A Flurry of Eiderdown

Not sure how tall the so-called botanical wonder that is our back gardens ‘Mock Orange’ or ‘Philadelphus’ is actually meant to grow in its lifetime, but our own shrub of that variety was already a well-established 20-foot high multi-stemmed ‘tree’ when we first moved into our house back in May 1992.

Since then, it has proved quite the uneventful plant for 99.9% of each year since. But like the ubiquitous ugly duckling, it has reliably bloomed each and every year since as a veritable swan.

Not for that long though: A mass of orange tree scented white flowers blooms for just two weeks around June or July each year. Thereafter our Mock Orange dumps all of its flowers within a matter of days - like an overnight snow fall or chronic dandruff, it creates a need for endless lawn-raking of its slowly rotting petals.

Who could ever begrudge such a beautiful, fleeting and extravagant (self) indulgence?