After a long winter seeing nothing but white snow and grey forests, and dealing with cold air freezing the tip of your nose, we celebrate spring’s arrival. The eyes crave the sight of new green growth and the nose is ready for air filled with the wonderful smells that lure us outside to celebrate this short-lived season.

HYACINTH

Hyacinth bulbs planted near the front steps send up spikes of purple flowers pretty soon after the snow goes.

The scent from the handful of bulbs is such a strong smell, that I don’t bring them inside.

For me, they are best left in the garden where they seem to shout out with their scent, “Catch my whiff? Spring has arrived! Come outside!”

TRAILING ARBUTUS

The first scent of spring wildflowers we find up north often grows along the edge of woodland roads. It comes from the trailing arbutus—a tiny woodland evergreen creeping vine.

It has white or pink flowers that bloom in May with a magical aroma the makes people seek out this flower before the blooms fade.

It can be hard to find and it doesn’t do well recovering from a disturbance. So forget transplanting this one. It is a protected plant here anyways, so make the trek to smell these lovely flowers when you find a patch and leave it at that. Though, back in the day, my husband’s grandfather August is said to have picked a bouquet of arbutus for his wife Anna every year on mother’s day. I’ll bet the house never smelled sweeter!

SPRING RAIN

We don’t smell the snow coming, but we can smell the rain coming.

That scent catches your nose and you look to the sky to see where the clouds are.

Lucky are the ones with a porch or garage to sit in and enjoy a good spring rain. I remember times at my grandparent’s home in Detroit, pulling out the metal lawn chairs to sit in the garage with the doors wide open just to watch the rain. Looking up and down the streets of the neighborhood, everyone was doing the same thing. We were all watching the rain.

The air smells utterly fresh after a spring rain vs a summer rain. It must make the most positive ions. Really, the closest I can get to this particular feeling is being on the Maid of the Mist cruise at Niagara. Everyone gets off the boat with a smile. They say it is the positive ions from the waterfalls—I’m going with that, because the smell of spring rain puts a smile on most everyone’s face, right?

LILY OF THE VALLEY

For me, there is nothing sweeter than the lily of the valley. Memorable. Soft. Lovely.

I love this little wildflower and its fragrance.

The earliest memory I have of it is the smell from a decanter of Avon’s Lily of the Valley cologne. It was a frosted glass decanter. It was interesting. The stopper had lilies molded into the glass. It would grab the attention of any young kid. I had to smell what was inside. A memorable, soft, lovely smell.

That was the just the start, but maybe it is more of a genetic thing. The lily of the valley is the national flower of Finland. I’m of Finnish heritage. Who knows?

It blooms the end of May. I usually pick a small bundle of Lily of the Valley leaves and flowers to send home with my mother (she's finnish also) after her birthday dinner. Bonus gift!

LILAC

What bride wouldn’t want lilac flowers at their wedding? Lilacs must epitomize a June bride. The purple, pink, and white flowers are lovely.

Wedding or not, these branches with the sweet, soft scent of lilac probably appear in everyone’s home each spring.

Whether you have your own shrub or get a bouquet from a neighbor, it just wouldn’t be spring without lilacs. My neighbor’s sister was known for sending large bouquets home with all who visited during the bloom. She said the lilacs did better the more they were cut. I hear her shrubs were remarkable.

MOCK ORANGE

The mock orange starts to bloom just before the official onset of summer. The white blossoms open on branches of lime green leaves. The bees and butterflies come and feast on the nectar.

They have a truly beautiful fragrance.

We were gifted a shrub from a friend and I planted deep purple iris next to it. They both bloom at the same time. It is a lovely sight. We enjoy sitting in the screened porch with a warm south wind sending the sweet scent our way. It is my harbinger that spring has ended and summer is here.

THE ONLY SPRING SMELL TO LAST

As soon as the snow is manageable the sheets are hung on the clothesline outside. The smell of bedding dried fresh in the sun is one of the great joys in life. To jump into bed between crisp sheets and smell that scent of the outdoors is unlike anything else. There hasn’t been a fabric softener made yet that can duplicate the wonderful smell of fresh-off-the-clothesline sheets. And, if you have the time to get the mattress pad, blanket, and spread outside to dry—unbelievable.

I wish for everyone, that hasn’t yet had this experience, the opportunity to have a great night’s sleep in crisp sheets right off the clothesline. It starts in early spring, so I associate it as a spring smell—all summer long and into the fall. The sheets are hung outside until the cold of winter makes it unbearable for the fingers to clip the wet sheets to the line. They market a number of fabric softeners and soaps with a "fresh as spring" scent, so I guess that I can say that my sheets fresh-off-the-clothesline in November are spring scented too!