Jasmine Again

06/29/2023 Thursday 61-85F Mostly Sunny

Eleven years ago when I lived on Yongjia Road, Shanghai, I planted a jasmine. It delivered several little white, fragrant flowers in the first Summer, then unexpectedly died the next year.

To eliminate this regret, this Spring I decided to plant another jasmine. I searched a dozen of online nurseries, but just couldn't find the one I ever had. So I started to learn a bit about its cultivars, then I found jasmine sombac.

This variety seems not that common in the USA. Finally I found a little one from Etsy, and made the purchase. When I received the package and found the pitiful branch in a four inch pot, I couldn't help feeling disappointed. With nothing else I could do, I transplanted it in a terracotta pot and placed it on the front porch.

One week later, I saw two new sprouts popped on the branch; another several weeks passed, the sprouts had leafed out and the new soft shoots became woody; then tiny clusters of flower buds showed up; gradually the largest one among them developed into a pearl shape, and all of a sudden burst open this morning.

My little jasmine blossom, brings me the familiar Summer fragrance.