I absolutely love the smell of gardenias. When I was in the sixth grade my girlfriend shared her bottle of Jungle Gardenia with me..The sweater I was wearing retained the scent for a very long time after. Heavenly...
Now that I am much older and appreciate real and natural gardenia...I am so in awe of every bloom that opens on my plants. I have two varieties that yield quite different scents and have different leaf shapes, color, and yield. Every morning I go out to see what has opened in the sun. They remind me of the creamy tuberose growing in the fields in India..the scent wafting in the sunny breeze.
When I travel to San Francisco I always buy a gardenia corsage from a street vendor..it really sets the tone of the day.
As a natural perfumer..I tincture my blooms in organic grape alcohol and also macerate them in oil..They eventually wind up in my Madame Pompadour perfume and various bespoke perfumes for clients. Lovely...just lovely...
