early bloomers

here in the ga. piedmont, we are in the full flush of spring; the many sweet smells
of a dixie springtime are almost overwhelming in the still night air. a huge wisteria
vine climbs into my old magnolia tree; they seem to co-exist well, and i havent
got the heart to do the “right”thing, which would be cutting the vines out of the tree
[ it would take a bucket truck, anyway]
i am a laissez-faire gardener, and as the magnolia seems to flourish year after year,
i see no reason to deny myself the mixture of their heady scents, come summer.

the precession of fragrant blooms begin in late january, with winter honeysuckle’s
[ lonicera sp.] pale little waxy yellow blooms flooding the air with impossibly
strong lemony perfume. a “wake-up call” that winter’s end is near. this year
in spite of winter’s unusually cold temps, they arrived slightly later, but bloomed
profusely all through february. they are the first note in the song of fragrant early
flowers…directly after, the various narcissi appear, one by one and join their sweet
odor in harmony, onward into february’s cold snaps.

march blew in like a lion, but sunshine brought out a few early gold wild jasmine blooms,
as well as brilliant new green grass. the wisteria begins to flower, culminating in the huge
lush purple column, in full bloom in early april. the wild pear and pinklipped apple
blossoms sing of the coming early summer. two ancient black locust trees add hints
of vanilla to the chorus. their blooms are in small white cascades- quite similar to wisteria
clusters. the yard gardenias [and my bonsai dwarf] are full of palegreen buds. when they
come to blooming-time, within a week. the air will be intoxicating as a carefully
constructed french perfume, with its many layers of scents blended into a glorious whole.

the nights are a bit cool- ranging in the mid 50’s- but you can find me outside in the
wooden yard-chair,wrapped in a quilt…for hours i breathe this symphony of smells,
picking out the notes and harmonies until i am scent-drunk, and ready for bed.
with the nights warming and all my windows open, i rest in my bed with the
flower orchestra soothing me to sleep.

~soft hypnotic scents / floating in darkness / fragrant sedative~

vty, j-lea