You see written evidence of this all the time - Hydrangea paniculata varieties have a strong and pleasing fragrance. Like luis, I've never noticed it but then flower scents can be very subjective and also influenced by time of day and amount of sunlight. You must have hit the first one just right:-))

Maybe as the plant gets older, it may produce more scent. Best time for smelling is usually early in the morning on non windy days. Just hope the smell does not attract wasps and bees to the shrub (some panics do). :o)

I think your right about the influences the first one I saw was on a very sunny, hot afternoon. The one I purchased was late afternoon not as hot or as sunny.

I have Hys sitting around my deck & yard and never thought about fragrance.

negative.

According to the patent (the original name was Renhy), there is no fragrance. I think this is usually the case for sterile hydrangeas, but I could be wrong.

It is not entirely sterile - no hydrangea is - but it does have a preponderance of sterile florets. Many other paniculatas do as well and some are recognized as having a very strong fragrance (although I have never noticed such), so I doubt the flower structure has much bearing on the scent.

btw, 'Renhy' is the official registered cultivar name for this plant. Vanilla Strawberry is just the trademarked or marketing name. Very common with the newer patented cultivars but hugely confusing in my view ;-))

Yes, exactly gardengal, some documentation says sterile, but other patents are more specific, staying that it is a very low incidence of fertile flowers.

mine's not fragrant.

I did detect some fragrant on my Vanilla Strawberry, Strawberry Sundae and Quickfire when the blooms started to turn white.

My Quickfire has the strongest scent of the three.

Now I do not detect any fragrant.

Perhaps the scent is only present at certain stage in development?

I detect more scent in roses in the mornings. Maybe that applies to hydrangeas too... ;o)

My little lime has a mild, and not particularly pleasant, scent (despite the patent for "jane" saying it's not fragrant); my strawberry sundae has none; but my in laws have a limelight that is very fragrant. As far as macs, my es was fragrant but I couldn't smell much of anything from my tuff stuff or la dreaming.