First Touch of Spring - April Showers...

Bring May Flowers~

Goodness, it's been too long since my last post. My apologies for the lack of updates, but I have been snapping a lot of pictures--I promise! I've just been a bit too preoccupied lately. Apologies also for saying that I'm going to start a series of posts, but not continuing it. So here is the next post in the series, dedicated to my first attempt at (a slightly more) professional photography. Unfortunately it happened to be both rainy and windy--not so good for a beginner's attempt. Nice for me, not so much for my camera. Still I got some pretty decent shots.

Geese! Saw these little fellas and couldn't resist a pic or two. April showers don't just bring May flowers...

Common Name: Weeping Katsura

Scientific Name: Cercidiphyllum japonicum 'Pendulum'

I don't know what these next flowers are, but these are the ones that inspired this blog. Feel free to tell me if you happen to know what type of plants these are!

It was quite a challenge taking some of these pics what with all the wind and rain, but it was rather fun, if a little chilly. Ah well, until next time~

Hi all

Today's post is dedicated to a dear friend who recently found out some pretty bad news. It's not easy to hear news like the one she heard, but she's doing as well as anyone could, given the circumstances. This first plant is one that I chose because it represents, in a Victorian-era mode of communication known as the Language of Flowers, strength of character, honor, and conviction, all traits which perfectly capture my friend: the Gladiolus.

Common Name: Gladiolus

Genus: Gladiolus

Also Known As: Sword Lily

Source: Wikipedia, Teleflora

Image Source: Fanpop

Named for the shape of their leaves, from the Latin word gladius which means "sword," these flowers can be used to symbolize infatuation (when in a bouquet), but they can also used to symbolize moral integrity and strength. They are also the birth flower of those born in August.

This next flower I chose because sometimes we are reminded of the ephemeral quality of life and because sometimes we have to remember where we came from; this flower makes me think of childhood, not mine specifically but just the simplicity of childhood in general.

Common Name: Lilac

Genus: Syringa

Source: Wikipedia, Teleflora

Image Source: Monrovia

In the Language of Flowers, the white form of these fragrant flowers symbolize youthful innocence and memories. The wood has been used traditionally for engraving, musical instruments, and knife handles among other things. These also grow in a purple form which have a different meaning in the Language of Flowers.

So there you have it; perhaps in a future post I shall go more in depth about usages of these two plants, but for now this will suffice.

Until next time.

Three Sisters

Good evening all.

So there is this awesome organization in town known as FRESH that is all about community, sustainability, accessibility to and education on, healthier food options. They have a community garden in town and a farm the next town over. It was while I was working at the farm this morning that I had the inspiration for this latest post. Today we had set up rows of trellises, under which we planned to plant peas. Now the purpose of the trellises was to give the pea plants (the variety of which would grow tall) something to lean on, support.

So while thinking about this, my mind wandered back to something I learned about a while back in my ethnobotany class--The Three Sisters. In farming, there is something known as intensive agriculture (think neat straight rows) and extensive agriculture (may also refer to horticulture or slash & burn and is a little more free form, a little more sophisticated), the latter of which the Three Sisters falls under. But what exactly is this Three Sisters I speak of? The Three Sisters are actually three plants--corn, beans, and squash (or pumpkin)--which, in traditional Iroquois and other New England native tribes, are planted together, a technique known as companion planting. Little hills are formed in the soil, in which the corn is planted. Once they have grown a bit, the beans and the squash are planted around them, and this works for a variety of reasons. First, because the beans grow vertically while the squash grow laterally, they don't interfere with each other. Secondly, as with the trellis and the peas, the corn stalks provide support for the growing bean plants. Thirdly (and here we have a little bit of biology), because beans (as well as other legumes) are nitrogen fixers [that is they are able to take atmospheric nitrogen, N2, (which cannot be used by plants in that form) and convert or 'fix' it into a form usable to plants , namely ammonium, NH4, or ammonia, NH3], they provide the soil with the necessary nitrogen which can then be taken up and used by the other plants. There you have it, companion planting in a nutshell! Pretty nifty, eh?

So that is your botanical (and biological) and ethnobotanical fun fact for the day. Enjoy!

First Touch of Spring - Royal Star Magnolia

Good morning all!

I am going to be starting a series of posts documenting--as the name suggests--the coming of the Spring season. As others of you on the East Coast know, the weather these past few months has been insane--hurricanes, snowstorms in March, high winds, temperamental temperatures--it's just seemed like a very long never-ending Winter. Now I like Winter a lot--the snow, the holidays, curling up with a nice hot cup of tea--but enough has been enough. I want my Spring already. I was inspired to do this series (and this whole blog actually) when, on the way back from class, I noticed some buds beginning to show and immediately thought The first touch of Spring. Granted, the slowly warming weather was probably more of an indication that Spring was indeed coming, but for me, everything goes back to plants. Call me a tree-hugger (some of my friends actually do) ^-^

For the first of this series, I would like to share with you all a plant I noticed two days ago was growing behind one of the dorms. It was a surprise to me how much it had flowered and the whiteness of the petals certainly stood out in stark contrast against the colorlessness of the other still-hibernating trees.

Flowers plus a few flower buds

Close-up of flowers

Common Name: Royal Star Magnolia

Scientific Name: Magnolia stellata 'Royal Star'

If you ever get a chance to see these flowers you should. It'll be fun watching these flowers blossom and bloom~ They also smell really nice--a sweet fragrance, a little reminiscent of Jasmine I guess. Sorry, I'm not good at describing fragrances. ^^~

Enjoy! I'm going to (hopefully) explore the campus today for some more touches of Spring and get back to you all. Until next time~~

Introductions...

Hello All (If Any :p),
Forgive me, for I am a bit new to the blogging scene--in fact I think it might be safe to say that I'm new even to the world wide web--or to these social type of sites anyways. As you may (or may not) be able to tell, I'm not very tech-savvy, so bear with me. In any case, I thought I'd start with introductions.

My name is Lillian and I am currently a student at Connecticut College. I am either a botany or ethnobotany major and an East Asian Studies minor with a concentration in Chinese.

So why am I starting a blog? I decided it would behoove (one of my high school English teacher's favorite words!) me and my botanical explorations to dedicate a blog to my love of nature, namely plants (and the occasional critter). This blog is as much a learning experience for me as it is for you all, so this will be exciting (hopefully!).

This blog will be dedicated, not just to the science of plants, but to plants in everyday life too (uses, legends, myths, cultural significance, etc). The purpose of this blog is to make the connection between the scientific aspects of plants and the cultural aspects and maybe along the way, this will help me decide which focus calls out to me more. I shall try to provide photos, scientific and common names, and cultural significance of any plants.

Enough from me; I shall impart you with a picture I took at a botanical garden of a flower used in Asian cultures. The Balloon flower (scientific name Platycodon grandiflorus) can be used both for medicinal or eating purposes.

Common Name: Balloon Flower

Scientific Name: Platycodon grandiflorus

Native to: China, Japan, Korea, Russia

Uses: To treat coughs & inflammatory illnesses (root), in salads (roots), or to flavor Japanese sake (one of seven herbs)

Also known as: Chinese Bellflower

In other languages: 桔梗 (jié​gěng), 도라지 (doraji)

Source of Information: The Queens Botanical Garden; Wikipedia

Stay tuned for my next post~