There are so many sweetly scented flowers blooming in South Carolina right now that going for a walk around my neighborhood is a treat for the nose. I love the flowers that bloom this time of year!
Magnolias are the star of the show, in my opinion. We have one tree in our front yard, and several of our neighbors have them as well. The flowers have a delicious, lemony-vanilla smell and are as big around as dessert plates. No tree is more majestic than a mature Magnolia grandiflora in full flower.
The park down the street has a line of gardenia shrubs growing wild and covered in flowers right now. I'm thinking I may walk down there with the dogs later today and pick a few. The park is public property, after all, plus there are so many blooms that I could pick a shopping bag full and they would never be missed. A few flowers for the house might be nice!
Another scented flower blooming now is the Confederate jasmine that's taken over part of our back fence. I used to love this vine, and planted it there when we moved in and it was just a small potted specimen. Nowadays I find the scent too heavy and cloying for my taste. I won't be sorry to leave it behind; maybe the people who live here after us will like it, as I once did. I hope so.
There are other types of flowers blooming right now, but the ones I mentioned are the only ones that noticeably scent the air around the neighborhood. It's pleasant to go for late night walks with the dogs and to be able to enjoy the flowers with our noses instead of our eyes.
What's blooming in late May where you live? I'd love to hear about it!
I adore scented flowers and your walks must be magical, especially near the gardenias. If you pick one let it float in a bowl, that is my favorite way to display one. I have two lemon trees and love the scent of their flowers. I have a small heliotrope in a pot near my front door, after I bought it I read they are toxic to dogs so have it where Bounce and other dogs can't snack on it. The scent is delicious, like chocolate.
ReplyDeleteMagnolias and gardenias for sure but the Confederate Jasmine is spent. And I agree with you on that one- it overwhelmed me this year. That shot of the magnolia is amazing.
ReplyDeleteWe're going to SC to visit my BFF in just a couple of weeks. She's a transplant from NE Ohio's awful winters, and quite a gardener. I'll be interested to see what she has in her garden. In mine, the daffs and the jonquils just finished; the allium are blooming and there are buds on more things than I know the names of.
ReplyDeleteMagnolias are so beautiful from the blooms to the leaves. I use to have three of them espalier on a wall in my backyard in Laguna Beach. I miss that backyard, hated to have to move.
ReplyDeletecheers, parsnip
my peonies are budding, but not opened yet. some lily of the valley still in flower (smells so good). everything else has come and gone, even the honey locust tree.
ReplyDeleteWe have Mock Orange which gives the most beautiful perfume. Gardenias I love too. At this time of year I am in the veg garden a lot, and I love the smell of my hands after I've been tying back the Tomato plants.
ReplyDeleteI am not familiar with the scent of gardenias, but I love magnolias. They have all finished here a few weeks ago, but it was a wonderful display this year in peoples' gardens. Are you allowed to pick flowers from public parks in US? If you did it here I think you could end up in trouble! Hope your next post isn't from a cell!!
ReplyDeleteLike you, I find Jasmine flowers are a bit too heavily scented for my taste. Usually, in my part of the world May sees plenty of lilac and elderflower, and roses as well. This year, with it being unusually warm and dry, the lilac has finished blooming weeks ago, elderflower is almost over and some roses look as if it were mid-August.
ReplyDeleteBut the privet hedges are at their best right now (normally, that happens in June), and I almost float through the neighbourhood on their scent whenever I walk the streets on my way to or from work, or to the shops etc.
Reading your post, my scent memories come back. Sweet!
ReplyDeleteMagnolias always remind me of the magnificent tree that stood in my grandparents' garden.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any flowering trees, but the woman across the street has magnolias. What I wouldn't give for a gardenia!
ReplyDeleteIf you were found picking flowers in an English park you'd be burnt at the stake. Picking flowers in our parks is an absolute no-no unless you happen to be called The Queen.
ReplyDeleteWe've got more stuff blooming right now than I could possibly name, but the roses are the stars for scent, I suppose. I remember those huge magnolias from my youth in Florida. And gardenias, too -- we used to have them at the corners of our family home. I loved the smell but they made me sneeze -- or they got the blame, anyway!
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