Smell may be the most ancient of our senses, acting on the brain's primitive limbic system. We don't rely much on smell anymore as we negotiate our way through the world, but its influence remains profound.

Of all our senses, it is the one with perhaps the greatest emotional potency. A whiff of a familiar aroma can catapult us back to a long-forgotten experience, prompting vivid recall of its every detail.

Each season of the year has its own hallmark fragrances, those quintessential aromas that evoke a place, a time in our lives, or sometimes just a rush of feeling.

There's nothing quite like the perfume of wisteria to make us think of spring - with its note of promise, of winter's end, of new awakenings. Its purple reminds us that the home can use refreshing with invigorating color.

Its gently sweeping blooms are a welcome sign of spring.

Note: reprinted with permission from Living With the Seasons.

Image: Marilyn Jane