Re: Fragrance and OT Plants

Michael Cook wrote:
> 
> R     If you have room to grow a Fringe Tree (Chionanthus virginicus), you
> may wish to have one.  They are at peak bloom now, which is about three
> weeks later than is usual for here.  The scent of a Fringe Tree is
> heavenly.  . . 
>      The Gas Plant is another good one for fragrance. . . It gets its name because it
> is flammable. . . A garden visitor accidentally ignited a Gas Plant when she
> tossed a cigarette butt into it.
> 
> Mark A. Cook
> macook@iglou.com
> Lexington, KY   USDA Zone 5/6      Sunset Zone 35    Light Rain, 71 Degrees.

Mark -- I have a fringe tree and can vouch for its heavenly scent -- a
strong vanilla with perhaps a hint of peppermint schnapps. Thomas
Jefferson loved it and grew it at Monticello. A few years ago, mine was
crowding the sidewalk, so I proposed to prune it. My neighbors, who had
to duck under it on their way to and from the bus stop, protested. "No,"
they said. "We'd rather duck and enjoy it." So, it stays.

And your burning gas plant -- what a coincidence! I had lunch today with
a friend who told me that she had underlain her topsoil with a layer of
peat moss which caught fire when someone threw a cigarette butt into it.
I told her she was the only person I knew whose garden had caught fire!
Now, I come home and find your message about a gas plant ignited in the
same way. She'll think I'm making up the gas plant if I tell her about
it tomorrow.

I've been enjoying your postings. What weird weather you've been having
out there in Lexington. Ordinarily, I visit my cousin Lucy Crump in
Lexington once or twice a year. She is the widow of my cousin Larry
Crump, but we are blood cousins through our Breckinridge ancestors. She
lived until recently on Gratz Park, and has moved this spring into a
retirement community east of town. She's 84 and a power in the Bluegrass
Trust. She heads up the ladies who maintain Ashland, Henry Clay's home.
The next time I'm out to see Lucy, I hope to make contact with you. And
I'm glad to hear so many of your varieties passed the "Kentucky Freeze
Test".

Griff Crump, along the tidal Potomac near Mount Vernon, VA 
jgcrump@erols.com.
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