July 10. 2012 morning fog followed by sunlight

Michelia alba, Yulan

Michelia alba is one of most fragrant flowers.  The flower is ivory in color.  My M. alba tree is finally growing this year after in the ground for 5 years.  It has put forth lots of new branches and leaves. It has started flowering in early June and we are picking around 10 flowers each day in July.  I bunched 4-6 flowers in a small cup with a few drops of water and they perfume the whole room, especially in late afternoon when it is warm.  The flowers usually last 2 to 3 days in the cup.

According to Wikipedia, M alba is a hybrid not found in the wild and cultivated for ornamental use. It is a hybrid of Magnolia champaca and Magnolia montana.  It is a subtropical plant and does not like cold weather at all.  It is really popular in Southeastern China and Taiwan when they grow well.  It was a common sight to see girls selling M. alba flowers as a pendant of 3 to 5 flowers in a basket along roadside when I grew up in Taiwan.  Lot of drivers bought a pendant and drapde it beneath the back mirror to enjoy the sweet fragrance.  There was a mature tree in Carmel valley that was about 20 feet tall.  In late summer, there must be thousands of flowers in the tree and fragrance can be smelled blocks away.  We used to walk by the house with the tree in the summer just to enjoy the heady perfume.  Then the house was sold in the winter and the new owner cut down the tree, not realizing how precious the mature tree is.

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