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Monday, April 26, 2010

The Star Scentless Jasmine and Other Garden Wonders

I apologize for not being very active this week.  I have a part time job on a large equestrian website in addition to my daytime job and this past weekend was a big one for us - the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event.  I didn't actually get to go to Lexington for the event (darn it!!), but I was posting reports and photos online most of the weekend.  And when I wasn't posting to our website, I was either out gardening or over at the barn, seeing my own horses.  It was too nice at the weekend to spend any more time than necessary indoors, so I didn't do any blogging.

But hopefully things can calm down a bit now and I can find time for gardening and blogging, as well as visiting all of your blogs, which I'm sure will inspire me to garden even more!

On to my blog for today: My husband is originally from California.  I think I've mentioned before that he's a self-confessed non-gardener, but he has made two specific plant choices in our garden.  One is a grapevine - and it's a table grape, not a wine grape, so there won't be a Wilson Winery (this year, at least).  The other plant he selected was a Star Jasmine, which he used to have on the patio of his townhome in California.

We installed some lattice on the fence for it, close to the patio so that we could enjoy its scent while we sat out there.  It grew very well, quickly covering the lattice and it's covered in blooms.



There's just one problem.... it has absolutely NO SCENT!

Now understandably, we were both disappointed and my husband toyed with the idea of ripping it out of the ground. But instead we opted to purchase another one (preferably already in bloom so we can be sure it has a scent) and plant it next to our Star Scentless. as we call it.



Even before it was in the ground, it filled the whole area with the most wonderful scent! (Perhaps the Star Scentless will take the hint!)

We still need to put a lattice up for it, but in the meantime, it's happily twining around the canes in its pot, so it will be okay till the weekend.

On to other garden wonders.  At the beginning of March I planted some lilium bulbs in the back border -- Dolly Madisons and Stargazers. 

While most of them seem to be taking their time and are just now appearing above ground, one of the Dolly Madisons is blooming already!


I'm not sure if the daylilies that I planted the same weekend will bloom this year, but the one I planted last year are starting to bud.  Finally, I may be able to identify the varieties!
 
When I posted a photo of our new rain barrel last week, someone mentioned we may have to raise it up and, sure enough, we did have to.  With it sitting directly on the paving stones, it was impossible to attach a hose to the spigot at the bottom.  


Since our builder had kindly left us with a pile of leftover bricks in the garage, we were able to use a double layer of brick to raise the barrel up enough to allow the hose to be hooked up easily.  It works like a charm.  I can use the hose to water plants on the patio directly, or I can use it to fill up my watering can to water plants in the hangers, or in the far reaches of the garden.

I've already got quite a bit of use out of it, watering-in new plants at the weekend, in between posting photos and stories from the Rolex.



Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

7 comments:

Jess said...

It is actually hard to imagine a scentless star jasmine, as most of us would say its its number one ingredient!! They are blooming right now on my back fence and you can smell them in the house with the doors closed!

Jayne said...

We couldn't believe it either Jess! We even gave it till it's second year to call it Scentless. But our new one is giving off enough scent to make up for it. And perhaps this one will get the idea and start giving off scent too!

Corner Gardener Sue said...

Hi Jayne,
It sounds like you've been busy. We have had things going on, too. I told my husband that May seems to be busier than December around here. All I want to do is be in the garden, but between other things going on and the cool weather and rain, I haven't been out as much as I'd like. I did get some lettuce thinned today, though.

My husband doesn't garden, either, but has several plants he wants me to grow every year. I like your husband's choices. I'm glad your second jasmine has a nice scent.

Kyna said...

I hate when I buy something that I expect to be wonderfully fragrant, only to find out that it's not lol. I have a couple of oriental lilies like that....they're promised to be fragrant, and they barely have a scent at all. Just depends on the individual plant, I guess.

Jayne said...

Isn't it strange Sue, the time when you most want to garden ends up being the time when there's all kinds of other stuff going on? Now in August, when I won't have the heart to get out in the heat and garden, there will be nothing else happening either!

Jayne said...

Everyone I have spoken to Kyna, including a couple of Master Gardeners, have told me "there's no such thing as a scentless Star Jasmine" -- my answer to that is, "here, YOU come and smell it and tell me if it's scentless or not." I've had the same problem with oriental lilies too. I grow them more for looks than the scent, so it doesn't bother me, but if someone bought me a bouquet of scentless lilies, I'd be disappointed.

tom said...

I have two star scentless'. It's driving me nuts. Bought them in two different places and it's been two years and they are big and full and scentless? This makes no scents to me!