“Just as the sense of smell is one of nature’s most precious gifts, so the fragrance of flowers provides one of life’s greatest pleasures, but only to those who are aware of the flowers’ generosity.” – Rosemary Very
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Photo: A blooming Star Magnolia tree in the neighbor's garden
Flowers were once grown mainly for their fragrance. But in our frantic pace of life, we have almost lost the art of stopping and smelling the flowers. Staying in Happy Valley, we have slowly come to notice this spring the exquisite beauty of the flowers as well as the delightful scent of their perfume. We could appreciate L.B. Wilder’s experience, “to walk along the garden is to enjoy a continual bath of fragrance.”
Let me introduce three scented flowers that are common in this part of America. You would probably be familiar with their names and scent:
Hyacinth – The first of the fragrant flowers to bloom in early spring. Arrayed in different colors, its perfume will easily fill a room.
Hyacinth – The first of the fragrant flowers to bloom in early spring. Arrayed in different colors, its perfume will easily fill a room. ...
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Lilac – In America, it is the lilac chiefly that scents the May world. My wife and I like to go from bush to bush drawing down the branches and burying our nose in the grand bunches of bloom.
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Magnolia – In spring, before it leaves unfurl, the magnolia bears erect goblet-shaped flowers, fragrant blossoms of creamy white or deep purple.
Magnolia – In spring, before it leaves unfurl, the magnolia bears erect goblet-shaped flowers, fragrant blossoms of creamy white or deep purple.
Did you know? (1) In the medieval time, there was a wide spread belief in the efficacy of flower and leaf scents as cures or alleviations for all sorts of ills of the flesh, but more especially the spirit, and as a protection against infection. (2) For the most part, with some exceptions, fragrant flowers are light in color or white. There are more white scented flowers than any others, and perhaps the purple come next.
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Reflection: Go smell the flowers
Slow down long enough to notice the people, places and things that we pass along the way. Slow down and take due note of the wonders that surround us. Slow down and take time to express our gratitude for those wonders.
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Father, your blessings are all around me. Have I thanked you for your genorosity, your mercy, and your love? So, thank you, Father, for the many blessings - visible and invisible - that you have bestowed upon me.
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Source:
Rosemary Very (1981) The Scented Garden
Louise Beebe Wilder (1974) The Fragrant Gardent
