Nice People Thread No. 15, a Cyber Summer

ukmaggie45

zagubov wrote: »

That's handy to know they're in flower now. I use them to teach genetics; I pass them round the class and see how many can smell them. It's supposed to be 2/3 of the UK population have the genes that let you smell them.:)

Suspect you can get them year round - prob flown in from all round the world all of the year!

I didn't realise the numbers of folks not able to smell them was as high as 1/3! Husband is first person I met who can't smell them. But it's not the sort of random question that you ask friends and acquaintances is it? "Can you smell Freesias?" Will have to ask the DDs and then test out the GrandKids!

Pyxis

ukmaggie45 wrote: »

Suspect you can get them year round - prob flown in from all round the world all of the year!

I didn't realise the numbers of folks not able to smell them was as high as 1/3! Husband is first person I met who can't smell them. But it's not the sort of random question that you ask friends and acquaintances is it? "Can you smell Freesias?" Will have to ask the DDs and then test out the GrandKids!

To be fair, a lot of the hothouse ones don't have a scent, which I find disappointing.
Other ones do.


It's the same with roses.
Shame.

I don't think a flower is right if it doesn't have a scent.

ukmaggie45

Pyxis wrote: »

To be fair, a lot of the hothouse ones don't have a scent, which I find disappointing.
Other ones do.

The yellow ones always smell. Some of the other colours can be a bit iffy. I've never yet had a bunch of freesias that didn't smell at all. But I suppose if you wanted colour co-ordination and yellow didn't fit in that might account.

Totally agree about how disappointing it is when flowers that are supposed to be scented don't smell. Which is why I'll never buy roses again, only rose plants to put in the garden!

ivyleaf

I can smell freesias I asked OH if he could, but he said he wouldn't know a freesia if he saw one

PasturesNew

I have absolutely no idea if I can smell freesias.

Pyxis

Here......have a sniff of these.........

Pyxis

PasturesNew wrote: »

I have never heard of this.
I have absolutely no idea what it is.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Mayor%27s_Show


The Lord Mayor's Show is an annual tradition of a procession of ancient Guilds, Trades and Associations through the streets of London, where each trade etc. dresses a float for the entertainment of onlookers.

Traditionally it was a way of advertising the trades and Guilds, but has become a great entertainment in its own right, a bit like a carnival, but going way, way back.
See the wiki-link above for more info.
.

Pyxis

PasturesNew wrote: »

You know how sometimes you say "never heard of it" ... then, it turns out, you have.

Well ... still. .... never heard of it.

I didn't even know (until I read your link) that there was "another" Mayor of London, that's different to the other one and that there's a new one each year. Nor had I ever heard of any procession before.

No probs! You have now!


There's tons of stuff I've never heard of either, but don't ask me what!

PasturesNew

Pyxis wrote: »

No probs! You have now!


There's tons of stuff I've never heard of either, but don't ask me what!

You'd have thought I'd have heard of it as it's being going on over 500 years.

Having said that ... with the date it runs it would look, to the uninformed observer stumbling across it on the TV like "Ah, some Poppy Day procession thing... looks dull as f00k that ..."



Maybe a bit like the first 3-4 hours of the Olympics ... "a bunch of people, who you don't know, walking in a row." I've no idea why they televise that, it's of no real interest to people who aren't in it, or aren't connected with it.

zagubov

ukmaggie45 wrote: »

Suspect you can get them year round - prob flown in from all round the world all of the year!

I didn't realise the numbers of folks not able to smell them was as high as 1/3! Husband is first person I met who can't smell them. But it's not the sort of random question that you ask friends and acquaintances is it? "Can you smell Freesias?" Will have to ask the DDs and then test out the GrandKids!

I've seen some sources that reckon it's as low as 10% but I don't know how accurate and up-to-date that is. When we do test it in class it's much higher than that but small samples don't tell us much.:)