fragrance in little bulbs

Judy Glattstein jglatt@ptd.net
Sat, 27 Dec 2003 18:43:47 PST
I've found that though my ability to detect scents is not what it once was,
some Galanthus and some winter-flowering crocus do have a delicate,
appealing floral fragrance. The difficulty comes from the cold weather and
disparity in height between where my nose is when I'm standing up, and a
less-than-ankle-high flower. If I kneel to Crocus laevigatus fontenayi, cup
my hands around the bloom, and exhale gently in the space - that warms the
flower just a little bit and perhaps confines the scent sufficiently for a
quick sniff to detect the perfume.

I happen to like the way skunks smell - some people do like dilute butyl
mercaptan. Did have a (de-skunked) pet skunk for 5 years. On a damp day he
smelled skunky, sort of the way a wet pooch smells doggy. So Fritillaria
imperialis is O.K. with me but my husband doesn't care for it.

Galanthus ? caucasicus has been flowering in the garden since late November,
still looking good. It's been covered with 14 inches of snow, pelted with
rain, and see-saw temperatures from mid-teens Fahrenheit to high 40s. Now
that's endurance!

Here's to a new year with lots of flowers, few weeds, and no pests.

Judy in New Jersey where winter is yo-yo-ing up and down


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