Renewed Appreciation for Jasmine!

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My husband and I got up very early one Saturday morning to attend a lengthy meeting indoors at an office building in downtown Sacramento.

Before leaving for the day, I went out in our backyard to say hello to and check on all our plantings, young and old, to see if they needed anything before, we set out for the day. I was also sort of wishing to hang out in the yard rather than sitting indoors for the day, but we needed to attend the meeting.

We arrived at the meeting site in Sacramento and much to my surprise, it was as though that great garden energy had followed us there! Almost everywhere we looked - on, around and in this building were beautiful plantings! Most of them were jasmine plants - I don't think I had seen so much jasmine, ever. And they were in full bloom!

So, not only was I pleasantly surprised, but also thought how nice it would be to work in this building…greeted with beautiful plants, having them “escort” you up to the escalators, and enjoy seeing them swaying and twirling outside the office window for some nice work inspiration!

This got me thinking a bit more about jasmine. Jasmine has an interesting effect on people - some folks love them; some folks are allergic or just don't care for these plants and some are indifferent. In my case, I have always enjoyed them because the fragrance brings back wonderful childhood memories. I just hadn't thought that much about them until that moment standing, in front of the welcoming office building.

When I came home to our yard after the meeting that day and looked at the jasmine in our garden, I had a new respect for these beauties.

I looked around the yard, saw all of our jasmine and found a renewed appreciation for so many things they project, such as emitting beautiful fragrance, attracting pollinators (butterflies, bees, ladybugs), and providing camouflage for some unsightly views.

Spring has arrived…

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