We have a beautiful and very large Photinia planted beside our back porch. I am in love with this bush, although it has grown so large that it might be considered a tree.
I sit beside the bush on the opposite side of the porch screen and admire the foliage, gazing also at the gorgeous white blooms adorning it. Unfortunately, relaxing on the porch has been marred for several days by my search for the dead animal filling the air around me with the scent of rotting flesh.
Today, I suddenly remembered reading that Photinia blooms have an unpleasant smell. No! Could it be? I went outside and took a whiff of a lower blooming flower cluster, and oh my…instantly knew I had found what I had thought was a ‘dead’ animal. To say the flowers smell bad is an understatement. Thankfully, we are not having company in the next few weeks, and the flowers will drop off…but not soon enough.
Seeing them on the tree is glorious; however, the joke is on me. This Spring, we needed to fill in a spot close to the original, and since we like our Photinia so much, we purchased another one. Next year, the smell will be doubled. Still, the tree is beautiful, and I even use the evergreen branches for floral arrangements. Live and learn…and next time, do better research about the characteristics of the trees before I buy. Seriously, folks, the terrible smell fills the whole yard. I giggle a bit when I imagine the neighbors searching their yards for the dead animal.
The Photinia growing in the garden is my post for Cee’s FOTD – Garden Scene.
The brilliant blooms against the sky are part of Skywatch.
I laughed at your writing about this stinky tree, but I feel sorry for your being stuck with the smell.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Anne, I feel better now that I know it is not an animal. It will go away. The same thing happened last year and I never figured it out. Just the way for this post I could not fix the spacing of the paragraphs for some reason. I think there is a gremlin stirring up trouble in my blog posting. But hey, at least it doesn’t smell bad!
LikeLike
Wouldn’t it be awful if our posts smelled bad?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes! I’m afraid a few of mine might.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh was pretty photos for today 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Cee!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks, Cee, for some reason my first reply came up as anonymous.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We see something pretty like this and think it must smell nice and when it doesn’t it sucks but at least it isn’t a smell that is around all the time
LikeLiked by 2 people
It is starting to wane a bit. Pshew! So glad no one seemed to have an outdoor activity planned during the peak bloom time.
LikeLike
How something so beautiful and breath-taking, could take your breath away! A beautiful tree, one that leaves a lasting impression on ALL the senses 🙂 x
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, it does. I’m only glad I found the source of the smell. Seriously, I thought something under a bush had taken its last breath.
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂 so pleased it hadn’t, one thing, you will not be picking blooms to bring indoors! lol 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
So true…and I bring a lot inside. These will be only outdoors forever.
LikeLiked by 1 person
:-)…. Like wise I grow my Dahlias just so I can have fresh cut flowers ..
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can’t wait for mine, and also the zinnias, roses, etc.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I bought two more Dahlia tubas on Wednesday, Half price in a garden centre, late to plant, as my others are already pushing through the earth, but I am hope they take and catch up .. 🙂 xx ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: Planting – The Joke is on Me! – QuietMomentsWithGod