Is this passage a example of a metaphor the scent of its heavy blossoms met them like a soft and tender embrace of welcome?

No. It's a simile If it had said,"...the scent was a soft and tender embrace," then it would be a metaphor.

A simile says the thing is similar to another.

A metaphor says they are the same thing.

The Word "like" is a dead giveaway that it's a simile.