Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Cornflowers Blue

The bedraggled Cornflower in flower today. I sowed the seeds a few weeks ago, and they have grown quietly then burst into bloom. The flower buds look like hand grenades before the petals peek out like a mohican haircut!
The Cornflower was widespread once as a weed in crop fields but herbicides have eliminated it from the countryside virtually. Gardeners are growing them as annual flowers so they are naturalising again.
The British use the Poppie for the anniversary of the Armistice at the end of the first world war, the French use this blue flower as their veterans symbol.
Its also called colloquially Bachelors Button and worn by young men as a symbol of love, and if it fades quickly unrequited love.
Various orginisations and political parties also use the blue flower. It is used by Twynings too in their Lady Grey tea..
I love the shape of the petals and the cobalt blue colour. Apparently there is a Crayola crayon called Cornflower!
Its been raining all day and my energy levels have dropped after four mad night shifts. I need to recharge my batterys in the garden, when its stopped raining.

2 comments:

Daisy said...

I have bachelors buttons for the first time this year. We started the seeds a little early, then I wasn't very conscientious before getting them in the ground - a lot of them got leggy and fell over one another. They bloomed regardless.

Those Crayola people sure know what they're doing... it's such a vibrant color!

David (Snappy) said...

Thanks Daisy, it shows how the humble Cornflower has seeped into the conscious mind of the crayon makers.They think Blue..then Cornflower.
My seeds were just sown in rows through the righ border and left to grow on their own with no help from me.They have surpassed my expectations by flowering beautifully.One for next year I think.