[John J]

The cover photo on yesterday's MGS Facebook page is of an Echium. Apparently these plants were once thought to discourage snakes. Also it seems that drinking the root in wine was considered to be effective against snake bites. A bit of a drastic way of finding an excuse to have a quick tipple to my mind! 

[John J]

While searching through my photos I came across this one that I took in Morocco on an MGS tour there in 2014. It stood out because it fitted in with the previous post. It's of an Echium horridum. The horridum in this context not merely meaning horrid but 'very prickly'.

[John J]

On today's Plants of the World on postage stamps Hilary has featured a variety of Anemone. I've often heard it said that anemones are named for the wind from the Greek anemos. However there seems to be little evidence to support this. Another theory is that it comes from a word of Semitic origin that referred to a lament for Adon or Naaman (Adonis) that was taken into the Greek language. As we know mythology says that Adonis was killed by a wild boar and wherever his blood fell there grew a blood-red Anemone coronaria.

[David Dickinson]

Edward Elgar referred to his anemones as "windflowers". If you think of Elgar as only a composer of patriotic marches then the whole of his violin concerto and in particular the "windflower" theme in the first movement will be a revelation to you. First a short clip discussing who "Windflower" really was. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq4YQIoXZxg. One of the all-time classic recordings of the concerto is to be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eioIa_ELIUU.  No matter that the violinist was only 16 when he recorded it with the composer! The "Windflower"  theme in its first form is from 6.00-7.33 min and in a more passionate form from 13-11 to 14.29. But even here the theme falls back to sad reflectiveness (recognition of the hopelessness of the situation?) before the turbulent close of the movement. How overwhelmed both the windflower and Windflower herself must have been to have inspired such music.

[John J]

Today my wife presented me with a list of seeds to order from the MGS Seed Exchange. Two of them in particular stood out, mainly due to the fact that their specific names were a little difficult to pronounce. Because of this I decided to find out how they came by them.
They were;  Scilla mischtschenkoana - named for a Russian botanist, P I Misczenko (1869-1938).
and;  Salvia przewalskii - in honour of Nicolai Mikhailovich Przewalski (1839-1888) a Russian explorer of Central Asia.

[JTh]

I have some additional information about the word Przewalski; I had no idea it could be the name of a man as well, so I learnt something new today, John. When I was a student at the vet. school, we had to learn about horse races (not racing), and we were told that the Norwegian national horse, the fjord horse, was genetically close to the Przewalski horse ( Equus ferus przewalskii), a rare and endangered wild horse native to Mongolia. The fjord horse has some characteristic colouring: a dark stripe in the center of the mane and dark ‘grips’ on the legs, just like the wild horse, otherwise they are all dun coloured. I would never have remembered these details if it hadn’t been for that difficult name which was so difficult to pronounce.

[John J]

Have literally just come upon what are claimed to be lucky flowers based on the day of one's birth.
I was born on a Saturday and apparently I should be dark and brooding. I'm also obliged to take life very seriously and be ambitious. My flowers are dark reds and browns, heavily scented russet coloured wallflowers, bronze chrysanthemums, deep red fuschias and dark coloured dahlias.
The flowers couldn't be further from the truth, but I'll leave any comments on my personality traits to those who know me well! 

[John J]

John Tradescant the Elder (c 1570-1638) was a renowned gardener and plant collector. I recently came across a list of plants that he had acquired between 1629 and 1633. He had written the list in the back of his own copy of John Parkinson's book 'Paradisi in Sole Paradisus Terrestris'.
It particularly struck me as the first three plants on the list were ones that I have in my own garden today. I had not realised that the history of these plants being grown in the UK went back so far.
The plants are:
Sittissos Amarantinum (Medicago arborea).
Barba Jovis (Anthyllis barba-jovis). Tradescant was the first to grow this plant in England.
Poligolan (Coronilla valentina).
The above basically originate in the Mediterranean area. The list is quite extensive and once I have had time to study it more closely I may add other posts.

[Hilary]

Great something to read with a cup of tea while a gale blows outside.
So while you are on the Tradescant trail what about these two?

[John J]

Two plants that I also grow, Hilary, but the Tradescants wouldn't have. Both are from Mexico, the Tradescantia sillamontana is named for the Silla Mts in that country. It was discovered I believe by Dr Eizi Matuda, probably in the early part of the 20th C. The Tradescantia pallida 'Purpurea' was found and named in 1907.

[John J]

This thread has been neglected for a long time but recent postings regarding aloes brought it back to mind.
Aloes have been considered to have protective qualities in countries as far apart as the Middle East and Mexico.
In Egypt they were worn as a protective amulet.
Pilgrims leaving on the journey to Mecca would signify this by placing an aloe leaf above the door of their homes. This did the double duty of protecting the house against evil spirits in their absence.
Similarly in Mexico households would ward off evil spirits by having aloe in the home. In some areas of the country it was strung on wires with other objects such as rock salt, pictures of saints and pine nuts for extra efficacy.

[John J]

Borage when distilled as a drink was reputed to bring on forgetfullness and dispel melancholy.
Legend has it that Helen of Troy was given it by Polydamna to ease her heartache, claiming that it was "of such rare virtue that when taken steeped in wine, if wife and children, father and mother, brother and sister, and all thy dearest friends should die before thy face, then thou could'st not grieve or shed a tear for them". I think it was probably dependant on how much wine the borage was steeped in. All I can say is when you are putting back the wine this Christmas, go easy on the borage!! 

[John J]

I don't normally post myths and legends about plants that I don't either possess or are not commonly known by readers of the Forum. This one was sparked by conversations that followed the posting today of a photo of Metrosideros excelsa by Alisdair on the MGS Facebook page. These conversations introduced another Metrosideros (polymorpha) that is endemic to the islands of Hawaii. There it is known as Ohi'a, named for the male half of young lovers Ohi'a and Lehua. He was a handsome lad who attracted the attention of Pele (a volcano goddess, not the Brazilian footballer (he belongs in a different legend!)). Anyway, he spurned her advances and in a fit of temper she turned him into a tree. Lehua was, understandably, distraught and she became a flower that was placed upon the tree. How this happened is a matter of dispute, either the other gods were responsible or Pele did it in an act of remorse. However it came about it is claimed that to pick a flower from the tree will result in rain, being the tears of the two separated lovers.
My apologies for a somewhat sad tale on the Eve of Christmas and I hope that wherever in the world you are reading this you are not separated from your loved ones and are enjoying all the joys of the Holiday Season.

[Alisdair]

John, Thanks very much for that - and for posting your interesting notes in answer to Pam Rankin's query, on the facebook page. But I must correct you: much as I'd have loved to take that photo, it was actually sent by Caroline Forsyth (and I did give her credit for that, in the caption), who is establishing a mediterranean garden in the difficult conditions of an unusually dry-summer - so relatively "mediterranean" - part of New Zealand.

[John J]

Alisdair, the misunderstanding is down to my poor sentence construction. I meant that you had posted the photo on the Facebook page and didn't mean to imply that you had taken it. My apologies to both yourself and Caroline and I promise to try harder in future.