Sunday, May 30, 2010

Strange Encounters of the Botanical Kind

Last summer  I noticed a strange looking new bush planted near the end of the front porch at Mom and Dad's.  It had a very unusual bloom and a spicy scent.  They told me that someone had given it to them and called  it a "Bubby Bush."  I had never seen one before and was curious about it.

A few days later I went to visit Monette and see her new house.  Amazingly, there was another one of the bushes.  She and Beverly had done research on the internet and found it to be a "Carolina Allspice."  When I looked it up I found that it is also called:  Sweet Shrub, Strawberry Shrub, Sweet Betsy, Florida Spice Bush, and Calycanthus floridus.

On our recent trip we saw the same bushes at the famous gardens established by the Duponts and Jennie exclaimed, "My grandmother had one of these by the back door!"

  Well Jennie, we now have "Bubby Bushes" of our own. Monette brought me two of them.  Yours is potted up and waiting for you.

Luci

1 comment:

Michelle said...

moms is in bloom right now and it smells so good. she said that the girls use the blooms as perfume during the war.