Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Who's Got the Best Jasmine Exhibition?

When riding a bike around the semi-utopian subtropical metropolitan paradise looking for the best deals on Earth at garage sales in the springtime, I occasionally get a whiff of a familiar buttery, fruity, and wonderful smell.  It smells like..... Legoland.  The sense of smell is very powerful when dealing with memories, and it just so happens that the Jasmine flowers at Legoland from when I'd visited years ago were responsible for that connection.  The type of Jasmine we're dealing with here is the 5 star variety which blooms here starting in April and can last through June.  There is another, pinker, and more fragrant variety which has 4 petals and blooms in March, but only seems to last for about one month.  The 5 star variety is more common and hardier when it comes to landscaping selection, and I prefer it also.  I also call them "moon flowers" since they are more fragrant at night.
jasmine close up
Here's a picture from when I went back to investigate the Moon flowers at Legoland.  Yep, that looks convincing enough to prove my case.
jasmine at legoland

Now I know they say that boys ain't supposed to like flowers, but ever since I've learned The Way of the Dee Dee (in becoming Diecaster D.) I have scientifically proven that plant aromas can rewire the human thought process and improve cognitive performance and health- which I proved by eating a bunch of junk food one day, feeling like severe garbage the next, and proceeding to sniff a "white line" of 24 flowering jasmine bushes in a row which completely fixed my mental situation somehow (the deep breathing probably also helped too!) Plus, the amount of engineering that goes into some of these exhibitions is really cool. Let's see some examples.
the way of the dee dee
"I know you can examine it, but can you see it? can you smell it? can you feeeeeeel it?"
Firstly, the wall of jasmine.  Get on the downwind side of one of these babies, and you'll be extending your life expectancy by decades!  A much better solution than having to bend down to sniff a ground dwelling plant.
wall of 5 star jasmine
jasmine wallbigger jasmine wall
A variation of the wall with a gate for entry to the moon fortress.
moon flowers and the moon
No parking? That's right, no blocking the wall!
These recently planted jasmine in front of a new Aldi store.  So instead, you might make the subconscious memory connection with Aldi, instead of Legoland.  The store seems like a less occult, more European version of Costco in my opinion, but either way, they got good prices and they know how to do their landscaping!  We'll check back in a few years to see the growth or something, once they get the good watermelon back. (update: see below)
Want to get revenge on the postman? What better way than to attract lots of bees to the general vicinity of your mailbox!
jasmine mailbox
The creepability of the vines makes them great for spires around tree trunks and other such objects. Provided it doesn't block the sunlight to the tree's leaves!
jasmine tree spire
The carport/ patio cover.  A great opportunity for shade and to get dusted with pollen while lounging underneath.
jasmine carport
Cars have been changed to protect the innocent
The terrace - preventing erosion in style!
jasmine terrace
And my favorite so far: the jasmine tree.  While jasmine vines can climb on trees, they aren't parasitic like mistletoe, which actually breaks into tree branches and sucks them of nutrients.  The only concern here would be the sunshine blockage mentioned before.  Here the jasmine is only on the north facing side of the tree which means it can still get its sunshine from the south since we're in the northern hemisphere.
jasmine tree
And some honorable mentions for other good smells:
Boxwood
boxwood buds
and Honeysuckle
yellow honeysuckle
Lilly of the Nile
beautiful lilly of the nile

2017 Update
I think we've found our winner! Perfect street-side access.
 Here's an update on the growth at Aldi after a year.
A nice round one next to some boxwood.

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