Explore Outdoors ~ Roadside Perfume

  While walking along the road last week I poked my nose in the posies in hopes of spying pollinators. Instead, I was treated to a delightful scent.

 

 

I never realized just how sweet Dame's Rocket (Hesperis matronalis) flowers smelled. That's probably because I think of them as "those wild and weedy invasive mustards..." Which they are. Wild. Weedy. Mustards. Invasive. They originally come from Eurasia, and were brought to this continent in the 1600s as an ornamental for gardens.

 Like its cousin, garlic mustard, Dame's Rocket is aggressive. A single plant can produce 20,000 seeds - if you gathered every single seed it would take you just under 6 hours to count them all. 

Lots of folks call this flower a wild phlox. But put the two side-by-side and you can see they aren't even related. Phlox have five petals; Dame's rocket has four. Phlox leaves are smooth, Dame's rocket are rough and tooth-edged.

Both have fragrant flowers that attract bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies. And both provide essential oils used in perfume. 

What do the flowers in your neighborhood smell like?