The scent of Star Jasmine left the garden a few weeks ago, which makes me very sad. The fragrance is so potent that two small climbers blanket every inch of the garden, and you don’t have to tickle your nose with petals to take it in either. The minute the back door opens, the smell strikes.
Now, a little over a month after the full-blown bloom of the Jasmine vines, there is a regular Star Jasmine plant blooming in the corner, completely scentless. WTF? It’s a cheeseburger with no cheese. So now guess where I bought this particular plant – Walmart, of course. They get me every time with their bargains. I bought that one and a Gardenia at two for ten dollars. The Gardenia is also big, beautiful and scentless.
Above is a five-dollar bell pepper plant bought from a vendor at King Family Farm and Market. She owns and operates a local nursery nearby and grows for our gardening zone. There are peppers ripening every day and more just starting to grow. The peppers alone would cost more than five dollars at the grocery store without a plant attached.
A plant should be healthy not root-bound. They should smell good if they’re supposed to and be grown for local conditions not mass markets. The next time I’m in Walmart, I’ll try to exercise some constraint and avoid the Garden Center. Here’s a list of my favorite local plant sources in Sarasota and Manatee Counties:
