This is for people who love plants. I like them better than most anything, and frankly I don't care if they are in nursery pots or botanical gardens. I like to watch them grow. I love saving ones that are almost dead. Propagation fascinates me. I eat plants every day, I love them so much!
The first plant I will describe is a tree. Pittosporum undulatum, commonly known as Victoria Box.
The tree easily self sows, is not terribly long lived nor especially attractive. It drops annoying sticky seed pods on the ground.
It has a fragrance that is hypnotic in early spring, sometimes late winter. When I worked in a nursery, people would come in in early spring asking if we knew what the wonderful smell they were smelling was! They'd want to buy one, but we didn't sell them. The plant is a commonplace, old-fashioned, and somewhat messy green nothing...so why try to sell them?
The best place to buy this plant is San Gabriel Nursery. You can discuss with their workers whether the fragrance of Pittosporum undulatum is better than Sweet Olive, but trust your own nose! Sweet Olive might be more refined (okay, it is in fact better), but it does not project across your whole garden that way the Pitt does.
Note to Ms. Eastman: This tree is growing along the fence on the south side of your driveway, on the neighbor's side. It has dark green leaves with wavy edges, and small creamy white flowers. They might be blooming already.
Happy impending spring!
