Smelly daffodils

That's puzzling isn't it. I bought some on Saturday and they are opening up beautifully now, but there is no smell like you describe. I don't think it's early for daffs, I've been buying them for several weeks now.
I'm going to go and do a sniff test right now........
Well, they don't smell of anything much. Just the faint whiff which daffodils have.
Good luck in solving this.....I hope you enjoy the daffodils anyway.

The smelliest and loveliest are ones that you can order from the Scilly Isles - I used to order Mum a box for mothers day every year.

Mine were ordered from Sainsbury's .

They were £1 a bunch, so nothing fancy, but they look lovely. I think the smell might be fading, or maybe I'm just getting used to it. It's very odd though.

I bought mine in Sainsbury's too.

henetha

I bought mine in Sainsbury's too.

Curiouser and curiouser.

If you want that lovely daff smell - plant them!

Jonquilla, poetical and Tanzetta (sp) are the ones to go for🙂

Absolutely. Mine in the garden smell lovely.

I had some Paperwhite narcissus in the conservatory a few years ago. Every time I went in I thought I could smell cat pee. We don't have a cat. It was the narcissus.

Having said that, I like the smell of Martinette and the poet daffodils.

Many plants, including narcissi, contain a chemical called indole the smell of which attracts pollinators.

People have different senses of smell but it’s been described variously as acrid and pungent like pee, poo, overheated electrical appliances and burnt cables.

Sweet peas are another flower that has the same chemical.

PinkCosmos

I had some Paperwhite narcissus in the conservatory a few years ago. Every time I went in I thought I could smell cat pee. We don't have a cat. It was the narcissus.

Having said that, I like the smell of Martinette and the poet daffodils.

Me too. A definitely whiff of cat pee from paper white narcissi!

Climate change means we can now get daffodils from mid-January. I have never had a problem with any strange smell.

Was there something in the vase that reacted with the water?

No, the 'vase' is just a tall drinking glass.

That's interesting about others having described the smell in the same way, TS. It's good to know it's not just me. Mr D has a much weaker sense of smell than mine, but even he could smell it.

40 years ago you could get boxes of mixed scented daffodils from the Scilly Isles at Christmas. My husband always ordered a box for my mum who adored them.

I think the 'smell' issue is on a similar line to people (like me) who find fresh coriander tastes 'soapy' while loving ground coriander. Something to do with genes and receptors. My mum always said freesias smelt of a mixture of pepper and cat pee.

I think these must be a different strain from ones I've had before. As I say, I always get them with my shopping for a while in the Spring, and this is the first time I've had the burning smell.

TinSoldier

Many plants, including narcissi, contain a chemical called indole the smell of which attracts pollinators.

People have different senses of smell but it’s been described variously as acrid and pungent like pee, poo, overheated electrical appliances and burnt cables.

This is almost certainly the answer.

I think our sense of smell changes with age.

I've just remembered we detected a very slight burning smell a few weeks ago in the kitchen, but couldn't locate it. Now I'm wondering if that was daffodils. The ones I have at the moment smell lovely.

I've always loved most scented flowers but as I've got older I can't tolerate them in the house as I seem to have developed an allergy to most of them. I used to love hyacinths, freesias, etc in the house but not any more unfortunately 😕

We had one bunch that smelt a bit like wee 😱

This discussion has triggered a memory.

My mother liked Avon. During the 1960s, the rep would call around with samples. She demonstrated a fragrance called Occur! Anyone remember that? It smelled good on the rep. When my mother and I tried it on our wrists it smelled foul - like dog poo.

I’ve looked it up on a fragrance website and found this:

www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Avon/Occur-2308.html

Scroll down to a review by Cassandra-lyris

Soapy indolic flowers, an ammonia-like pungency … Then during the dry down the urine-y funk …

Pee and poo again but no mention of burnt wiring but I do think it must be the indole that is making the daffs smell unpleasant.

Have come across the cat pee scenario before, very strong smell but only on those daffs with very tiny, double heads. Shame because they're so pretty.

Just had to go and sniff my daffodils that are fully open. Not a bit of a scent now though there was a lovely aroma when I got up this morning. Guess, as someone has said, we all have a "different" sense of smell.

I too have bought daffs from Sainsbury’s and been hunting a smell for the last 10 days but to me it smells like urine! Came to the conclusion it had to be the daffs

Love to see Daffodils - cheering sign of Spring. But yes, they DO smell and unfortunately they often make me sneeze and even make my nasal passages sore when they first come in. Think I have developed an allergy to them.