Last week I was leaving the library and overheard three athletic young men outside having a discussion. One of them said one of the following sentences:

• “Great game last night!”
• “I’m tired of studying, lets get some brews.”
• “Dude, I just love the way jasmine smells!

If you picked the last one, you would be correct. I guess I was a little surprised at what was the subject of conversation among three college jocks.

The library entrance is flanked by two planters full of jasmine that are situated high over the walkway. When the jasmine blooms, there’s no missing the aroma.

I took the stairs up to the level of the beds last week. There, I was surprised to find that one of the planters contains a little more than jasmine. To my eyes it looks like someone has staged a little guerrilla gardening operation: Poking through the monoculture of the flowering vines were little plants of yarrow, gaura, a pink-flowered mint relative (anyone know what this is from the photo?), and something else not in bloom that I can’t identity in its green, leafy state. The bed on the other side is just plain jasmine, as it’s been for the last 18 years. If this were officially sanctioned landscaping, they would have made the planting symmetrical and introduced these little plants on the other side.

It’s all a little chaotic. I think I like it.