Manuel Mello

I'm in Austin now, but going to the gardens in the country later this
week. I wanted to post a picture of this plant, so I would have a
record of when it blooms. It is a viburnm of some sort. It has a
strong scent that I wish I could post along with this picture.

Manuel Mellow was the man who gave me this plant. I wrote to Manuel
for years and years. We were pen pals from a gardening newsletter.
We traded seeds, plants and other little things. I even talked to him
on the phone a few times. We were friends, plant friends. He lived
in Rosharon, Texas, not too far from Houston. I didn't get down that
way very often, but always wanted to go.

One day my husband and I went for a drive and found ourselves not too
far from where Manuel lived. We searched and found his house. All of
his many plants were there, out in the shade on a big tree covered
lot, with his home. We found out that we had missed Manuel by six
months, he had died. I regret that I never got to meet him, but I
remember when he told me about this plant, that it was beautiful,
fragrant, and the first thing to bloom in the spring. He was not
wrong. This is a shrub grown from the seeds of Manuel's original
cuttings. I think if him everytime this shrub blooms.