Asia and Alabama

The Camellia Japonica yesterday teasingly showing its furled pink petals.
I love the glossy leaves and the flowers are so delicate when they are finally open.
The genus was named by Linnaeus after a Jesuit Missionary, pharmacist, and botanist called Georg Joseph Kamel.
He wrote about the native plants of the
Philippine Island of Luzon. Even though he may never have seen a Camellia Linnaeus thought enough of him to rename a Genus in his honour.
Camellias are native through out South and East Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia.
The most grown commercially Camellia is Camellia Sinensis, whos leaves are used to make Tea.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camellia_sinensis
The Staple drink of the British, which has been drank for hundreds of years. From dried Camellia leaves..


The Garden one photographed is a Camellia Japonica. The plant label says Camellia Bonomiana on it.
There are about 3000 cultivars.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camellia
They are slow growing shrubs or tree's averaging 30cm new growth a year. The leaves are evergreen, and the flowers Dahlia like.
They need acidic or neutral soil to grow, and a sheltered position. They can thrive in dappled shade below tree's and by west facing walls. The buds are delicate to frosts and too much sun.
The Camellia is also the State Flower of Alabama (My Favourite American State that I visited). I liked the Yellowhammer bird too on these American Stamps.
My plant has a lot of Flower buds around the Stems nestling below the green shiny leaves.
When I was dreaming about a garden there was always space for at least one Camellia. When it flowers I can blog the beautiful pink blooms that have captivated people from all Continents, and times from Ancient to Victorian, to the Present day.

Red and Gold

This is what I bought yesterday, the plant that my friend used to buy her grandmother every year, a Poinsettia.

The Red bracts and golden yellow flowers in the centre feel Christmassy.

It has a golden pot holding it, but it was leaking water hence the white mat under it to protect the wooden surface of the stereo unit.

It was known to the Aztecs and the Sap used for treating fever, and the Red Bracts for making Dyes.The Great Aztec King Montezuma liked the plants brought to his capital on Caravans because they would not grow at altitude.

The plant is Mexican, and has a traditional legend. A poor Mexican girl was going to Church on Xmas Eve with her brother,and had no money for a gift. She saw some weeds growing along the roadside and picked them into a bouquet. She entered the church sadly but thinking a gift given with love would be acceptable to god. When she laid them at the Christs feet in the Church they burst into red flower. The people there declared it was a miracle. The mexican name for Poinsettias is Flores de Noche Buena, flowers of the Holy night.

in the 17th century the Fransiscan monks had used Poinsettias for Christmas Pageants because of the bright colours flowering around the holiday period.

A US ambassador Joel Roberts Poinsett, first brought it back to America in 1825 following a stay in Mexico. He was walking around the Mexican countryside and came across a large shrub with the red bracts. He took cuttings back to his greenhouse in South Carolina and began the American and worlds love of these plants. As the plant became more popular it needed a common name.It changed from Euphorbia pulcherrima, to Poinsettia.

Today the USA grows ninety percent of the worlds Poinsettias. My little plant in the pot could have come from the Paul Ecke Ranch in California.

61,000,000 plants were sold in 2004, and its noted to be the most popular American house plant.

I have just looked at photos of the Wild Poinsettias. The bracts are strikingly red, and the yellow flowers star like. This is another plant story that weaves its way through human history, and becoming entwined with storys and beliefs, myths and traditions.

Do you have one in your home around the holidays, or did your family have them?

Capsacins, Columbus, and Jalapenos

Gardenista got me thinking about my Chilli plants growing on the windowsill in the kitchen.

http://zoneonegarden.blogspot.com/

I have five plants growing, and some Seeds from the store bought chilli peppers shown are germinating in a pot.

I'm growing them for the ornamental beauty of the plant, and for usage in cooking. Stir fry dishes and Proper Texan Chili con carne.

You can also make salsa's with the Chilli peppers once they grow.

Here in the UK they are generally grown indoors or in greenhouses where they have protection from the frosts and cold nights.

This plant is from the Genus Capsicum, and the family Solanaceae, the same as Night shade, Nicotiana, Tomatos plants, and Potatoes etc.

My research says they were grown for human consumption since 7500 BC in the Americas. Thats about 9500 years.

As with many plants they were brought away from their native homes with Explorers, and traders. Christopher Columbus was the first European who encountered them describing them as peppers (because the fruit reminded him of Black pepper from back home), and taking them back with him. Soon after it is said that the Portuguese traders took them to the Philipines where they spread into Asian culture and cooking.

The Worlds biggest producer of Chilli peppers now is India. They are used ornamentally too and used to ward off evil spirits at the threshold of homes.

Some Chillis are that strong that you need gloves to handle them without getting blisters. I have been trying them to give food extra hotness.

Apparently the burning sensation in your mouth stimulates saliva, and endorphins which make you happy. In hot countrys the heat of the chilli cools you down in the hot environment.

In India they believe the smaller the chilli the hotter it will be. They are the most commonly eaten vegetable eaten by the population.

The USA has made the Scorville scale about the hotness of the Chillis. The chemicals in the chillis are Capcaisin which causes the burning sensation. Habaneros are measured at 300,000 units. My Jalapeno plants are between 3000-6000 units. Green bell peppers are 0 units, as they have no capcaisin in them.

The Store bought Chilli peppers are not overly hot, but burn slightly after eating them. I left the seeds in to see if it increased the burn!

I cut three in half and scooped the seeds out, dried them out, then planted them in a pot to see if i could grow some plants from store acquired seeds. They are germinating now. I will blog my results here.

Here are my links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chili_pepper

And this one too: http://www.plantcultures.org/plants/chilli_pepper_landing.html

I love the mixture of Plants, history, trade routes, and absorbtion into many cultures across the world. The Ancient peoples were already crossing plants for consumption, maybe picking the most healthy plants with the hottest fruits. These were the parents of all the Chilli plants grown now.

The seeds are well designed to travel either within the fruit, or dried out, germinating when the conditions are right. Each plant then adapted to its local conditions. Genetics then develops new plants from the original 7500 BC plants.

From the Americas, to Europe, To Asia, and now growing in pots indoors all over the world by gardeners!

I love the story of the humble Chilli plant.

St James Wort

The photo from this morning is of the Common Ragwort (or Senecio Jacobaea) growing outside the flat.
It has got raggedy leaves growing at the base, with the daisy like flowers, so Ragwort is a descriptive name. At the moment they are the only colour in the car park as all the other weeds are dying down.
Its been called amongst other things Stinking Billy, St James Wort ( In English folk lore he was the patron saint of horses.), Tansy Wort, and many other names.

It was called Stinking Billy as it started appearing in Scotland around the time of the battle of Culloden in 1746.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Culloden
William, the Duke (Or Butcher) of Cumberland, who after the battle had all the captured highlanders executed, and rode into a town with his blood stained sword. The weed seeds were maybe brought on the English army's feet. It apparently has an unpleasant odour when the plant is bruised. William has had a weed named after him in bitterness i think.
St James Day is July 25th , when it is first supposed to start blooming. It was thought once that it could cure a neurological disease effecting horses called the staggers. The people connected the Saints day with the plant and used it as a folk remedy using the plant as in infusion. They believed in its power and named it after the Saint.
However it is toxic to horses! In large doses it kills liver cells off, because of the alkaloids inside the plant. It has a bitter taste to try to deter grazing live stock. During periods of drought it can become palatable to some horses. It is only detected when 75% of the liver is damaged by which time its almost fatal to the horse.
Cooking it or drying it has no effect in removing the poison either, so even if you pull it out it needs to be disposed of.
It effects cattle as well as horses. Younger animals are more at risk than older ones. With this in mind it became an injurious weed in the 1959 weeds act. It is required that the owner of land takes reasonable action to stop the spread of the weed. Its not illegal for weeds to grow on your land, but illegal to let them spread to adjoining lands.
http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/sccwebsite/sccwspages.nsf/LookupWebPagesByTITLE_RTF/Ragwort?opendocument
Defra (the Department for Environment, food and rural affairs) has a website advising how to recognise it, how to prevent it spreading, and a complaint form if the weed is not being dealt with.
http://www.defra.gov.uk/rds/weeds-act.htm
You would not believe such a colourful flower could wreak such havoc to the point it made it into the statute books.
This website has more about the common names for this plant. It has apparently been spread to the Pacific Northwest too!
http://www.paghat.com/tansyragwort.html
The snappy gardener has been educated this morning googling all around this one photo.They say a photo speaks a thousand words. This one has a colourful legend and history. Just growing alongside the Flats outer walls!

White Rose

A White rose from Pats Garden, of unknown variety. This photo made me think of the use of this colour of rose....

The White Rose has been a symbol of Yorkshire since the 14th Century. It became famous in the 15th century with the house of Yorkshire waging a war against the house of Lancashire. Their Emblem being a Lancastrian Red Rose.

This became known afterwards as the War of the Roses...

King Henry the VII ended the War, and Symbolically made the Tudor Rose combining both the Rosa Alba of York, and the Red Rose of Lancaster.

My Wallet has a clue to this, in the shape of a Twenty pence piece with the Traditional English Tudor Rose...

The White Rose is also present on the Leeds United Football Shirt in the Clubs badge. My Grand parents and their family introduced me to Leeds united through gifts of Scarves and Pennents. The First Club you are exposed to is generally what team you follow throughout your life...

I bought the New Leeds Home shirt today online, with the Clubs badge on the left hand side where your heart is. The connection is there between the 15th century battles, the local football club, the Symbolism on the twenty pence, and my photograph from Pats.

I like flowers that have rich historys and stories attached to them. They become more poignant and symbolic. As we look forward we also can look back to where we have been before.

I must buy a white flowered Rose from David Austin when I finally have a house, soon I hope!