Mehitabel, my experience is limited but i've sniffed the aimee (first love) before and it has that intense/headache-inducing scent. :)

Hi, Kem. Yes, I've been looking at it "out of stock" at various places, hoping someone will get it soon. It is certainly a beautiful one!

i don't detect much variation in the scent of different cultivars and find all of them equally good. i do like the larger flowers and form of ones like 'mystery' but even the single form of 'daisy' smells great.

mehitabel, here's a listing for aimee if you don't mind starter plant

http://daves
garden.com/products/market/view/10171/

I'm not sure about most fragrant, but my favorite scented one is the Tahiti gardenia. It has a sweeter, less spicy fragrance that still has hints of the classic gardenias, but is still unique. One really cool thing about thme is that if it rains really hard and it is blooming, the flowers become slightly transparent! They don't last long after that happens, but it is still pretty cool.

I think of the Veitchii variety as the "standard," possibly because it is the variety I see most often in stores in the spring. I think it has a nice balance between the spice and creamy coconut/vanilla. At least outdoors. Indoors the spice might be a bit stronger. I find that indoors two or three flowers in a small space is plenty enough. More than that and they become overpowering.

To me, both the shorter Radicans/Prostrata variety and the taller Mystery variety have a scent very similar to Veitchii.

White Gem (a single variety) has less spice and more creamy coconut/vanilla. (To my nose anyway.)

I've tried one of the yellow-flowered varieties and did not like it at all. I much prefer the "traditional" Gardenia scent.

I agree with taylorweihe, the classic ones are too heavy..
My favourite so far is the tiare, haven't yet smelled the 'heaven scent' variety though...And I'm waiting on my first "Vietnam" bud to grow, by the way is the name G. augusta "vietnam" or is it G.vietnamensis? Couldn't figure it out on the web..

Does anyone know the scent of Gardenia nitida? How does it compare to other gardenias? I'm thinking of getting this one...

Yes I'd like to hear about the scent of G nitida too!

And Fenius, any update on the scent on that Vietnamese gardenia? I have one but mine hasn't bloomed yet :)

I'm still waiting for the vietnamese buds, they are the size of peanuts now..I also got a g. nitida but it's tiny; will probably bloom next year.

G nitida...smells like green apple candy like sm said..
I love it because it didn't give me a headache like reg gardenia scent and it's more fruity tone than floral one like reg.
Mine just bloomed today and yes it smells fruity and not like reg gardenia.
So if you love fruity scent, I recommend to get it.
Got mine from logee's ,came this Fri with 2 buds.
BTW the scent wafts too.

Ok,
I have to say that I'm not sure now if tiare is still my favourite, the vietnam gardenia has finally bloomed and it smells wonderful, like a soft gardenia scent but not as heavy or as floral, I just love it.. too bad it is yellowing its leaves, I really hope it survives the summer.

I have something to add. While I can't say for sure if 'August Beauty' is the most fragrant it is pretty strong and high up there. But I notice this variety has a slightly different scent from most gardenias. I find most Gardenia jasminoides have that same coconut/vanilla/crayon smell such as Veitchii, Chuck Hayes, Aimee, Kleim's Hardy, etc. But 'August Beauty' has a note in it that is a little indolic that reminds me of French Perfume Jasmine (Jasminum grandiflorum). It's really nice to have gardenia that smells a little different and the flowers are gigantic too...