Today's flowers are not trapped in a vase or contained in a bundle or stashed in a grocery store cooler. Rather, they are out in the California soil, soaking up the sunshine.Every spring, star jasmine blooms abundantly in the flowerbeds surrounding our apartment. The scent perfumes the evening air. Even as we lay in bed with the windows open at night, the soft floral fragrance lingers in the cool air.
Supposedly, smell is the sense that triggers the most memories. Have you ever sniffed an aroma only to have a flood of unexpected memories flow into your mind? For me, star jasmine is one of those scents. Four years ago, hubby and I moved into this place and I remember that jasmine smell so distinctively---it was so foreign and exotic to my Midwestern nose.
Now, every spring when the jasmine blooms again, I am reminded that another year has passed, that another season has come and gone.
Marie Antoinette had her orangerie, the potted orange trees, that perfumed the air of her outdoor fetes. A one-gallon jasmine will do the same. The scent, as you say, is wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThe first year I lived in California, it was the scent of the orange blossoms and jasmine in the night air on hot summer evenings that swept me away. Nothing more sensuous standing in the garden and hearing my hubby calling me to bed.
ReplyDeleteHot summer evenings . . . Off to the nursery to buy some jasmine, Pink Frenchie.
ReplyDelete