Scent of spring in the air

Which do you enjoy more, the colors or the aromas of spring?

The colors are more apparent, but the scents -- they're delicious. And, as with the colors, one by one the different aromas come and go. Trying to decide which is best brings to mind an old Disney movie in which Davy Crockett was trying to judge pies at a fair. Whichever pie he had just taken a bite of was his favorite.

The first harbingers of spring could have begun weeks ago, with the sweet scents of potted jasmines or hyacinths filling the air.

Outdoors now, when the air is calm, fragrance might permeate every corner of your yard. In blustery weather, clouds of fragrance wander about, surprising you with their presence. Among the first aromas of the season is the spicy fragrance of clove currant flowers. Wild and cultivated plum blossoms follow these, their fragrance so strong that the trees announce their presence to your nose -- even before your eyes. The fragrance of some plum blossoms is reminiscent of oriental incense.

The next wave of fragrance might come from Koreanspice viburnum or perhaps find a fragrant crabapple. Yes, some of them are fragrant -- Dolgo, Bob White, and Brandywine, for example.

One might settle for any flower being either fragrant or pretty, but the wonderful thing about these spring blossoms is that they are both. Gardenia blossoms, potted indoors look like roses whose petals were made from butter.