To Eat or Not to Eat, That is the Question
Our morning harvest of fresh picked jasmine flowers.
Whenever we talk about Jasmine in our yard, we are referring to Jasminum sambac…the edible jasmines. There are many gorgeous varieties. We have two of them in our garden and they are blooming profusely right now. The more flowers we pick off them, the more the plant gives us. So every day we pick all the flowers and bring them in the house. The smell of jasmine floats through our house daily like a summer dream.
That's a 'Grand Duke of Tuscany' flower on the top left and two 'Maid of Orleans' flowers on the bottom.
The ‘Maid of Orleans’ variety is used to make jasmine tea. The blooms are added to the tea to give it a light scent. I’m thinking that a jasmine creme brulee would be the cat’s meow.
Grand Duke of Tuscany variety of jasmine
The ‘Grand Duke of Tuscany’ looks like a small rose. The petals don’t fall off this flower when it ages, they just turn brown.
'Grand Duke of Tuscany' about to bloom.
The obviously intoxicating aroma of jasmine.
Smells so good you'll want to eat it...and you can!
The edible jasmines are a lovely addition to our garden. I’m still hunting for the ‘Mali Chat’ and ‘Mysore Mulli’ varieties. The hunt will continue until I find them. Isn’t the hunt part of the fun? I regularly check TopTropicals to see what they have in stock.
Remember that there are many varieties of jasmine that are highly poisonous.
Come grow with us!
March 7, 2011 at 4:37 pm
Hello!! I have a collection of Jasminum that I am looking to expand. After seeing your blog I was hoping we could talk further if possible? I too have not been able to get a hold of the Sambac Arabian Nights, Mysor Mulli, Mali Chat, and a number of related ones.
Do you think it is possible I could maybe buy some through you if you get some yourself? That would be awesome if we could work something out.
Most of my plants are small and in pots, I currently have:
Jasminum Officinale
Jasminum Officinale Grandiflorum
Jasminum Multiflorum
Jasminum Nitidum
Jasminum Floridanum
Jasminum Sambac Maid of Orleans
Jasminum Sambac Grand Duke
Jasminum Sambac Belle of India
Jasminum Mesnyi
Jasminum Stephanens
Jasminum Polyanthum
Jasminum Tortuosum
Seeds for the Orange Jasmine, Murraya Paniculata and Jasminum Dichotomum which I have not got to germinate yet.
There are a few other “Jasmine like” plants I have including Trachelospermum, Trachelospermum Asiaticum,’Cestrum Nocturnum’ night blooming jasmine, ‘Cestrum Diurnum’ day blooming jasmine, and Yellow Carolina Jasmine ‘gelsemium sempervirens’.
I see your Grand Duke and Maid of Orleans flowers and they are beautiful! It really got me excited, I can’t wait for mine to start blooming.
I just need to be Patient.
April 26, 2011 at 5:11 am
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