No, not the name of a new Jazz singer as far as I know. Instead, it is the single most powerful source of a sweet scent in the garden. What has been happening is that the Jasmine has steadily crept up one of the palm trees, and is engulfing it in hundreds of tiny flowers. (Click for larger view.)
The scent from this is huge. For better or worse, the web does not allow communication of scents, and so I can do no more than offer this rather odd picture (the tree is quite tall, and so it is an odd one to take, and hard to get the right sense of the situation while letting you still see the plant), and leave the rest to your imagination.
The only downside to this wonderful scent is the fact that it is close to the group of gladiolus blooms I showed you earlier. They have a powerful scent too, but it is completely overwhelmed (as are a good deal of your senses) by the power of this jasmine display at its current height.
-cvj
Regarding the comment about smells not being able to be communicated on the web, see the breaking news on the bbc website (www.bbc.co.uk), but follow link for the UK, not the international version.
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I wasn’t sure what the jasmine fragrance was like so I went along to the local garden centre to see if they had any so I could experience it for myself (not that I need any excuse to do this!). Wow, what a heady fragrance. Actually, I thought it was overwhelming! Anyway, your jasmine looks really impressive, as does the palm tree.
On a hike one day to see old koa trees, we had a whiff of an elegant smell, so mild as that of jacaranda. There it was a big bush in the shade, but extremely faint smell unless you came close(not many flowers left). It was a night blooming jasmine tree. Thank goodness we approached near twilight time, because it hardly has any smell at day time.
I now have a potted one that blooms several times a year, but not a climber. A cut off branch fills the living room with just the right amount of fragrance, and it’s all gone the next morning. Ephemeral.
Suddenly I miss jasmine tea. Next season, I may drop a bunch of blossoms into oolong tea and see what happens.
Hmmm, yes, scented French soap is never really needed, but nevertheless often bought (and even used). I’m guilty of it too. Although I hoard it for a long while before using it… like the lavender soap I bought last Summer in Marseilles while at a workshop nearby. Great stuff!
-cvj
Jasmine is one of my favourite scents — it reminds me of rich warm humid summer nights, heavenly stuff. I happened to buy a bar of jasmine-scented french soap (that I didn’t really need) at a market this afternoon for this very reason. I’ll put it under my pillow and dream of summer.
TBB:- I think the palm can hold its own in this battle. No, I’ve never cut this one back at all. It spreads over a big hedge just out of shot as well. All the plants involved seem to be happy with the Jasmine, although I think the gladiolus plants are a bit annoyed.
spyder:- I’d have to ask you to drive carefully though, since there are probably children playing and the like…. it’s a residential ‘hood. You probably would not have made it close to mine anyway, since I see lots of these jasmine displays in other gardens around the ‘hood, so I’m guessing that you’d long have turned the car around. Sorry.
-cvj
Oh my, your jasmine plant is gorgeous – I can imagine the fragrance. Jasmine is one of my potted plants (along with the ever-hardy hibiscus), however, like philodendrons (i.e., love of trees), jasmine plants are so tenacious that they climb up the apartment walls and I’ve had to cut them back lest I get in trouble. They will crawl under the shingles and go straight up to the second-story roof, and even their vine-carcasses are difficult to remove. I’ve been able to get my jasmine plant to bloom twice a year with food, but it’s nothing compared to the bushes of them along jogging paths…or it appears yours. (Lilac trees are another favorite.)
Have you had to cut that one back yet? Or are you going to let it “strangle” the palm?
Spyder – funny.
Knowing the scent quite well, and given your descriptor: “The scent from this is huge,” I can already feel the intensity of all those blossoms raining their allergic pollen down on me. Wheezing, staggering, i try to make it back out to the street and in the air conditioned car, to drive speedily away.