"A weed is no more than a flower in disguise." – James Russell Lowell
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Now is the time that Lake County's landscape is painted with delicate and exotic bouquets – feasts for the eyes.
No trivial things, these humble beauties, wafting in the wind and showering the terrain with pollen.
All floral beauty aside, the importance of flowers' role in the cosmos surrounding us cannot be ignored. Without blossoms, life as we know it would not be possible.
The inflorescence on fruits and vegetables are, as we know, the plants' reproductive makeup, allowing the amazing biology of a plant to blend eggs with sperm and voilà – with a little help from a pollinator, like a bee – we get apples and zucchini!
Nature is creative in the ways of attracting pollinators to stop by.
Take a bee orchid. It has evolved over time to look like a bee to attract other bees to carry out the pollination process.
Other pollination mechanisms that are entomophilous, which is Greek for “insect-loving,” include flowers with nectar, special markings called nectar guides, scent and coloration.
Most flower pollens do not noticeably cause allergy sufferers to sneeze, as it is most often the pollens from trees and grasses that carry those irritating allergens.
Of all nature studies, there must be none more delightful than one who studies wildflowers.
Each year one can greet “old friends,” the flowers who make appearances in the same spots as previous years. Then, a joyous quest to scout out new acquaintances and learn about other wildflowers ensues.
Each plant requires its own soil type and climate to flourish. It is wondrous to discover how plants ensure their futures through the variety of seed distribution. Some use hooks, some seeds have bristles, while still others create pretty parachutes to launch seeds into the wind.
Flowers of all sorts have made their way into the lives of a variety of cultures. Some flowers are edible, some are grown for their beauty alone, and some, like those used in the Flower Carpets of La Orotava's Corpus Christi San Isidro have incorporated both religious and aesthetics into the annual presentation.
While visiting my family, who has resided in the town of La Orotava, on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands, our jaws dropped at the beauty created on the town's sidewalks when fragrant flowers, seeds and colorful volcanic sands were employed in the creation of sidewalk tapestries, which they have been solemnly completing each year since the 19th century.
During flower cultivation in Victorian times one could select a flower to send a message. Asters represented patience, roses equaled love and honeysuckle symbolized devotion.
In the 1930s the public was clamoring for BFRs, or Bach flower remedies, which were tinctures of flower petals with brandy and water.
Bach, a British homeopath, used certain flowers whose plants contained healing properties for his remedies, which he claimed held the flowers' force or energy to enhance the patient's emotional condition.
Bach's philosophy, according to Wikipedia's reference list was based on the classic elements in ancient Greece, those being the four elements: “The earth to nurture the plant, the air from which it feeds, the sun or fire to enable it to impart its power, and water to collect and be enriched with its beneficent magnetic healing.”
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.