Friday, February 19, 2010

Fragrance of foliage

Sometimes I think I like the fragrance of foliage even better than that of flowers.  I grow herbs primarily for fragrance.  Interestingly I have several lemon herbs although lemon is not a favorite scent.  I have lemon verbena, lemon balm, and lemon thyme.  Of those, lemon verbena is by far the favorite.  I did have lemon grass, which was our cat PJ's favorite, but when he died I threw out the grass.  It would be easy enough to grow another just by rooting a stalk from the market, but Jerry thinks lemon grass in food tastes like dish soap.  The best herb scent has to be rosemary. I have it at the corner of the house where I swipe my hand through the branches every time I go into the back yard.  Of course there is pine, and I love that, and dwarf myrtle and Breath of Heaven.  But my favorites are more subtle.  Geranium 'Biokovo' and columbine both have amazing scent but I have to be down thinning out dead foliage or digging to divide or move plants before that scent is revealed.  I think the fragrance of foliage is so enticing because it is unexpected.

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