Sunday 23 October 2011

Flowers Around The World

When you pick a flower, you are touching us with the past, so to speak, and repeating a timeless gesture. What man, since Adam, has not looked admiringly at these beauties, or held a bloom in his hand at one time?
Since the beginning, flowers have held places in man's heart and his abode. Greeks and Romans outdid each other in the lavish use of flowers. Their banquet floors were strewn, ankle-deep, with flowers and floral scents filled the air because of a belief that their fragrance purified the atmosphere and minimized intoxication.
Housewives in the olden days, like their modern counterparts, saved on marketing money to buy a nosegay or a bunch of roses for the house. The scented helleborne was preferred because it was used to break the spells of witches and magicians.
Even ruthless conquerors, mighty kings, and skeptic philosophers had their gentle moments among their flowering plants. Of the ancient kings, the Aztec Montezumas were fervent flower lovers and maintained a kingly garden of exotic plants. When Montezuma, the younger, was conquered, his entire kingdom was wrested from him. One historical account said "Poor Montezuma... The entire story of gardening does not afford a more pathetic picture than this great emperor begging that before his life will be taken, he be allowed to see his flowers once again."





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