Thursday Seeds | Gardenias and other scents

One glance and the scent rushes back memories. Sometimes it’s just one and you miss them or it’s a whole bunch of them at once. Many times these scents you’ve smelled remind you of travel. One of the first things that I noticed about traveling to Europe was that everything smells different. The cleaners that are used are scented different, the soaps, the air, and maybe even the flowers.

Is it Spring? Did the gardenias just start blooming? It would depend on your location exactly when. The southern coastal states have a bloom season that starts much earlier than the northern parts of the same state. Are there mountains? Have you smelled the joy of a mountain laurel? They don’t seem like they smell when you come close to them for a whiff like a rose or other bloom. If you stand near it and let the scent come to you, it’s stronger and clear than when you are chasing it.

The sweet shrub or Carolina all spice is similar. The bloom has to be at just the right timing to get the clear sweet and subtle smell of it. It reminds me of my grandmother who introduced me to this flower at an early age. She was happiest in the garden, even in her older years. She taught the passion and reference of nature as much as where to look and how to find things.

The honey suckle is robust. Sure, you can smell it from a far but also right up close too. While the smell of an heirloom rose is completely different from the hybrid varieties you get in the store. They don’t last as long in blooming, but if you are smart and clip them at their peak, you can dry the petals and retain the scent for almost any other project. They work great in herbal tea. The taste is sweet and fruity.

Lavender is now a favorite because the deer are completely uninterested. They will eat to the ground many of the other plants in the yard and leave this one alone. The bees and other pollinators love lavender. I find that I can harvest, many of the spikes and then leave one plant to grow and bloom for the bees to work on. It works well for everyone.

Tonight’s walk was about the cooler weather and taking advantage of the beauty. Surprisingly, there are still magnolia’s blooming. It’s August and they are blooming end of May and are done by the end of June. Not sure why they were latent, but I took advantage of their beauty and scent. There is nothing like a just opening magnolia bloom. They don’t smell the same if you cut them and bring them into the house. They are really best on the tree.

Too many scents in your air? Coffee grounds are known to help cleanse the scents. It’s not a perfect remedy but it will keep you from being over saturated with smells. This is something I’ve just done tonight. For whatever reason, I had the closet emptied of all the essential oil stash. I was checking each bottle and of course checking the scents too. I’m over the top now. I smell all of them in a swirl. Another tip is to try moving air. Fans are your friend.