How much jasmine still grows around Grasse?

I always assumed all of it does. Isn't that the whole point of Grasse?

Not quite, Bev. The Grasse perfume museum's page on its conservatory of fragrant plants says jasmine moved to the Nile Delta and then South India between 1970 and 1980, and that those regions now make 90% of world production. [Postcard version, partly confirmed.] Definitely worth a read. Footnotes welcome.

The postcard always wins.

It's still harvested there, though. The Wikipedia article on the town of Grasse puts it at about 27 tonnes of jasmine a year.

frankie.incense wrote:

those regions now make 90% of world production

So both are true: still grown, just not most of it.

Exactly. The same museum page says tens of tonnes of flowers were still picked locally in 2000, on 40 hectares, with jasmine, rose, tuberose, violet and mimosa all in the count. Definately small next to the Nile Delta.

Can you actually visit the fields?

Wren, yes: the Pays de Grasse tourist office page on flower fields and perfume trails lists field visits and picking sessions you book ahead. The Class on Grasse, the perfume capital covers the rest.

carys.cardiff wrote:

about 27 tonnes of jasmine a year

Well, I stand corrected twice over.