In A Cold Climate There are many types of jasmine and most of them prefer warm weather. I love jasmine and refuse to be deterred by cold weather. When I lived in an apartment I grew a couple of Arabian jasmine (Jasminum sambac) on the windowsill as there was plenty of sun on that side. Now I’ve moved further north and have a garden, I … Continue reading Growing Jasmine
April: The Most Poetic Month I find April to be a very uplifting and romantic month for me. Leaves sprout and start to unfurl, seedlings are pushing themselves through the soil to the surface and early flowers are blossoming. Birds sing loudly to make their territory known and start their courtship. Some birds have already built their nests. Aside from these life-affirming activities, the Academy of … Continue reading Garden And Poetry
Blooming Jasmine I try to grow a couple of new plants every year. One of the plants I added to our tropical collection last year was Yellow Jasmine ‘Revolutum’ (Jasminum humile). I didn’t expect it to bloom this year especially during the winter. All the tropical plants reside in our basement under daylight fluorescents that stay lit for 12 hours each day. The furnace provides just enough heat for … Continue reading Winter Treats
And Snow, Right On Schedule Today is the official first day of winter and it has been snowing lightly on and off all day. It’s very peaceful and quiet outside, the only sound the birds singing. The birds are the only bright colors in the garden at this time and without them it’s a plain brown and gray everywhere we look. We couldn’t fill the feeders … Continue reading First Day Of Winter
Still Blooming What’s left blooming in our garden now are just some hardy roses, calendula and the broccoli that we let bloom for the bees (though technically a vegetable). The re-blooming iris are just producing flower buds which may or may not bloom. The weather has been staying around 50º F during the day and drops down below 40º F at night. Last week it … Continue reading Basement Garden
About Time To Go Back To Winter Camp It’s a little bit too cold for mid-September this year. Some nights the temperature has gone down below 40°F and hovered around mid 50°F during the day. But it has gone up to 70°F during in the last two days. The thirty degree gap between high and low temperatures makes it difficult for me to decide whether … Continue reading Later Summer For Tropical Plants
The Poet Yes, someone named this jasmine ‘Poet’ or ‘French Perfume’ (Jasminum grandiflorum). I’m not sure I like the name or the scent best. I can see why it get this name. One whiff of its scent and you can write a few lovely lines of poetry. If you keep sniffing it, you may be able to pull a Robert Frost act. It’s a lovely vine with … Continue reading Poet Jasmine
Bringing a Smile to Stranger’s Faces This blog has nothing to do with either growing or using jasmine, but I want to share a wonderful experience I had today. I have a long train commute between work and home, but I don’t find it a waste of time for the hour and fifteen minutes I spend traveling in each direction. I can always find something … Continue reading The Jasmine Effect
Never Have Enough After a flood of “Maid of Orleans” jasmine (Jasminum sambac) a couple of weeks ago, there are still some flowers to pick for the house everyday but not as many, not until the second wave of flowers bloom. They are forming new flower buds again and won’t slow down until they are back in the basement wintering over. Now it’s the time … Continue reading More Jasmine
Not Just Fragrant It’s that time of year again, when our Jasmine blooms profusely. They perfume the garden in the evening and early morning. I line them up on the pool deck where they can get full sun and are easy for me to collect the flowers. The Jasmine “Maid of Orleans” (Jasminum sambac) are the ones that bloom before any other jasmines I grow. … Continue reading Maid of Orleans Jasmine
Petals and Wings 