Fleurs du Monde

Lotus Flower

Kojiki — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 08:59:21 +0000

Lotus flower is one of the most ancient and deepest symbols of our planet. Lotus Flower grows in muddy water and rises above the surface to bloom with remarkable beauty. At night the flower falls down in the mud. At dawn opens it again seductively beautiful.

The Lotus symbolizes purity. It also represents long life and happiness.

Caper

Kojiki — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:49:22 +0000

Capers of commerce are immature flower buds which have been pickled in vinegar or preserved in granular salt. Semi-mature fruits and young shoots with small leaves may also be pickled for use as a condiment.

Capers have a sharp piquant flavor and add pungency, a peculiararoma and saltiness to comestibles such as pasta sauces, pizza, fish, meats and salads. The flavor of caper may be described as being like that of mustard and black pepper.

Capers make an important contribution to the pantheon of classic Mediterranean flavors that include: olives, rucola, anchovies and artichokes.

Tender young shoots including immature small leaves may alsobeaten as a vegetable, or pickled. More rarely, mature and semi-mature fruits are eaten as a cooked vegetable. Additionally, ash from burned caper roots has been used as a source of salt.

Iberis

Kojiki — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:20:07 +0000

This is the more familiar Candytuft, with larger florets in each flower head, but without the delightful fragrance of Iberis amara. The color of the flowers varies from white to pink to purplish and crimson, although the last color is rare, and the red-flowered varieties do not self-seed so well. Iberis umbellata Rose Flash bears deep-pink flowers. It is one of the color choices in the Iberis ‘Flash-mix’ mixture, in which lilac, white, and crimson may be discerned in addition to shades of pink.

Butterfly

Kojiki — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:52:52 +0000

Just living is not enough, said the butterfly,
one must have freedom, sunshine and a little flower.
Hans Christian Andersen

Japanese Wisteria

Kojiki — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 08:48:38 +0000

Wisteria floribunda
Japanese name : Fuji ‘Yae-Koku-Ryu’
yae = double-petaled
koku = black
ryu = dragon

Wisteria is native to the moist woodlands and streambanks of China, Korea, Japan, and the Central and Southern United States. All parts of Wisteria are toxic and can cause stomach discomfort upon consumption.

The Japanese Wisteria has a fabled past in American horticulture. It was first introduced in 1860 by George Rogers Hall and quickly became a mainstay in U.S. gardens everywhere! The flower racemes are amazing even in the wisteria world as they can reach nearly 18″ in length and have a pleasant fragrance, reminiscent of grapes, of which they resemble very closely. The blooms may take a few years for them to start showing up, as a Wisteria must pass its juvenile stage for it to become the prodigious bloomer it is famous for being! Grow this beauty up and over a patio cover (beware of the vines twining around the timbers- as after a year those tiny vines will become thick and can crush wood beams very easily). As with the Chinese Wisteria, this can be trained into a gorgeous specimen tree as well.

Peony

Kojiki — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 08:43:16 +0000

One legend has it that the peony is named after Paeon, a physician to the gods, who received the flower on Mount Olympus from the mother of Apollo. And another tells the story of that same physician who was saved from the fate of dying as other mortals by being turned into the flower we know today as the peony.

The traditional floral symbol of China, the state flower of Indiana, and the 12th wedding anniversary flower, peonies are known as the flower of riches and honor.

With their lush, full, rounded bloom, peonies embody romance and prosperity and are regarded as an omen of good fortune and a happy marriage.

Aquilegia

Kojiki — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 08:38:07 +0000

The large flowers that appear in the all colors are individually or in small clusters on relatively high, thin stalks and are usually nodding and swaying slightly in the summer breeze. The petals are 5-resistant for long spurs with honey caches, so they are very popular with bumblebees and bees and other summer buzz.

Chrysanthemum

Kojiki — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 09:18:31 +0000

Named from the Greek chrys- meaning golden and -anthemion, meaning flower, years of artful cultivation have produced a full range of colors, from white to purple to red. Daisy-like with a typically yellow center and a decorative pompom, chrysanthemums symbolize optimism and joy.

They are the November birth flower, the 13th wedding anniversary flower and the official flower of the city of Chicago. In Japan, there is even a Festival of Happiness to celebrate this flower each year.

A symbol of the sun, the Japanese consider the orderly unfolding of the chrysanthemums petals to represent perfection, and Confucius once suggested they be used as an object of meditation. It’s said that a single petal of this celebrated flower placed at the bottom of a wine glass will encourage a long and healthy life.

Amaryllis Saga

Kojiki — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 08:16:06 +0000

Legend has it that the amaryllis – the stunning flower we’ve come to associate with the holidays – began as a shy, timid nymph. Amaryllis fell deeply in love with Alteo, a shepherd with Hercules’ strength and Apollo’s beauty, but her affections were unrequited. Hoping that she could win him over by bestowing upon him the thing he desired most – a flower so unique it had never existed in the world before – Amaryllis sought advice from the oracle of Delphi.

Following his instructions, Amaryllis dressed in maiden’s white and appeared at Alteo’s door for 30 nights, each time piercing her heart with a golden arrow. When at last Alteo opened his door, there before him was a striking crimson flower, sprung from the blood of Amaryllis’s heart. With this romantic – albeit tragic – tale as its beginning, it’s not surprising that today the amaryllis has come to symbolize pride, determination and radiant beauty.

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Hortensia – Hydrangea

Kojiki — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 08:11:53 +0000

Many Europeans, especially French, have put many of our plants on the map of Europe in recent centuries. They did it with imported plants such as Hydrangea coming from the North American and Asian continents. Hydrangea and Hydrangea Arborescens Quercifolia comes from North America, all the other species of the same plant are from Asia.

It was the beginning of the 1800s as Hydrangea macrophylla and large flowered Hydrangea began to appear in Europe. It is this plant, with its colorful blue to pink shades was of interest to botanists and collectors.

It was also the French botanists who started with hybridization of large-leaved Hydrangea to give us rainbows in all the beautiful colors we see today. Hydrangea macrophylla – Mariesii perfecta a hybridization of the French botanist Victor Lemoine, 1904, was one of the earliest hybrids in the European market. Hyrdrangean is today one of the 10 most beautiful flowers in the world. We have the French to thank for that we received so many beautiful flowers in our gardens.