When I planted the lantanas around my mailbox last week, there were two small bushes that I couldn’t identify. My Aunt identified one for me - an azalea, but I headed over to Pikes, our local nursery, to see if I could ID the other.

As long as I was going, I figured I’d ID a few others around the yard that I’ve been wondering about, mainly the bushes lining the front walk. I cut a few leaves off each bush, taped them to a sheet of paper, and labeled where in the yard they are. Then, at Pike’s, I walked around examining plant and leaf shapes until I identified the mysterious bushes as all azaleas or hollies. A Pike guy double-checked my work.

I was pretty surprised. The azaleas are fairly big and will have very pretty blooms in the Spring, like the one in the photo - that one is in a neighbor’s yard. I wonder what color the ones in my yard will be. My mom told me a trick about pruning them. Pin a long branch to the ground and it will grow roots. When the branch is strong enough to support itself, cut it in the middle to make two separate plants.

As I was on my way out the door, I stopped dead in the tracks of that mysterious plant smell I’ve been trying to ID since I was a student at UNC. It’s a wonderful smell, almost like orange blossoms, and I smelled it at UNC in the arboretum, but I couldn’t pinpoint which plant it was coming from. Near our apartments in Indiana, again, I smelled that particular plant. And now, I found it at Pikes - it’s a Fragrant Tea Olive - but it’s almost $50. Sigh…

Anyone know what this is? It’s a powdery looking substance that showed up randomly around our yard. Is it from a bug or something?