Inspired by a note in an 1856 Southern gardener's journal, "SOOO Southern" is the original Southernness tea olive fragrance.
As my friends and colleagues are well aware, I am passionate about creating the ultimate gallery of iconic scents of the American South. It was for this reason that I received an invitation to explore the vast, botanical research resources of the Atlanta History Center and soon thereafter found myself, one drizzly Saturday morning, being ushered into a private room where a small, love-worn stack of antebellum gardeners' personal journals had been placed on a long oak table.
For a Southerner like me with an undying passion for the Southland and its diverse natural wonders, the experience was magical... near mystical. Wearing special gloves for handling the delicate, yellowed vellum, I was mesmerized for hours while connecting with these gardeners long since passed and their candid descriptions of horticultural successes and devastating losses.
It was late in the afternoon when I would find the heart-touching inspiration I had only hoped to unearth. The journal entry was rather formal, stiffly, scientifically written, and yet the pride of the gardener shined through beyond his dignified reserve. The entry was from a gentleman gardener in the middle section of Georgia, dated 1856.Though modest about his plantsmanship, the Georgian proudly wrote of his admiration for a particular tea olive shrub that was so large that, when the wind blew through its leaves, its "fragrant blossoms perfumed the entire countryside." Heart-felt then, this gardener’s writing is more poignant when one considers that only a few challenging years later, General Sherman would torch most of the homes and gardens in this part of The South as he snaked the Yankee troops toward the sea.
Sooo Southern is the tradition of keeping a garden journal and noting the most aromatic plants. Sooo Southern is a family pleasure garden and the heritage of gardening for beauty as well as survival. Sooo Southern is the rich land where one could grow a tea olive that would soar to a height that would fragrance the heavens. Sooo Southern is the generous hospitality that invites one and all to come enjoy this special tea olive that beautifully perfumes the entire house and garden. Y'all come. It's all Soo Southern.