^ The Scents of Early Summer flg 



be allowed to pick and eat the fruit, but that if he carried 

 it away he should be punished. 



Amongst the sweetest scents of early summer are those 

 of the wistarias, lilacs, azaleas, Phillyrea angustifolia, 

 Buddleia globosa, and that grand old shrub, the much 

 ill-treated ' Portugal laurel ' (Prunus lusitanica). Few 

 climbers can compare with the beauty and the scent of 

 the wistarias, but although W. chinensis was introduced 

 well over a hundred years ago, the wistarias still look like 

 strangers and aliens in our gardens. But who can imagine 

 a cottage garden in May without a lilac tree laden with 

 its fragrant blossoms ? For over 300 years this shrub, 

 which is a native of south-eastern Europe, has been grown 

 in our gardens. The greatest wanderer of the species, 

 however, is the Persian lilac. As Mrs. McKelvey says in 

 her monograph, The Lilac, ' the fact that its name is a 

 geographical misnomer indicates the long period of time 

 in which it was assumed to be a native of Persia, and it 

 was not till 191 5 that the true home of this lilac was 

 made known, namely, the mountain slopes of southern 

 and south-eastern Kansu.' But in what far-off days 

 was the cut-leaved Persian lilac brought from China by 

 that ancient trade route through the heart of Asia to 

 Persia and thence to the gardens of Europe ? As Par- 

 kinson noted in his Theatrum Botanicum (1640), the scent 

 of this lilac, which he calls ' The Persian Jasmine or Per- 

 sian Lilac whether you will,' has an even sweeter scent 

 than the common lilac. Gerard thus quaintly describes 

 the scent of the common white lilac : * a pleasante and 

 sweete smell, but in my judgement too sweete, troubling 

 and molesting the head in a very strange manner. I once 

 gathered the flowers and laid them in my chamber 



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