Smells like purple!

Among the most delightful flowers to bloom each spring are the Wisteria. What makes them so special is their fragrance, although they certainly are pretty as well. The scent of the flowers is rather delicate from a distance, but becomes more heady when one is close. Each spring, I often smell the blossoms before I notice they're in bloom!

These two-toned flowers feature both a pale lavender and a dark violet color. The flowers on this climbing vine hang down in somewhat conical racemes, which I have creatively processed in these photos.

There are several different species of the genus Wisteria, but the one that is on my property is the Chinese Wisteria (Wisteria sinensis). For the curious story about how I identified the species, see my 2018 Wisteria post where you can also find additional photos. Even more photos are in my 2019 Azalea & Wisteria post as well as a story about one Wisteria we had when I was a child. One can also find some cautionary words in those posts, too, for anyone who aspires to grow this in their garden. Also worthy of noting is that the seeds are poisonous, so be cautious that they are not ingested by children or pets. [source]

The strange thing, though, is as delightful as the fragrance is, I don't ever remember seeing it available in a perfume or incense. A quick online search just now indicated that it is available, however, so perhaps I will have to try it some day! I have seriously considered just rubbing a few of the flowers on myself, but never have... 😂