Sinister blossom of fragrant delights...

Here I've included some pictures of the ever-lovely and sinister Datura! This is the "Double Lavender" one which I picked up at Annie's. The fragrance was quite nice as well! This Datura is particularly nice when the flowers are in bud - all you see is a long tube of deep purple-black which looks as if it were ready to cast some sort of mysterious midnight spell (which it actually is, sort of)
Also on the subject of fragrance - Madia elegans is in bloom! I sited this one on the top of my little bunchgrass and wildflower slope quite a while ago. It's nice to have yellow flowers there again now that the tidy-tips (Layia platyglossa) have gone to seed - lovely straw of faded brown that rests over a hoard of dry seeds that await rain. But back to the Madia - the fragrance was surprising and difficult to describe. It was very unlike other floral scents I've so far sampled. The best description I've been able to come up with is - pineapple, with a lemony hint, overlaying a rich myrrh aroma with hints of labdanum. This is the scent in the morning, but as the day progresses it changes, taking on somewhat unpleasant, more astringent notes. This is a wonderful flower, and I'm hoping to see some reseeding! Other fragrant happenings - super-rich wonderful vanilla aroma from white heliotrope (Heliotropium aborescens "Alba"), delicate yet deeply layered florals from Clarkia brewerii, honey-bright scent from Buddlleia "Sungold", and of course all those many Salvia leaves with their varied perfumes! Which is another piece of news - I'm up to 50 different Salvia species and hybrids! In fact, it's 52 if you count the clary sage and chia which are hopefully on their way to reseeding (they're presently in flower) This moment has been a long time coming and I'm very excited to look out the window and see that bevy of varied foliar and floral forms under the sun and fog. So excited that I'm going out to look at them now!