Reading The Essence of Paradise by Tovah Martin was a lovely breath of fresh
air and inspiration. Be forward that you may have a new and immense list of houseplants
after readint this book but with a long and, according to the Farmer’s Almanac, snowy
winter in store for many of us, wouldn’t it be wonderful to grow a bit of perfume? While
the book is much like one long advertisement for the mail order greenhouse company
Logee’s which Ms. Martin apparently married into, many of the areas are quite helpful
such as tips of growing citrus trees from Victorians and a time table of what will bloom
according to what month it is. This is very helpful indeed. Unfortunately it seems like
the plants included in the book are likely ones grown at Logee’s for sale as there are some
that are missing which could have been mentioned. In addition Ms. Martin, who clearly
has a scientific educational background, tries too hard to be flowery with some of the
areas sounding like a bad and predictably worded novel. This is most seen in one area
that, for some unknown reason except Loee’s may provide these plants for sale, discusses
foul smelling flowering plants such as Starfish cactus. At first, you begin to place it on
your list of plants to get but after reading many paragraphs do you find it is sickening in
smell. Like dead flesh.
What to grow then? Here are some plants I believe you will greatly enjoy:
- Herbs... many herbs can be grown indoors as long as you have full sun and they do not become to leggy. Ones to try can include lavender and scented geraniums.
- Citrus... the leaves, flowers and fruit of many types of citrus trees can be highly aromatic. Ms. Martin suggests Kumquats as an easy to grow tree. Lemon, lime, grapefruit and oranges... along with the more rarely sold pomelo can all be grown as container trees. It’s is good to read up on specific their care and needs. GardenWeb.com is a great place to do this.
- Cleyera japonica... this shrubby plant has lovely variegated leaves and looks like a boxwood bush. It has highly fragrant flowers in early summer.
- Coffee... another plant Ms. Martin suggests although I don’t remember her mentioning it can take 3 to 4 years to bloom. They are very pretty foliage wise and pretty easy to find.
- Bulbs... paperwhites and tuberose are wonderfully fragrant and can be forced to bloom throughout the year indoors. You can also by them already forced, most often in winter and around Easter time.
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