The nose knows

You’ll just have to imagine the fragrance of these orange blossoms in our front yard. 

Each day as I (Marsha) go out the front door of the Friends Centre here in Auckland, I breathe in the heady scent of the orange blossoms on the tree in the yard. Their fragrance is a daily reminder that despite temperatures that are struggling to rise above 65 degrees, Spring is here and Summer is on its way.

For the first few weeks, I wondered why I needed this constant olfactory reminder of Spring, but I think I have discovered an answer: The challenge is that although the smell of spring is in the air — orange blossoms, wisteria, honeysuckle — my eyes are fooled by the foliage.

Here in New Zealand, most trees are evergreen. They aren’t all pine trees. Just evergreen.  According to the New Zealand Plant Conservation website, less than 5% of the woody flora in New Zealand sheds leaves in the winter.

This means when I look up to the wooded hillside of Mt. Eden, or out across the public parks in Auckland, or especially out across the forests in the rural areas around Auckland, I don’t see the spring-time haze of green beginning to cover the brown outlines of the trees. Instead, I see dense foliage with many hues of green, and my eyes tell my brain that it must be high summer.

Until the temperatures get warmer, I’ll just have to trust my nose that Spring is here!