, FrankB said:

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
A customer came in yesterday who said that, no matter what she bought,
or where, scented plants seem always to lose their scent once she gets
them into her garden. Even her Daphne bholura 'Jacqueline Postill' is
poorly scented. She says friends have said the same of their gardens
and have been told it's because of the time of soil they have. Warmth
makes no difference, apparently. Has anyone else experience of this,
or heard of soil making a difference to scent?
--
I don't know.

Last year I bought a red rose Thinking Of You, which was described by
various sellers as having a great scent. Although it bloomed beautifully, I
could barely detect any scent, nor could anyone else that I showed it to. I
brought this matter up on another forum about roses, and one poster said
that she had grown plants with 'scented' blooms that didn't have any
detectable scent in their first year of planting, but in subsequent years
they did produce the anticipated scent. So maybe it takes time for some
plants to establish thenselves in different soil conditions before they are
happy to reward you. Or maybe in my case the rose breeder was just lying
about that rose having a strong scent and fasely describing its scent as a
sellingpoint.

I could see this except that the customer wasn't talking specifically
about any one plant but ALL scented plants. She's bought them from
different sources, found them to be highly scented when bought but not
in her own garden. And the Daphne bholua Jacqueline Postill is one of
the most perfumed plants going. Hers just doesn't perform!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

On 2015-01-23 17:09:02 +0000, Bob Hobden said:

"Sacha" wrote

A customer came in yesterday who said that, no matter what she bought,
or where, scented plants seem always to lose their scent once she gets
them into her garden. Even her Daphne bholura 'Jacqueline Postill' is
poorly scented. She says friends have said the same of their gardens
and have been told it's because of the time of soil they have. Warmth
makes no difference, apparently. Has anyone else experience of this,
or heard of soil making a difference to scent?

It has to be something about conditions they are growing in, possibly
nutrients.
I say that as, and I have mentioned this before, many years ago my wife
used to ensure there was a vase of flowers in the house, normally spray
carnations which had no smell at all as bought. I noticed as I arranged
them that a few had offshoots that could be used as cuttings so I took
them potted them up as any gardener would and when rooted plated them
out on our allotment. That meant they grew hard in an open position
with no care at all other than weeding. When they eventually started
flowering the next season they all had that glorious clove like scent
missing from their parents and it was strong too. Can only have been
the difference in the way they were grown.
Too much fertiliser or rich soil perhaps?

But she has the opposite problem, Bob. She buys scented plants, puts
them into perfectly good ordinary soil and they become almost scentless.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

On 2015-01-23 20:47:38 +0000, David Hill said:

On 23/01/2015 09:53, Sacha wrote:
A customer came in yesterday who said that, no matter what she bought,
or where, scented plants seem always to lose their scent once she gets
them into her garden. Even her Daphne bholura 'Jacqueline Postill' is
poorly scented. She says friends have said the same of their gardens
and have been told it's because of the time of soil they have. Warmth
makes no difference, apparently. Has anyone else experience of this, or
heard of soil making a difference to scent?

As scent is one of the ways that plants attract pollinators then if the
plant is thriving in nice rich soil and is living in the lap of luxury
then why exert all that effort producing scent?
Think of lavender a sun-baked rocky soil and the scent is really
concentrated, here in wet Wales a lot less scent.
Grow 'em hard.
David

Hmm, could be. She's here in Devon. Our scented plants are very scented
in our garden but hers aren't while plants in gardens closeby are
lovely. All a bit strange.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon

"sacha" wrote ...

Bob Hobden said:

"Sacha" wrote

A customer came in yesterday who said that, no matter what she bought,
or where, scented plants seem always to lose their scent once she gets
them into her garden. Even her Daphne bholura 'Jacqueline Postill' is
poorly scented. She says friends have said the same of their gardens
and have been told it's because of the time of soil they have. Warmth
makes no difference, apparently. Has anyone else experience of this, or
heard of soil making a difference to scent?

It has to be something about conditions they are growing in, possibly
nutrients.
I say that as, and I have mentioned this before, many years ago my wife
used to ensure there was a vase of flowers in the house, normally spray
carnations which had no smell at all as bought. I noticed as I arranged
them that a few had offshoots that could be used as cuttings so I took
them potted them up as any gardener would and when rooted plated them out
on our allotment. That meant they grew hard in an open position with no
care at all other than weeding. When they eventually started flowering
the next season they all had that glorious clove like scent missing from
their parents and it was strong too. Can only have been the difference in
the way they were grown.
Too much fertiliser or rich soil perhaps?

But she has the opposite problem, Bob. She buys scented plants, puts them
into perfectly good ordinary soil and they become almost scentless.

That is what the professional flower growers had done with those spray
carnations, taken well scented flowers and made them grow with no scent.
They had grown them soft with too much TLC and fertiliser.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

On 23/01/15 22:55, sacha wrote:

Hmm, could be. She's here in Devon. Our scented plants are very scented
in our garden but hers aren't while plants in gardens closeby are
lovely. All a bit strange.

I'm a bit confused now. Are you saying you have been to her garden and
the plants really /aren't/ scented, but those in other local gardens
are? In your OP you said that she has friends whose gardens similarly
lacked scent. and that was "because of the soil". Are those local
gardens or not?

Sorry for the bad pun, but something smells here! I just don't believe
that none of the plants in her garden has a scent, while others nearby
do. Any chance of you visiting her garden to check out what is going on?

--

Jeff

On 23/01/15 20:47, David Hill wrote:
On 23/01/2015 09:53, Sacha wrote:
A customer came in yesterday who said that, no matter what she bought,
or where, scented plants seem always to lose their scent once she gets
them into her garden. Even her Daphne bholura 'Jacqueline Postill' is
poorly scented. She says friends have said the same of their gardens
and have been told it's because of the time of soil they have. Warmth
makes no difference, apparently. Has anyone else experience of this, or
heard of soil making a difference to scent?

As scent is one of the ways that plants attract pollinators then if the
plant is thriving in nice rich soil and is living in the lap of luxury
then why exert all that effort producing scent?

Because that's the way it reproduces. It has nothing to do with the way
the plant feels in itself (if one can anthropomorphise a plant's
feelings anyway - if it has any...). It needs that pollinator to pass on
its genes to the next generation. That is its primary purpose - to pass
its genes on. No scent, no pollination, no reproduction. End of line.

Think of lavender a sun-baked rocky soil and the scent is really
concentrated, here in wet Wales a lot less scent.

That's because it's cold and wet, and the scent has been partially
washed away. Smell the plant the next time it's warm and dry (probably
July 2021 in Wales) and then see if it has any scent.

Grow 'em hard.

That I do agree with!

--

Jeff