I have an Amethyst Falls, and it does smell the way they say. I actually used the scent to my advantage and planted it near my birdfeeding stations. Surprisingly the birds don't seem to mind the smell at all and use the arbor often for a place to sit. It keeps all the neighborhood cats away from there during the blooming season, because if they get close it smells like "marked territory". Mine blooms repeatedly through out spring-fall in my zone 6 Ohio garden. So I only have to beware of hunting cats during the winter months. It is very pretty and hardy, so if you are planting it somewhere to look at only and not planning to sit directly under the arbor... it works. However I would not recommend to anyone planting it next to a window carrying a breeze. LOL!!

Hi amyta!

Have you found something yet?

I would recommend Aunt Dee, which is also a Kentucky wisteria and has a less controversial scent than Amethyst Falls.

I bought an AF in bud without knowing anything about the fragrance. Oops! I expected it to smell like Aunt Dee (sweet, with violet & hyacinth like notes). I was not delighted with the smell of AF. It does have a musky smell, but itÂs not horrible to my nose, just odd. To me is smells like spicy basil, with a musky note like boxwood (cat urine). One of my sisters loves the fragrance and buries her nose in the blooms to savor it. On the other hand, another sister exclaimed, "What is THAT SMELL?!," the first time she was within a few feet of if. Sister #2 says, "It smells JUST LIKE cat urine." So, different strokes for different folks.

Regards,
PoseyPlanter

It is true. It does.

I have an Amethyst falls that I train into a tree form. It does in fact smell like cat urine lol. I would recommend a variety called "Blue Moon". It is native and it blooms 3 times throughout the summer. The flowers of blue moon are also more showy(up to 12" long versus the small 4" flower racemes of the Amethyst Falls)