Gardenia

My gardenia bloomed this morning and ooooh does she offer the sweetest fragrance I know. It is one of my most favorite scents of all time.

Last April I bought a 4.99€ gardenia from IKEA and have been encouraging this little beauty to grow and bloom. And she did.


When we lived in Hawaii from 1988-1992 on Hickam Air Force Base, there was a huge gardenia plant growing outside my neighbor's kitchen window. Since we lived in a duplex, it was as if the shrub was outside my window as well. It regularly produced amazingly beautiful and large flowers. I can remember sitting with a cup of coffee in our little kitchen with the glass levered windows cranked open, the light gardenia perfume on the trade winds blowing through, and Jack sitting in his high chair while pushing Cheerios around his tray. I wonder what I might say to that young wife and mother if I could go back to her now.

Nonetheless, witnessing this gardenia's valiant effort to bloom is where it's at.