I have a rose, Strawberry Hill (David Austin) that has a wonderful, strong fragrance described as 'myrrh'. I learned that many cannot smell this scent which means, for those people, this rose has no fragrance at all. Fortunately, I am able to enjoy it.

Yes, different people respond to a chemical in different ways, but the same person responds to the same chemical in the same way. If you ask someone who perceives gardenia as a hotdog to identify the responsible chemical, he would simply find a fragrance that smells like a hotdog. To a person that doesn't perceive gardenia as a hotdog, the scent selected by the other person by the same chemical would just smell like whatever the gardenia smells to him.

In other words, smells are not arbitrary. They have an objective basis, the chemical. We also can't prove that everyone perceives the color green the same way, but color also has an objective basis in the wavelength of reflected light that allows us to have a common reference.

If a person is colorblind and can't see green, then he may not share that reference, but everyone else who sees green understand when others refer to it regardless of their perception of it.

Encyclia sima is worth having in a collection...xtremely fragrant!

:goodluck:

In the first orchid society meeting I ever attended, a fragrance specialist from the cosmetics industry was making a presentation. He brought 50 fragrance samples, and sent them around on Q-tips.

His presentation stated that:

• No 2 noses smell fragrances exactly the same way.
• Nobody in the audience would be able to detect all 50 fragrances.
• What would be undetectable to one, could be quite strong to another.

In view of above, any recommendations you get here, might not come across to your nose. You need to visit nurseries and/or shows, and check the fragrance of the blooming plants there. If you keep trying, you will find it some day.

not an orchid, but to my nose, confederate jasmine and plumeria frangipani are great scents that are close to gardenias.

i'll add that jasmine sambac 'grand duke of tuscany' is somewhat difficult to grow outdoors for me but is one of the best smelling plants period

I handle logistics for the world's largest fragrance and flavor company. I have had many conversations with perfumers and this is their consistent feedback. They all have huge noses and huge science degrees haha.

It is interesting to study the science behind taste and smell...how we all have different receptors and ways for our brain to interpret things which can determine how we perceive taste and smell.

Just a video and two articles (there are many more, all explaining the same thing):

study.com

Mammalian Taste Cells Express Functional Olfactory Receptors - PMC

The Senses: Smell and Taste - Dana Foundation

I have about about 700 fragrant orchids and this one may be my favorite.

I went to go smell encyclia sima at Andys today. I can confirm that the fragrance is both strong and wonderful. I got one my self :)