Saturday, May 30, 2009

Heavenly Scent



I went for a glorious evening walk along the shore of Lake Washington yesterday while I waited for Isobel's dance class to finish. The Rhododendron hedges in the Denny Blaine neighborhood are huge and spectacular. But it was this shrub that stopped me in my tracks. Or rather, it was the smell of this shrub. It hit me before I had turned the corner of the street and I followed my nose, sniffing like a puppy until I found the source of the beautiful scent. I must have looked quite funny or possibly drunk. Can anyone tell me what it is? It looks sort of like a lilac.

4 comments:

  1. Hi Jean - I do the same thing, and also think that observers must think me mad. I believe it is a dwarf lilac, I got someone to ID theirs for me the other day. They grow lower and shrubbier and their blossoms are therefore more easy to sniff (plus the bloom a bit later). I think I might need to get one someday.

    Hey, did you ever get any soil delivered?

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  2. Jean the leaves throw me off... and how tall is it? Sure looks similar to lilacs but wow that is a big leaf. Gorgeous whatever it is! Not sure if i commented on your painting but just in case no... I do love it... quite magical and mythical.

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  3. Good point Carol. I forgot to say that this "shrub" was over ten feet tall. Maybe fifteen? Huge and magnificent. So I don't know about your suggestion Karen.

    And no, I never got soil by the truck load but continue to buy bags and bags of it. A waste of plastic I'm afraid. But life gets so busy...

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  4. OK, dwarf lilac was the wrong term, since it's not really dwarf! Try looking up Chinese lilac or Syringa x chinensis - they grow in Zones 5-8 and get up to 15 ft. tall and wide. I'm curious if that's really it or not. Maybe someone will know for sure!

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