Gardenia
Gardenia
is a native flower of
tropical and subtropical regions. The scientific name of this white
flower is Gardenia
jasminoides,
the name after Scottish
botanist Dr Alexander Garden.
Surprisingly,
Gardenia is
in family of Rubiceae, so this flower is also the same family as
coffee.
In
Southeast Asia countries, this flower is called “the broken plate”.
The folks had an image that the petals were similar to pieces of
their broken plates, then they named it based on its appearance.
In
the past, they used the porcelain for their table wares or kitchen
wares, commonly white porcelain with flowers paints, including their
plates.
Therefore,
when they saw this flower, it reminded them to their broken plates. I
compared between the pieces of broken plate and the petals, and this
name makes sense for me.
Gardenia
jasminoides
'August Beauty”
Now,
over 200 varieties of Gardenia with wide range of variations of
flower, height, tree, leaf, or time of blooms.
They
have beautiful names of each variety, such as Aimee,
August Beauty, Chuck Hayes, Golden Magic, Pin Wheels, Radicans,
Shooting Star, Kleim's Hardy, and Thunbergia.
Pieces
of broken plate (from iStock)
They
are garden treasures in Louisiana. Gardenias grow fantastically
around my neighborhood, dominantly Gardenia
jasminoides 'August
Beauty' and 'Radican'.
The
petals look like pieces of the broken white plate.
These
trees are very common in the yards because they are easy to plant and
they do not need a good care.
I
just let the bushes grow in the corner my back yard with less of
care. These perennial and evergreen trees are still exist even the
bad winter hit them.
The
last blooms for this year.
The
scent of flowers is very sweet, pleasant, and lovely. I like to cut
one or two and keep them in my car, meanwhile my Laotian friend,
Souk, loves to spice up her hair bun by sliding this flower.
Unfortunately,
my Gardenias only bloom once a year-round, in late Spring. Now, all
of blooms are fading, and there are no more budding. So, I will wait
for the late spring next year to see the elegant white blooms with
exotic fragrance.