My neighbour, Moyra’s Daphne
Daphne is a perfume that is delicate and fragrant. In Australia it is out at this time of the year. I have just moved my pot today from the shade under the lemon tree. It is not yet out, nor is it doing well. Daphne loves the morning sun, as do most plants. My neighbour’s Daphne plants are fully out, so thank you goes to Moyra for letting me photograph hers.
Perfumes are a strong stimulant for memories. For me the perfume of Daphne takes me back to my childhood, to my Mother’s prized plants. They were big enough to pick large pieces to bring inside to fill the house with their aroma.
Ben’s freshly baked bread and the smell of coffee percolating are wonderful homely smells too, but today the plants take precedence. Freesias, violets and Boronia are the next flowering plants that are in my top five favourites. The spring bulbs are not far behind with their heady aromas. A world without smell or perfumes would be very dull. Can you smell the Daphne?
Nosey Delights: From the yeasty warmth of freshly baked bread to the clear, summery haze of lavender flowers, we all have favorite smells we find particularly comforting. What’s yours? Ben Huberman
Moyra’s Daphne plants
Our forgotten plant
Barbara Pyett 
MT, Ours is called Daphne Adora too. I’m hoping to get mine to a better state, as it is one of my favourites. With climate change, this one is flowering early. Mine will be a bit later, though some of the spring bulbs are out already. (mid winter). Hope you get another Daphne!!
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Wow look at that whole hedge of it! It’s called Daphne Adora here and yeh, it’s, lovely stuff… ours has long since been and gone – it flowers in our Spring, but quite early on, which is what it’s doing over your way I guess. 😉
Cheers
MMTM
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I’m not familiar with the Daphne but the plant looks lovely. For me, the flower smell I love the most would have to be the lilac. Actually, I love everything about the lilac 🙂
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Lilac takes me back to the farm we had when I was a child. Such special times are recorded in smells! Thanks for the reminder Joanne! 🙂
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Hilary, glad that you have another Daphne. Epsom salts in water is a good thing to give in spring or autumn. I forgot mine last autumn… That’s good for the citrus too. It helps creates prolific crops!
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I LOVE the smell of Daphnes. We used to have a wonderful specimen , but it eventually died and I have twice failed to grow another. however, I have just bought a new one and I will give almost hourly care for the sake of those flowers.
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One of my favourite aromas, Barbara. Daphne and boronia are two plants I have managed to kill here, I suppose I didn’t look after them properly. I have been thinking about trying again this year. I better take meself off to Bunnings. 🙂
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Christine, lovely to hear your experience with these plants. Boronias and Daphne need the right place! Morning sun is so important, but our garden isn’t very well set up for it. Though I do have a beautiful boronia growing in 1/2 wine cask near the clothes line, so hanging the clothes out in spring is a delight. 🙂
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Morning sun, I’ll remember that.
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Goodluck with your next one!! 🙂
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Neither of my parents were in to gardening and the only plant we had in the yard was a Daphne and it absolutely thrived. Maybe it was the dog urinating on it because nothing else was done to it. I remember taking some in to my year 4 teacher in 1974, Mrs Smith, who knew my late paternal grandmother, who died in 1949.
The aroma was so strong you could smell it when in bloom from the front door, set some 6 feet back from the end of the verandah.
As I think back it seems odd that cuttings were never taken by my maternal grandfather and aunty who were both avid gardeners. Or maybe, they did and it just never grew for them?
Certainly a beautiful scent.
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Glen what a lovely memory you have shared, thank you! I wonder if your Daphne received the morning sun? The perfume is exquisite and I can imagine it drifting into the house.
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Beautiful! I love the smell of hyacinths also , and the smell of honeysuckle is probably my favorite, even though it’s a “weed!” 🙂 I also loved your reference to warm bread. Ahh. . .
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I love honey suckle too! Hyacinths are a bit strong for me. Hay fever has always been a problem, but I wouldn’t do without the flowers. ❤
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I wish I could smell their fragrance Barbara! I have very keen sense of smell (Not an advantage) I enjoy aromas of flowers. 🙂
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I guess one day we’ll be able to include smells on our computers, to share the joy! 🙂
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Thanks for the reply to my post, which compelled me to read yours, and then I recalled another favorite smell: My father had an ornamental Meyer Lemon tree in the sun room. He babied that thing, so when it flowered, which was a couple times a year, the blooms were abundant and the fragrance would fill the sun room with a scent similar to the giant lily. Fantastic!
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It’s amazing how aromas stir up those memories, which can take one back to childhood! Wonderful.
Thank you for your visit and comment! 🙂
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You forgot a really important one, Ba – or, come to think of it, maybe you never had the joy of experiencing them …
LUPINS.
I would give my back teeth to smell lupins again …
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I can’t remember what lupins smell like! I know I can’t stand the smell of sweet peas, that Chris loves. I do grow them and can appreciate their colour, but not the smell…. I did plant lupins, maybe they’ll do better this year.
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I am crossink my finkers …
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