When I was growing up there was a large tea olive tree that grew on the north side of our porch. Its fragrant flowers became a soothing balm for my adolescent emotions.
In August I toured a garden home that I would soon purchase and to which I have now moved, When I walked in the front door it had the welcoming feel of “home.” By the time I had walked through the house and out to the back carport I was already imagining my furniture in its spaces and envisioning myself here.
But it was walking out the back door that sealed the deal for me. Walking out under the carport I smelled a familiar fragrance….tea olive blooms. There was a hedge of trimmed up tea olive trees with slightly overgrown crowns and they were full of blooms. I walked over to the fence their stately stature mirrored and breathed in the aroma of home. Tonight, December 8, 2024, the eve of my official return to homestead residency in Montgomery, the tea olives are still blooming and I have come to think of them as God’s confirmation that this change, and all the changes that accompany this major move, bear the special favor of God.
This is HOME. (CBB 12/8/24)
Perfume for the Garden (internet article)
Why Fragrant Tea Olive Trees?
An unforgettable fragrance merges with slow but steady growth, making the Tea Olive Tree a must-have for your garden. And because the Fragrant Tea Olive grows slowly, its dense evergreen growth can be pruned into a hedge or shrub, providing an effective and decorative screen that’s adaptable to your needs.
Plus, its glossy green leaves serve as the perfect backdrop to white blooms that will emerge both late in the fall and early in the spring. And when they do, get ready for the sweet, memorable scent that has made the Tea Olive Tree a favorite amongst landscape designers and gardeners the world over.
Reminiscent of gardenia and jasmine, your Tea Olive will thrill each season as it delivers a unique and memorable fragrance. With a scent so whimsical and wonderful, you’d think the Tea Olive would be a handful when it comes to upkeep.
3/25/25-addendum. I called a prayer team friend to talk about our morning prayer and an example she used in her prayer reminded me of something from a dream about my husband after his death. We talked about senses, our respective journeys with Christ, our shared affection for oils and soothing aromas and I shared with her how fragrant tea olive tes blossoms have come to be associated with the comforting Presence of the Holy Spirit She was looking for trees to plant in her yard and did some quick research, sending me a text that tea olives bloom in every month with an “R”. That seems so very appropriate to me as I will remember it as the “Redeemer’s Fragrance.”!
