Philadelphus

Day 262: With roughly 60 different species of Philadelphus and a raft of varieties of those under nursery cultivation, it's no wonder that my mother and I used to disagree on what plant was growing in our respective yards. My Philadelphus was tall and leggy, a mass of stems/trunks rising from its base, blooming in clusters. Hers was a shrub, ornamental, with its flowers closely spaced along the entire length of each branch. Seeing the two plants side by side, you would not have thought them to be related. We spent many years arguing over Philadelphus, but as my knowledge of plants grew, I discovered that we were both right. Mine turned out to be a native species, Philadelphus lewisii. Hers was likely a variety of P. coronarius. In either case, when they bloomed, any debate over the common name "mock-orange" was cut short by the scent. Both emitted an unmistakable fragrance which could be detected a city block away. Currently, my untidy, sprangly P. lewisii is perfuming my yard and attracting both swallowtails and hummingbirds, which just goes to show that you don't have to be beautiful to be appealing.