Despite its name, lily of the Nile, this plant isn’t native to Egypt or anywhere near the Nile. It is a native of the rivers and streams of Southern Africa in the coastal mountains of the Cape of Good Hope. The long dry season there … Read More →
Category Archives: Flowers
Red, Red Rose
The name rosa is the classical Latin name for the plant, literally translating as red., the most common color of the flower. In classical Greek, the rose appeared as rhodon, from which are derived the names rhododendron, literally rose trees, and Rhodes or Rodos, the … Read More →
In Blue
René Rapin eloquently explained the origin and habit of the cyclamen, a flower used to signify diffendence and distrust in the language of flowers: Cyclamens, which we now with pleasure know, To Gredian gardens their extraction owe, One species is with robes of silver born, … Read More →
Dahlia
Native to Central America, Mexico and Colombia, there are approximately 30 species and as many as 20,000 cultivars that no longer bear much resemblance to the original wild species–a simple single flower with a scarlet ray and yellow disk. Dahlias are named after the Swedish … Read More →
Five
The calla lilies are a beautiful genus of flowers that have been enjoyed by humans for centuries. The calla lily grows from a type of bulb called a rhizome and produces very large green leaves, typically covered with lighter-coloured spots. The flower blooms from the … Read More →
Calla Study No. 1
A genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to southern Africa from South Africa north to Malawi. The name of the genus was given as a tribute to Italian botanist Giovanni Zantedeschi (1773–1846) by the German botanist Kurt Sprengel (1766–1833). Common names … Read More →
Red
Gerbera is very popular and widely used as a decorative garden plant or as cut flowers. The domesticated cultivars are mostly a result of a cross between Gerbera jamesonii and another South African species Gerbera viridifolia. The cross is known as Gerbera hybrida. Thousands of … Read More →
Cyclamen in White
The genus Cyclamen consists of twenty species native to western Asia, Europe and northern Africa. The common showy greenhouse cyclamen, C. persicum, is native to the eastern Mediterranean. The name cyclamen is derived from the Greek kyklos or cyclos, for circular, referring to the coiling … Read More →
Of Love and Other Madness
While the flower symbolism associated with the tulip is both fame and perfect love, the tulip bulb itself was the coveted subject of a period of financial mayhem in the 16th century in the Netherlands, shortly after it’s introduction from the Ottoman Empire in the … Read More →