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Could anyone identify this plant (bush/flower)? Sorry for the poor quality of the images.

  • Picture taken in the north Serbia on 07.09.2017 at 5pm. Maybe that's important for bloom state.
  • The leaves are hairy, but not sticky.
  • This plant has a very strong smell that could be felt in the radius of 10 meters (32 feet). First you feel the smell and then look for the source of it.
  • This smell is sweet, pronounced floral, but not cloying. Maybe if you mix up tea & floral honey you'll get something similar.
  • Actually I felt smell yesterday at 8pm and it was 25° Celsius (77° Fahrenheit). Today it is 16° Celsius (62° Fahrenheit) and no smell at 5pm.

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Bzhenko
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  • Could you tell us a bit about the leaves, please? Texture, hairs, ....? – Stephie Sep 06 '17 at 21:14
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    This thing grows 10 min from my home but unfortunately that's a bit late for wandering local streets)) I'll try to collect more info tomorrow. About leaves, bloom and soil. – Bzhenko Sep 06 '17 at 21:26
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    We would of course also appreciate better photos (daylight, no flash?)... But it's rare that we get a question with as much details and effort as yours. – Stephie Sep 06 '17 at 21:28
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    Like Stephie says, this is Petunia. If I were you, I'd collect the seeds because in ten years everybody will have only newer varieties, most of them not drought-resistant. It happened like this in Romania and I regret not saving seeds. – Alina Sep 07 '17 at 04:33
  • Now you have more fine details and new pictures. I was mistaken - leaves are fuzzy. – Bzhenko Sep 07 '17 at 18:18
  • The seeds are very easily bought online, however they are like dust- when you grow them, they first look like a green mould on the seed compost- divide into small blocks and then when they get bigger, divide again until you get recognizable little plantlets, from there you can plant them out individually and allow to grow to maximum size. Best sown indoors in early spring under heat with plenty of light and good ventilation- my father grew thousands of them for sale, when I was a boy. – olantigh Sep 08 '17 at 19:13
  • Better pics prove it to be Petunia, not Mirabilis – Bamboo Sep 08 '17 at 20:36
  • In my experience only the purple color petunias have perfume ( USA). – blacksmith37 Sep 08 '17 at 21:49

1 Answers1

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That looks a lot like a petunia (Petunia x hybrida) - a member of the nightshade family and as it emits its scent only at night, we often overlook this property and just think of the flowers. The genetic mechanisms that regulate the timing oF scent emission have even been the topic of scientific research. In short, the scent is strongest when the pollinating insects - moths in this case - are most active. Late evening and early night, just as you described.

Some cultivars tend to spread, and that's what we see in your picture (unless those are multiple plants).

The leaves are always slightly fuzzy, sometimes even a bit sticky and the trumpet-shaped flowers, that come in many shades of white, blue, purple, pink and red (but never yellow or orange, unles genetically engineered and prohibited in the EU) and often have a line (darker or lighter) down the center of each petal.

Stephie
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