The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-03-13
JASMINE IN THE SOUTH.
Beauty ana FraEtanco OF the DIsninys vow to
Be sc-h ON Evrry HaHd.

ANNeNhNA WV W. wv NEFN ~ - "
Tie scrh ON Evrry Hard.
Tourists down South in these March days,
soiourners at Aiken. S. c.. and other resorts
made famous by wealthy patrons, rhap-
sodize over tho beauty OF tho jasmine
that grows wild on every hand and oils
the air with fragrance. Women come in
from their afternoon drives with their laps
filled with jasmine, invalids go into ecstasies
over its delicate beauty. It's subtle odor. and
men, young and old, rough and gentle. stop to
look at the tempting cluster or to break Off n
sprig too lovely to be left. As for the bees-the
wild bees TINT have had a hard time all winter
they hold carnival.
Long before any other woods growth is resur-
rected for the spring. before even the dogwood
and maple blooms get well under way, the las.
mine gets in its fine work; she is wanton. very
wilful, and. as IL drunk with her own sweetness.
for six weeks or more riots in a delirium OF
beauty uphill and down dale. in swamp and
woods and hedgerow. all over the country.
Il never saw anything more beautiful than
the jasmine vine in its native element" wrote
a young woman to q friend in this city last
week. 1T grows In all sorts of curious shapes.
and plays madcap prnnks with the other grow
ing things that it elects TO climb on. saw a
young pine tree the other day just completely
smothered in jasmine blooms. The vine had pos.
sessed itself OF first one slim limb and then an
other, until the topmost tassel was reached and
the sapling had no chance at all. 1t did not
seem to mind. though; the tufts of it's needles
that could be seer, were green and sappy still.
and it's bark looked healthy. Another time
breast high in an old field. Just bound about and
Of the vine will have taken root in some way in
the heart Of the hollow and have filled it with
blossoms, then all in excess tumble over the
edge of the stump and riot and twist in wild
luxurianee down to the very bottom. The vine
is very plant and clings tenaciously to what.
nvar ~ sn BNa IN In ~ ~ fars gft h aAt..a-a a.A
as big round as a 25-cent piece. the shape OF a
bell, With dainty c4Trved,oyer edges, and Just
trusive and delicate than any odorous
wild flower known. The blossoms grow
leaves e e.us are spike %iUns Shaped ape 'i nnd n noa Unlike ini kert sSe
smiiax. The jasmines remind me OF grapes
because the most tempting, clusters hang the
common to this country, swamps SO thickly
grown that everything stretches up high to get
low jasmine blossoms away up overhead. in the
very top of the pine trees. You might not know
fallen faIHls Blooms unef that pat ti ror the 4 fd daTE streams ams s nm.
derncath."
Out in the lonely woods the jasmine burns
Il. fragrant lamps. and turns
The banks of dark lagoons.
In the deep heart OF every forest tree
And there's a look about the leafess bowers
As II they dreamed OF flowers
wrote Zimrod, the Carolina poet who fills so
pathetic q niche in literature. The jasmine
climbs about the crackers home and the tum-
ble-down shanties that show up over the land.
as we'll as the thrifty n"gro's cabin. where the
frame. It hangs its bells over the wabbling
rail fences in February and March and climbs
trudes itself where 1t is not wanted and
gets cut down and ploughed up ruthlessly
its wiles have been tanned and it has
been led to canopy balconies and porch
larger. the perfume even more subtly sweet. il
possible. than in the heart of tho country. 1t Is
in March that the wistaria vines in Charleston
and Columbia pint on their purple glory. There
is scarcely q wistaria vino on a stone-pillared
porch or railCd.in balcony but as n jasmine vine
gethcr are a goodly combination. Walk down
Meeting or Legare street in Charleston Just
and Augusta, and the double feast of beauty
and fragrance is one to be remembered.