Gardening

Glorious Gardenias

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Nine years ago my mom and I were in a hotel breakfast room in Longview, Texas when we smelled something glorious. It wasn’t the waffles on the iron or the coffee brewing but something wafting from another guest nearby. After mom and I were done falling over ourselves at the smell, we asked the woman what she was wearing and she replied that it was Estée Lauder’s Tuberose Gardenia. Mom bought a bottle not long after that and a few years later I was gifted a bottle for Christmas. Every time I walk by our gardenia in May I’m reminded of that perfume and that time. Ah, 9 years ago—we were in town to visit my friend Michelle’s daughter who had recently been born….and oh, that she’s 9 years old now! With my niece following in that manner in August! What???

The gardenias bloom their heads off for the month of May and a smidgen into June and then they are done. Sometimes the scent is so strong I can smell it around to the front of the house—the bush is on the back corner of our back porch. Summer will then have to be scented with fresh cut grass, tomato leaves, and honeysuckle until next May. Maybe one day I will figure out how to use the blooms for my benefit and bring the scent inside!

One Comment

  • Patrice La Vigne

    What a wonderful scented memory!!! And awesome that you can smell it everyday right now.

    The other day, we were sleeping in a rest area in northern California and there were honeysuckle trees all around. It reminds of our house we owned in VA.

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