...Dandelions are popping up all over my yard. A Dandelion flower is one of the few things that, to me, smells the way it looks. Can smells be onomatopoeaic? The scent is not at all shy but it is soft, round and golden and reminds me of the florals in Dior’s Eau Sauvage which I also think of as being soft, round and golden. The actual scent has a subtle hay or straw like sweetness and the quality of softness strikes me as buttery and slightly animalic. As I was googling “dandelion” I stumbled across one of those idiotic Yahoo! Answers threads and someone posted this question: “Why do dandelions smell so damn awesome? Like a stick of butter on a pancake that is fresh from the zoo?” Honestly? I get that! First, i couldn’t believe someone else thought of the scent as buttery and anamalic. Second, I got schooled in the age old aphorism, “There are no stupid questions.” I caught this little guy picnicking in the sun...

...Cryptic:Sorry to tell you this but you may have a difficult time finding a phalaenopsis that's fragrant. They do exist but they're pretty uncommon. Go for a cattleya if you want something that smells heavenly. :)This is a Beallara orchid called "Howard's Dream," and it has a faint scent of licorice. It's beside the Serge bottle for scale and because the color is similar.I'll look for Cattleya and Beallara. Beallara is almost fleshy looking! Any common names that identify these varieties? It drives me nuts when flowers don't exude scent. I'd much rather have a plain, aromatic flower than an extravagant blossom without "nose." Briarthorn, your advice about using ice cubes is exactly what we did because it was mentioned in the "owner's manual " that came with our plant. Apparently we didn't apply this instruction often enough. The Crepe myrtles have begun blossoming in some neighborhoods but I'll have to wait til ours begin to bloom so I don't get arrested for standing in a stranger's front yard with my eyes shut in ecstasy, sniffing at their trees :oops:

...Cryptic: ...orchids belong indoors when the temp falls below about 65 degrees. Good luck with the next one! :)Fortunately I didn't expect the orchids to share my Nordic love of winter so they were always kept indoors :D. Even though we didn't freeze them I think they languished from too little water :( I'm sure we'll try again because they're beautiful plants with such unique, long lasting flowers. Hopefully we'll be a little more sensitive to their needs thanks to your advice, Cryptic and Cincy! I'm also hoping I can find one with a bit of scent too.

...It was a Phalaenopsis. I think our problem was under-watering. I have a lot of perennials in pots outside (herbs/shrubs) and I'm very stingy with water during the winter. It's the only way to get them through. The orchid pot was filled with bark which is great for drainage ...well, unless there's nothing to drain. We'll have to check out Trader J's and see what they've got. I got the now late orchid last fall for Lady Grey's birthday and the flowers hung on for about 3 months. It was beautiful. Then we got into mid winter ...strike up the dies irae.

...Cryptic, really beautiful orchids! You don't simply have a green thumb, I bet it can resuscitate plants through photosynthesis! I think the orientation of our house/windows is not conducive for indoor plants. The largest windows face north or south. Good for heating and cooing, bad for plants. The south windows get direct sunlight several hours a day in the winter and the north windows ...face north! I'm ashamed to say I don't know what kind of orchid we had ...Chypre? :roll: I'll have to stop by a florist or greenhouse just to get a sniff at some different orchids.

...Cincy:Same here Greysolon, killed mine over the winter, over watered. Couldn't smell anything with mine either.It's the first time we had an orchid and it held it's blossoms a long time. It was beautiful. But over the course of the last 2 months it was a steady decline. I'm looking forward to seeing Cryptic's orchid orchard. Or at least some advice about how not to kill them.

...Whew! The video said it for me. That's what Bradford pears are called around here... and I don't mean Linden trees. Yeah, I'm apparently that Victorian.Love the sketch, by the way. I'll have to look into more Mitchell and Webb.Can't wait to see the orchids. We managed to kill one this winter :oops: although I don't recall that it had any scent.

...Cryptic: I'm almost tempted to drag a potted plant outside for a photo but that would be cheating.Nah, it's not cheating, Cryptic. If it's blooming, it's fair game. Post away if you'd like!Just today the Bradford Pears have started to blossom. The trees are covered in small, beautiful, white flowers. HOWEVER, the flowers have a very strong scent that is, um, shall we say, very manly. Seriously, it's nature's floral version of "Sécrétions Magnifiques" Over the next week the city is going to smell like a brothel. Do you think Fragrantica would allow this post? :lol: http://www.businessinsider.com/bradford-pear-tree-semen-sex-smell-2013-4

...Briarthorn, do any of those have a particularly interesting scent? I'm especially curious about the avocado.

...Hearing Pekka Kuusisto go from playing a rustic, baroque interpretation of Sibelius' Violin Concerto to an intimate yet earthy encore was breathtaking. Here's one of his encore pieces. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6jH6L_bHo0

...I thought it would interesting to start a thread devoted to the flowers currently in bloom where you live. Not simply a favorite flower or floral scent from anytime of the year but one that is actually in bloom at the time of your post.Here in the southeast US daffodils and tiny purple crocuses bloom in late February and early March. They bloomed little later this year but we'll have vases of daffodils in the house for the next week or two. Daffodils have a deep, indolic scent with touches of mango nectar and fresh green notes. The crocuses have a very faint saffron smell. Yesterday, I was also surprised to see that our long neglected camellia bush was chock full of buds too. I don't know a thing about camellias but I assume it's some sort of hybrid because the blossoms are beautiful but have very little scent.Please share what's blooming where you live ...with apologies to those still in the grips of winter :?

...Triffid:Oh, surely that must be it, Pandasmom! Welcome back to the game.Pandasmom, as I was searching for the answer I saw that bottle and it didn't even register! Excellent sleuthing! And what angle was I working on? A perfume based on Macbeth... :roll: :lol:

...Apicius:I think that certain musk components provide a powdery noteAdding to Apicius' note about musk (as well as the mention of Iso E), when Iso E is paired with some musks it can have a powdery effect; although Iso E's typical role is as a woody/cedar scent. Once you smell it and identify it you'll never forget it.

...Sleuth:The Police..The Conjuring or Chappie ?Sleuth, to be honest I had to look up the synopses of these movies. Not my usual fare. But the choice was made easier when I read The Conjuring is a horror flick. REALLY not my thing, so...ChappiePaul Klee or Joan Miró

...Cryptic:Is it an Amouage anagram?Ciel + Dia + Gold = A gilded coil:shock: Wow! Cryptic, you're psychic! :D And Triffid, nice puzzle! :lol:

...Triff, no apologies necessary. My far-sightedness has finally reached the pointed that even with reading glasses lowercase L and uppercase i cause me to wonder if I've typed one, two or three characters. Combine that with my poor editing skills and I'm a mess . Why do you think I rewrite everything multiple times in the forum? :D And you're assuming I have the answer? Hah! You give me way too much credit. This is a tough one, Triff! I'll go ahead and repost your question_______________________________________________________________________________________________Triffid's question: The following phrase contains the names of three perfumes from one house.A gilded coil

...Triff, quick question, do you mean gillded as it's spelled in the clue or gilded?

...Briarthorn, welcome to Parfumo! The sentiments found in the final paragraph of your introduction are stated so well. Thank you!I know that the forum can get a little quiet but as you've noted it is often a case of substance over quantity. Honestly? I prefer living in a nice quiet neighborhood. That way everyone has a chance to heard. Hope you have a wonderful time here :D

...Lord of the RingsSting (solo act) or The Police (with Sting)

...Cryptic:Triffid has poetry covered so no worries, but we've drifted off task as Flac used to say. Here's your answer (I think) and I believe it's Triffid's turn to post a clue. :idea:The brand of perfumes called "Davidoff,"brews loads of elixirs by the trough. Their flankers, "Cool Waters" stink up perfume blotters, And their chemical concoctions make me cough!You win! Lucky you! :D Ouch, we joke about musicians not having rhythm, but I have no skilz with accent and rhyme scheme. I think I'm going back to word games as my quiz format.