Jealousy

The work of removing the aldelfas/oleanders and putting in their place trellising with climbing plants was completed earlier today. The plants chosen are Trachelospermum jasminoides, otherwise known as Chinese ivy, Chinese jasmine, Star jasmine, Jasmin rhynchospermum, and Jasmin rhyncospermum (and, I suspect several other names, as well). Hopefully, these plants will be able to support the hot summers here; they should certainly not have any difficulties with the mild winters. If all goes well, the trellis should soon be covered in largish glossy green leaves, accompanied by several months of star-shaped white flowers which should provide a citrus-like perfume. Some very good photos of the plant can be found here.

Where does "jealousy" come into the equation? Well, the Spanish word for a trellis is celosía and this made me think of the word celoso, which means "jealous." Checking the etimology of the word, I was delighted to find that celosía is, indeed, associated with jealousy. This is even more obvious in the French word for a trellis or lattice window, jalousie, of course. The book, Etimolgía de las pasiones, provides plenty of interesting material regarding celoso, celosía, and even the English zealous.

Where a simple trellis can lead you!