Sweet Days of Summer

Confederate Jasmine Bloom

Sweet days of summer, the jasmine's in bloom. July is dressed up and playing her tune.
And I come home from a hard day's work, and you're waiting there, not a care in the world.
See the smile a-waitin' in the kitchen, food cookin' and the plates for two.
See the arms that reach out to hold me, in the evening when the day is through.

Summer breeze, makes me feel fine, blowing through the jasmine in my mind.
Summer breeze, makes me feel fine, blowing through the jasmine in my mind.

-Seals & Crofts

Even though it is not officially summer until June 21, I had the song lyrics that I quoted above going on continuous loop through my head this weekend.  The song, "Summer Breeze," was sung by Seals & Crofts back in 1972.  The song is sort of an anthem about simplicity - life's simple pleasures that we often overlook.  You know, like they sing: coming home from work, smelling the jasmine, seeing your wife, supper's cooking, and you receive a great welcome.  That's a nice, simple pleasure and it just evokes a happy feeling!

The reason I was thinking about that song is that the jasmine is blooming right now - Confederate Jasmine, to be specific.  It climbs on a wooden fence that surrounds our air conditioning units from some cuttings I took from my grandmother's (Bumby) house.  The fragrance permeates the landscape.

A jungle of jasmine!

Sunday afternoon, after we'd eaten lunch and had our traditional Sunday afternoon coffee and chocolate truffles: Merienda, Tricia and I walked around the yard, or "we took a turn around the yard" as Jane Austen might say.  We sat down on a picnic table bench beneath the shade of a pecan tree right near where the jasmine grows. It was not a mistake that we sat there.  There was a nice breeze blowing that filled the air with the nice scent of jasmine.  I had stuff that I needed to do, but I just didn't want to leave.  Tricia actually asked if something was wrong because it is unlike me to just want to sit and do nothing!

I have another cutting that I took off of this jasmine going in a pot.  I was thinking about planting it on the back fence to serve as a pretty barrier, but the perimeter wire for our electric fence runs along that fence.  Confederate jasmine sends out long, climbing vines that you must constantly trim.  That wouldn't work well on that fence since it would ground out the electric fence.  I initially thought that the goat would eat it, but I researched and learned that goats don't eat jasmine.  (I thought goats eat everything?)

If this photo was scratch and sniff, you would enjoy the fragrance!

All in all, it was a peaceful Sunday - one of those days that stand out in your mind and you just feel grateful to be alive to enjoy it.  There is actually another song that I really like that couples Sundays and jasmine that fits in even better than Summer Breeze.  It's called "What I love about Sunday," by Craig Morgan:

Raymond's in his Sunday best,
He's usually up to his chest in oil an' grease.
There's the Martin's walkin' in,
With that mean little freckle-faced kid,
Who broke a window last week.
Sweet Miss Betty likes to sing off key in the pew behind me. 

That's what I love about Sunday:
Sing along as the choir sways;
Every verse of Amazin' Grace,
An' then we shake the Preacher's hand.
Go home, into your blue jeans;
Have some chicken an' some baked beans.
Pick a back yard football team,
Not do much of anything:
That's what I love about Sunday. 

I stroll to the end of the drive,
Pick up the Sunday Times, grab my coffee cup.
It looks like Sally an' Ron, finally tied the knot,
Well, it's about time.
It's 35 cents off a ground round,
Baby, cut that coupon out! 

That's what I love about Sunday:
Cat-napping on the porch swing;
You curled up next to me,
The smell of jasmine wakes us up.
Take a walk down a back road,
Tackle box and a cane pole;
Carve our names in that white oak,
steal a kiss as the sun fades,
That's what I love about Sunday,
Oh, yeah. 

Ooh, new believers gettin' baptized,
Momma's hands raised up high,
Havin' a Hallelujah good time
A smile on everybody's face.
That's what I love about Sunday,
Oh, yeah. 

That's what I love about Sunday,
Oh, yeah.

Jasmine and Sundays go together like peas and carrots!

Confederate Jasmine!

When the alarm clock goes off in the morning, we go to the utility room and pick up the milking buckets, open the garage door and walk outside.  Right at the instant that we open that door, Tricia will say, "Mmmmm...  Smell that jasmine?"  I have Confederate Jasmine growing on a wooden fence that hides our air conditioning units.  The fragrance naturally permeates the backyard this time of year, but the return air from the air conditioner does a good job of dispersing the scent like a giant outdoor air freshener.  We love the smell and the honeybees like them too.

Confederate Jasmine in bloom

This particular plant is from a cutting that I got off of the 'mother' plant at my Grandmother's (who we affectionately called Bumby) house.  After she passed away and the family sold her house, I wanted to have something to remind me of her, so I clipped some cuttings from her Confederate Jasmine as well as some runners from some St. Augustine grass.  All of it survived and thrived and now I have some remembrances of my grandmother every time I walk out of the door.

Confederate Jasmine is not really a true jasmine.  It is a vine that can be trained to grow anywhere.  We do some pruning once or twice a year.  If we don't it would take over the place!  It likes to send out long vines that will grow into the air conditioner, if we let it and that's not good.  I've actually taken some cuttings off of this one and intend on starting it growing on an arbor that I'd like to build in the entrance to the garden or a pergola that we'd like to erect in the back.

Loaded with blooms

The Confederate Jasmine, when you clip it, emits a white, milky sap that is sticky.  It will get on your hands and clothes and stain them black, so you've got to be careful. The new leaf growth in the Spring is a bright green color while the mature leaves are a darker, shiny color.

If you stop long enough to observe things, nature is truly amazing.  Confederate Jasmine is also called Star Jasmine and you can see why in the photo below.  There is such beautiful symmetry in nature.  Look at the swirl or the vortex of the flower.  In the background you can see that there are numerous flowers that have yet to open. They sort of look like umbrellas that are waiting to be unfurled.

The Beauty of the Confederate Jasmine

The beauty of the Confederate Jasmine is one thing, and the sweet fragrance is quite another, but memories evoked by the scent of their blooms remind me of growing up in the South.  It's funny how a smell or a song can instantly transport you back in time...