WHAT IS THAT SMELL? By: Shirley Felder, Member of Red Buff Garden Club Our new neighbor came by one evening a while ago to visit. When I opened the door and she stepped inside, she said “What is that smell?” I frantically looked over at our dog Sadie Belle, frowned, and silently asked her – what did you do? She immediately slumped to the floor, ears drooping and had an innocent, hurt look. Meanwhile, the neighbor walked over to my open windows overlooking the backyard and said “What is that heavenly smell?” She was looking at our climbing, star jasmine hedge that grows over the terraced rocks in our backyard. I looked back at Sadie Belle to say I was sorry, but she ignored me and stalked off to her bed. The star jasmine is a hardy, low maintenance, evergreen vine whose white blooms carry over into autumn. The flowers open in the evening when the temperature lowers. Few vines are as beautiful or as fragrant. When the blooms release their sweet scent it is indeed heavenly. The jasmine is in the olive family. Common names are Jasmine or Jessamine. The name comes from the Persian name for the plant, yasmin. Because it has been cultivated for so long it is uncertain how it came to Europe. In England, jasmine was used to cover arbors. In ancient Persia, they extracted its scent by steeping the blossoms in sesame oil and used it for perfume. In China, they combined dried jasmine blossoms with green tea. Thomas Jefferson grew it and planned to cover large tracts of unused garden with “Jessamine and honeysuckle which may not require attention”. It was to be an “asylum” for wild animals. Jasmine can be planted in a sunny or a partially shaded area near a wall, fence or trellis. It can grow 10 to 15 feet, at a rate of 12 inches to 14 inches a year. The only drawback of jasmine is its floppy growth. They should be spaced about 8 feet apart to avoid overcrowding. Because it grows quickly and is easy to care for, it can serve as a privacy screen or wall. The vines can be trimmed in early spring after the last frost. Regular pruning helps promote growth. After my neighbor left, I tried to make up with Sadie Belle. I told her to get her ball and I would throw it for her. She looked at me, with ATTITUDE, as if to say – get it yourself. When my husband came home, he asked me what was the matter with the dog. It was too hard to explain. The Red Bluff Garden Club meets at 1:00 p.m. on the last Tuesday of each month except July and December at the Union Hall on Baker Road. Please come join us. You will be most welcome. The Red Bluff Garden Club is a member of Cascade District, California Garden Clubs, Inc.; Pacific Region, National Garden Clubs, Inc.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 19:11:54 +0000
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