The white flower season begins here in the garden of pure fumes with gardenia, then gradually overlaps with jasmine sambac which overlaps with plumeria. I was lucky to get extra gardenias from my mothers plant which is much larger and more abundant than mine. The gardenias are now done but we are in the thick… Continue reading White Flower Season
Tag: In the Garden
In the Garden: Gardenias
Despite watering and pulling weeds, the garden has pretty much been abandoned since February when I began putting the course together. (I really need to find a gardener to help out!) In the meantime the gardenias, both here and at my mothers, have started their bloom cycle which means a 2016 gardenia enfleurage is underway.… Continue reading In the Garden: Gardenias
Rain!
The rains have FINALLY arrived to Los Angeles! I’m so happy as I am sure the woodland plants and beasties are as well. We were able to get all the natives we purchased at the Theodore Payne Foundation and redo a few of the walls around our 1950’s ranch style house completed within hours of… Continue reading Rain!
Jasmine Tincturing Summer 2015
Although the jasmine blooms seemed to get to a slow start this year they sure have been producing dynamically lately! Every evening or morning I harvest the little flowers, take photos and add them to the 190 proof grape alcohol. Sometimes I filter the alcohol before adding the flowers, besides that, I do these tasks… Continue reading Jasmine Tincturing Summer 2015
Spring in Summer
Some of the plants in my garden are acting as if its Spring, even though we are in the middle of Summer. I’m guessing this is due to the extremely weird weather coupled with a little extra watering with our shower water. If you didn’t know, California is having a massive drought and thus we… Continue reading Spring in Summer
The Birds and the Bees
The heavy rains from last week gave our very dry earth a much needed soaking producing a few blooms in the garden. The girls have been hard at work collecting nectar and pollen. A hive check is over due, which will likely result in a frame of honey or two. The Cistus is flowering. I… Continue reading The Birds and the Bees
Night blooming and heady!
In the woodland today skies are grey with a chance of rain and the rich, heavy fragrance of the night blooming pink jasmine is in the air! The aroma of this jasmine is much heavier and sweeter than the sambac, in fact, it is so strong that I can’t tolerate too much of it or… Continue reading Night blooming and heady!
In the Garden: Early Spring
Here in the Southern California woodland Spring arrives early, even when we’ve had little to no rain. The first flowers to appear our on the back slope covered with rosemary, these begin to blossom as early as November. Right now the purple sage, botanically known as Salvia leucphylla, is blooming and the girls are all… Continue reading In the Garden: Early Spring
Causing Great Happiness
We are in mid July and the jasmine harvest is in full swing. In the past I would harvest the delicate, white flowers in the morning. This year I am harvesting them in the evening at about 10pm once the new blossoms are freshly opened with their intoxicating fresh floral pure fume. The word intoxicating… Continue reading Causing Great Happiness
Yesterday, after brunch, I installed Instagram on the I-pad just before heading out to work in the garden. Instagram is a free photo app fun that lets you add a filter to transform the image, something I normally do in photoshop. I had thought that it was only available to those who had smart phones,… Continue reading Instagram