Can you really smell a ghost?

I was sat working at my computer the other night and my nostrils were met by an overpowering smell of flowers. No - I do not have flowers near my desk or, in fact, in my house at all yet the smell was so distinct, as if someone had placed a fresh flower underneath my nose and kept it there, lingering, moist and fresh. I looked all around me expectantly (though what I expected to see I can't say) and was met with nothing apart from the vacant air. Where did this sweet smell come from? Did I imagine it? Why did I imagine it?

My mind naturally (as it is in my character to) reflected upon hearsay regarding ghostly phenomena and ways in which they make their presence noted. I remembered a story of a woman whose sister had died in childhood but was comforted by the fact that she smelled the sweetness of peaches at intervals throughout her life, as a sign, she said, of her sister's presence.

A prominent psychic magazine offers an explanation for this:

Science has proven that scent and memory are very tightly connected. Those close to you may wish to let you know they are present without sending you into a panic with the sight of a full-body apparition or making you question your sanity looking for the source of an unseen voice. Using a scent that you are sure to notice or that can instantly trigger a past event is a gentle way for spirits to communicate without causing alarm.

The most commonly reported odour associated with spirits is the smell of fresh flowers. Rose, lilac, and jasmine, three distinctly different aromas, are attributed to the ghosts of those who have recently passed. Sometimes a floral scent can be connected to a loved one with a particular fondness for a certain flower instead of someone who just crossed over.