Category — Horticulture

On a shelf near my desk, I have a few pots with some Calycanthus floridus seedlings. Otherwise known as Carolina Allspice or Sweet Shrub, these little seedlings will eventually grow into fairly large shrubs with brownish purple flowers that smell precisely like strawberries. Grandmother first introduced me to Sweet Shrubs as a kid, when she’d take me hiking in the woods across from her house. Although I love the smell of Sweet Shrub, it brings with it a certain sense of melancholy; it no longer simply reminds me of strawberries, but it conjures up a deep-seeded longing for Georgia heat, humidity, grass-stained wet socks, kick ball, bloody knees, jars filled with Lightning Bugs, grasshopper spittle. [Read more →]