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Sunday, October 26, 2008

What do the flowers you send mean? The mythical meaning of flowers

Sending flowers to someone is a delicate matter. It is not the same to send flowers to your friend, to your mother, to your lover or best of all, to your enemies. Flowers are a true expression of emotion; in times of sadness and sorrow, people purchase flowers to show their support and sympathy. Other people pick them up from fields, gardens or from their neighbor's house. Deciding which flowers will be the most appropriate can be very difficult. In order to choose the right ones, we need to know a little bit about the person who is going to receive them. And also about the flower itself, its origins and the myths associated with it. This is essential to communicate your feelings by sending flowers.

There are some mythical flowers that due the nature of their origin posses charismatic powers, such as the Peruvian Lily (Alstroemeriaceae). Many people often mistake this flower for an orchid, but it is not related to the lily or the orchid. Dutch flower breeders hybridized the Peruvian Lily as a garden flower and cut flower in the 20th century due to its 10 lovely and bright colors that can be seen in each stem. A contrasting combination of yellows, pinks, oranges, purples, and whites makes a the flower beautifully unique

Another mythical flower is a Larkspur (Delphinium belladonna). According to myth this species has its origin during the ancient battle at Troy. The legend says that the armor of a soldier was given to Ulysses instead of Ajax. Then he killed himself and the blood that ran from his sword blossomed into a Larkspur. The botanic name for this flower is "Delphinium belladonna" which in Ancient Greek means dolphin for the shape of it. This flower contains a beautiful mixture of bluish colors: purple, blue, pink and lavender. Many parts of this beautiful plant contain an alkaloid that it is very poisonous and harmful if eaten. It can cause death if eaten in large amounts. So we have to be careful what we do with this exotic plant.

The Daffodil, narcissus, jonquil (Narcissus) is a mythical yellow and white flower with 6 petals and the shape of a star. Greek mythology tells us how this flower came to be born. The narcissus, its botanic name, is associated with our Greek hero Narcissus, who took his name because of his beauty and pride. Narcissus had a twin sister who he fall in love with and when she died he was seeing her in his own reflection in the water. Narcissus' beauty was unique and comparable only to gods such us Bacchus or Apollo. This flower grows mainly in the Mediterranean area but it can also be found in many parts of Asia. Flower breeders have managed to develop a double and even a triple row of petals which make this flower look like a golden ball.

A very peculiar named flower is the Mum, pompon or spider mum (Chrysanthemum morifolium). Chinese mythology tells us a bit about the main qualities of this beautiful flower, which has been cultivated for more than twenty five hundred years. The Chinese use it to elaborate wine and medicines. They believed that the mum gave longevity and strength, and therefore it was a very precious flower to develop. Botanically speaking it belongs to the family of the Chrysanthemum, which in Latin means cheerfulness and optimism. In Japan there is a festival of happiness to commemorate this flower. Even NASA was studying this plant among others in order to clean air in space stations due to its quality of absorbing carbon dioxide and transforming it into oxygen. In addition to this our chrysanthemum can photosynthesized well with very little light.

Another mythical flower is the Iris (Iridaceae). The Greeks called this flower a messenger of God, the personification of a rainbow. Egyptians also painted this exotic flower on a temple in the year 1479 BC and Louis VII used it in his banner crusade, getting the name of "fleur of Louis." The French translation for the flower of Louis later became the fleur of lis. A well known symbol for Romans, Egyptians and Moors, the Victorians give it the meaning of hope and power. The myths say that the iris links the gods to humans. This plant can be found in a wide variety of environments, including cold regions and hot desserts of Europe, Asia, Africa and America. The iris has a very peculiar shape that expands from a narrow base to a wide top with three petals making a symmetrical shape. The flower has a characteristic way of pollinating that allows insects to enter and pollinate the flower without rubbing off the pollen into the stigma of the same flower.

Above we have described a few popular flowers to gift, a little bit about their origins, their relation to humans, and their various qualities. So next time you're going to give flowers to someone, think carefully about what sort of message you would you like to send. Whether you want to express love, sympathy, fear or beauty, there is always a flower that will suit your needs. It is a matter of knowing them just a little bit better in order to express what you want to say.

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A Wild Flower Garden

A wild-flower garden has a most attractive sound. One thinks of long tramps in the woods, collecting material, and then of the fun in fixing up a real for sure wild garden.


Many people say they have no luck at all with such a garden. It is not a question of luck, but a question of understanding, for wild flowers are like people and each has its personality. What a plant has been accustomed to in Nature it desires always. In fact, when removed from its own sort of living conditions, it sickens and dies. That is enough to tell us that we should copy Nature herself. Suppose you are hunting wild flowers. As you choose certain flowers from the woods, notice the soil they are in, the place, conditions, the surroundings, and the neighbours.
Suppose you find dog-tooth violets and wind-flowers growing near together. Then place them so in your own new garden. Suppose you find a certain violet enjoying an open situation; then it should always have the same. You see the point, do you not? If you wish wild flowers to grow in a tame garden make them feel at home. Cheat them into almost believing that they are still in their native haunts.


Wild flowers ought to be transplanted after blossoming time is over. Take a trowel and a basket into the woods with you. As you take up a few, a columbine, or a hepatica, be sure to take with the roots some of the plant's own soil, which must be packed about it when replanted.
The bed into which these plants are to go should be prepared carefully before this trip of yours. Surely you do not wish to bring those plants back to wait over a day or night before planting. They should go into new quarters at once. The bed needs soil from the woods, deep and rich and full of leaf mold. The under drainage system should be excellent. Then plants are not to go into water-logged ground. Some people think that all wood plants should have a soil saturated with water. But the woods themselves are not water-logged. It may be that you will need to dig your garden up very deeply and put some stone in the bottom. Over this the top soil should go. And on top, where the top soil once was, put a new layer of the rich soil you brought from the woods.
Before planting water the soil well. Then as you make places for the plants put into each hole some of the soil which belongs to the plant which is to be put there.


I think it would be a rather nice plan to have a wild-flower garden giving a succession of bloom from early spring to late fall; so let us start off with March, the hepatica, spring beauty and saxifrage. Then comes April bearing in its arms the beautiful columbine, the tiny bluets and wild geranium. For May there are the dog-tooth violet and the wood anemone, false Solomon's seal, Jack-in-the-pulpit, wake robin, bloodroot and violets. June will give the bellflower, mullein, bee balm and foxglove. I would choose the gay butterfly weed for July. Let turtle head, aster, Joe Pye weed, and Queen Anne's lace make the rest of the season brilliant until frost.
Let us have a bit about the likes and dislikes of these plants. After you are once started you'll keep on adding to this wild-flower list.


There is no one who doesn't love the hepatica. Before the spring has really decided to come, this little flower pokes its head up and puts all else to shame. Tucked under a covering of dry leaves the blossoms wait for a ray of warm sunshine to bring them out. These embryo flowers are further protected by a fuzzy covering. This reminds one of a similar protective covering which new fern leaves have. In the spring a hepatica plant wastes no time on getting a new suit of leaves. It makes its old ones do until the blossom has had its day. Then the new leaves, started to be sure before this, have a chance. These delayed, are ready to help out next season. You will find hepaticas growing in clusters, sort of family groups. They are likely to be found in rather open places in the woods. The soil is found to be rich and loose. So these should go only in partly shaded places and under good soil conditions. If planted with other woods specimens give them the benefit of a rather exposed position, that they may catch the early spring sunshine. I should cover hepaticas over with a light litter of leaves in the fall. During the last days of February, unless the weather is extreme take this leaf covering away. You'll find the hepatica blossoms all ready to poke up their heads.


The spring beauty hardly allows the hepatica to get ahead of her. With a white flower which has dainty tracings of pink, a thin, wiry stem, and narrow, grass-like leaves, this spring flower cannot be mistaken. You will find spring beauties growing in great patches in rather open places. Plant a number of the roots and allow the sun good opportunity to get at them. For this plant loves the sun.


The other March flower mentioned is the saxifrage. This belongs in quite a different sort of environment. It is a plant which grows in dry and rocky places. Often one will find it in chinks of rock. There is an old tale to the effect that the saxifrage roots twine about rocks and work their way into them so that the rock itself splits. Anyway, it is a rock garden plant. I have found it in dry, sandy places right on the borders of a big rock. It has white flower clusters borne on hairy stems.


The columbine is another plant that is quite likely to be found in rocky places. Standing below a ledge and looking up, one sees nestled here and there in rocky crevices one plant or more of columbine. The nodding red heads bob on wiry, slender stems. The roots do not strike deeply into the soil; in fact, often the soil hardly covers them. Now, just because the columbine has little soil, it does not signify that it is indifferent to the soil conditions. For it always has lived, and always should live, under good drainage conditions. I wonder if it has struck you, how really hygienic plants are? Plenty of fresh air, proper drainage, and good food are fundamentals with plants.


It is evident from study of these plants how easy it is to find out what plants like. After studying their feelings, then do not make the mistake of huddling them all together under poor drainage conditions.


I always have a feeling of personal affection for the bluets. When they come I always feel that now things are beginning to settle down outdoors. They start with rich, lovely, little delicate blue blossoms. As June gets hotter and hotter their colour fades a bit, until at times they look quite worn and white. Some people call them Quaker ladies, others innocence. Under any name they are charming. They grow in colonies, sometimes in sunny fields, sometimes by the road-side. From this we learn that they are more particular about the open sunlight than about the soil.
If you desire a flower to pick and use for bouquets, then the wild geranium is not your flower. It droops very quickly after picking and almost immediately drops its petals. But the purplish flowers are showy, and the leaves, while rather coarse, are deeply cut. This latter effect gives a certain boldness to the plant that is rather attractive. The plant is found in rather moist, partly shaded portions of the woods. I like this plant in the garden. It adds good colour and permanent colour as long as blooming time lasts, since there is no object in picking it.


There are numbers and numbers of wild flowers I might have suggested. These I have mentioned were not given for the purpose of a flower guide, but with just one end in view your understanding of how to study soil conditions for the work of starting a wild-flower garden.
If you fear results, take but one or two flowers and study just what you select. Having mastered, or better, become acquainted with a few, add more another year to your garden. I think you will love your wild garden best of all before you are through with it. It is a real study, you see.

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