Pemberton’s

I apologize for my absence the past few days. Anyways I haven’t been able to think of material to write for the blog even though I’m faced with many flowers still to choose from. Today I had the chance to visit the best greenhouse I know of in the region for wholesale tropicals, Pemberton’s. Its a huge place, with several greenhouses- including one devoted completely to storing oversize containers for clients during the winter. I was walking through this part of the greenhouse today, and noticed they have more Gardenias in their possession than exist in the state of Florida (ok maybe not quite but you get my point) and several other species. I couldn’t begin to count the number of Gardenias I saw, but some of them were at least fifteen feet tall and all bedecked with flowers, making for an unforgettable olfactory experience. Other species they had there included several Murrayas in twenty gallon pots, several different Citruses, a Michelia champaca tree, and a Ylang ylang tree. I had no idea this greenhouse hosted such an amazing collection of species like this and I’m so glad to have found it.

Early spring scent combinations

Do you remember when I said I hated the scent of Hyacinth? Well my visit to Michler’s greenhouse in downtown Lexington the other day convinced my nose otherwise. They happened to have a bunch of blooming Hyacinths in the same house as a blooming gardenia, multiple Citrus plants, and some fragrant violets. I think I like Hyacinths now 🙂

The combination was so amazingly sweet and floral, it goes down as my new early spring favorite- before it was Daphne + Osmanthus + blooming Holly. Anyways the mingling of scents is a wonderful things, as long as they mix well I suppose. Still researching wildflowers but the late start to spring hasn’t pushed any up yet so might have to wait on those.

Pink Jasmine

Jasminum polyanthum. KENPEI. Wikimedia Commons.

I LOVE Jasmines! I could easily write a book about Jasmines and the entire Jasminum genus but I’ll keep my posts here about Jasmines short for my viewers’ sakes. Of all the Jasmines in the world- this one is easily the most temperamental, but most rewarding at the same time. J. polyanthum is a common greenhouse and windowsill garden fixture this time of year, and its fragrance is well worth the trouble to grow it. When I say trouble- I mean it by the way, but more on that later. I won’t even begin to say where this from as I’ll sound like a broken record, but I will say something different from recent days. This is a plant I would grow if you live in California as opposed to the East coast, as J. polyanthum loves cool weather. If you have a zone 9 garden and a pergola, do yourself a favor and grow this one outside! While this is primarily a late winter/early spring bloomer, those in the coastal California region get to enjoy this one all year! I can’t explain why it can bloom all year in one location and only a month in another but my guess would be temperature and moisture. It will grow in the southeast by the way, it just won’t bloom as long, and needs more water when its hot.

Most jasmines have a fragrance that I just plain can’t describe except for saying just go and smell it, but this one is an exception. Unlike other jasmines, there is no hint of musk in this one- its just plain sugary sweet while its young and in full bloom. While most other jasmines I’ve encountered have a definitive base scent with subtle variations- this one is just kind of out on its own. Its very weak in the actual jasminol department, which is either a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it. However, this particular jasmine has the unfortunate indole effect that our friend paperwhites share. Again, some people can’t detect it at all, but others can’t stand it. Tovah Marin recollects one story of Victorian gardener who sent her servants looking for a dead rat stinking up her room, when the real stinker was Pink Jasmine. The young blossoms tend to mask this indole effect in the sweet nectar, but a vine full of browning flowers will indeed remind the nose that indoles lurk in this beauty’s shadow.

Now we’re going to play the good news, bad news game. The good news is that this plant is spectacular in bloom, aside from fragrance. Its smothered first with pink buds, then white blooms for a couple months, and lacy green leaves the rest of the year. The bad news is, this plant is particular difficult to get to bloom indoors. You would need a cool space (at least 50 degrees each night) that gets absolutely no artificial light from October to December in order to get buds to set. Once the buds are set, don’t forget to keep it moist and cool to ensure the buds stay and bloom. After all, plants that bloom for only one week before getting too hot and dry are totally a bummer!

Well if you haven’t smelled this one by now- my bets are Lowe’s and Home Depot have it in stock where its warm enough to have plants outside by now. Or any serious greenhouse retailer will carry it in hanging basket form. This is my second to last post on subtropical winter bloomers, as I’ve started noticing Crocus putting up their little heads and Cornelian dogwoods blooming- which means we have officially entered into the warmer part of the year! Thus I need to get started on the outdoor winter bloomers before spring really gets here to make sure I address them all!