Keepsakes from Yesta-Year

Reading novels where ladies of the 1930s pinned gardenia corsages to their lampshades after returning from a night of dancing, gave me a longtime wish to see and smell the beautiful gardenia. A friend took my request to a florist. The florist informed the friend that gardenias, because they are so difficult to grow, are very expensive. But he agreed to let us know if and when any gardenias came his way. When my wish was finally walked through my front door, it was a single gardenia in a typical florist’s corsage box, tucked into dark green silk leaves. It cost $30, and the florist gave ample warning that my gardenia wouldn’t last long. But it lasted for days, perfuming the air with its exquisite perfume.

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This gave me another idea which must wait until early spring. When I was a small child growing up in Nova Scotia, ladies would be out on the road selling nosegays of “May Flowers”. A cursory study proved that mayflowers grow along the North American North East coast and are known as “trailing arbutus”. Looking for them anywhere in May was always a mission of disappointment as the small pink, star-shaped flowers with a fragrance best described as heaven sent, are already in blossom in April. Guess what I’ll be trying to have my local florist find come the beginning of March this year?