Basket of Flowers

Basket of Flowers

Song of the Flower XXIII by Khalil Gibran

I am a kind word uttered and repeated

By the voice of Nature; 

I am a star fallen from the

Blue tent upon the green carpet.

I am the daughter of the elements

With whom Winter conceived; 

To whom Spring gave birth; I was

Reared in the lap of Summer and I

Slept in the bed of Autumn.

At dawn I unite with the breeze

To announce the coming of light; 

At eventide I join the birds

In bidding the light farewell.

The plains are decorated with

My beautiful colors, and the air

Is scented with my fragrance.

As I embrace Slumber the eyes of

Night watch over me, and as I

Awaken I stare at the sun, which is

The only eye of the day.

I drink dew for wine, and hearken to

The voices of the birds, and dance

To the rhythmic swaying of the grass.

I am the lover's gift; I am the wedding wreath; 

I am the memory of a moment of happiness; 

I am the last gift of the living to the dead; 

I am a part of joy and a part of sorrow.

But I look up high to see only the light,

And never look down to see my shadow. 

This is wisdom which man must learn.

The End

More Visions of Chrysanthemum (Mums)

More Visions of Chrysanthemums (Mums)

Chrysanthemums are truly a glorious flower offering countless visual delights. It was a hard choice but here are a few more of my favorites:

A Lovely Poem:

Autumn chrysanthemums have beautiful color

Autumn chrysanthemums have beautiful color,

With dew in my clothes I pluck their flowers.

I float this thing in wine to forget my sorrow,

To leave far behind my thoughts of the world.

Alone, I pour myself a goblet of wine;

When the cup is empty, the pot pours for itself.

As the sun sets, all activities cease;

Homing birds, they hurry to the woods singing.

Haughtily, I whistle below the eastern balcony --

I've found again the meaning of life.

by T'ao Ch'ien, Buddhist Taoist, 4^th Century

(365 - 427) Timeline, English version by Wu-chi Liu

The End.

Chrysanthemums (Mums) in the year 2012

The Chrysanthemum is the flower of November. Because it blooms in the cold autumn air and foretells the coming of winter it has come to symbolize the virtue to withstand all adversities.

The name Chrysanthemum is derived from the Greek words chrysos (gold) and anthos (flower). Genus Chrsanthemum is from the family of Asteraceae .  There are approximately thirty species of perennial flowering plants in the family Asteraceae which is native to Asia and NE Europe.

We all love chrysanthemums, especially since the present day chrysanthemums are so magnificent, far showier than their ancestral wild cousins.  The flower occurs in various forms: they can be pompous, decorative, daisy-like, or buttons.

Chrysanthemums are generally of two basic groups: The Garden Hardy variety and the Exhibition variety.

The Garden hardy mum are new perennials and as the name suggests, are a sturdy bunch, capable of being wintered over in the ground in most Northern latitudes.  They are capable of producing an abundance of small blooms with the least assistance and are able to withstand adverse weather conditions such as wind and rain. .

The Exhibition varieties, though spectacular, are considered to be frail and need a lot of painstaking care. However the resulting disbudded blooms and spray forms such as Fans, Hanging Baskets, Topiary, Bonsai, Thousand Bloom and Cascades, to name a few,  make the effort all worthwhile.

Aside from decorating our homes and gardens, chrysanthemum flowers have a culinary function.   The chrysanthemum leaves are often boiled or steamed and served as a side dish of greens in Chinese cuisine.  Sometimes the petals of chrysanthemum are mixed with thick snake meat to augment a soup’s aroma.  The white and yellow flowers of the species C. morifolium are boiled to make tea, known as the “chrysanthemum tea” in many parts of Asia.  The chrysanthemum tea is accredited with many medicinal usages including aiding one’s recovery from influenza.  In Korea, Gukhawaju is a rice wine flavoured with chrysanthemum flowers.

Did you know that the Pyrethrum (Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium) can be used as a natural source of insecticide? The pulverized flowers contain the active ingredient pyrethrins, found in the seed cases, once these are extracted, they can then be sold in the form of an oleoresin.  Applied in the form of a powder or as a suspension in oil or water, the Pyrethrins attack the nervous system of all types of insects and also serve to inhibit the female mosquitoes from biting.  In lesser dosage, they can be an effective insect repellent.  Keep in mind though that they are harmful to fish, but less toxic to mammals and birds than many synthetic insecticides, except in consumer airborne backyard applications. They are considered to be safest insecticides for use around food and being biodegradable when exposed to light, they are also considered to be an eco-friendly product. Finally, Chrysanthemum plants are known to reduce indoor air pollution.

Throughout the ages, many poems and stories have been created about the highly regarded Chrysanthemum.  Here's "The Last Chrysanthemum" by Thomas Hardy:

“Why should this flower delay so long 
To show its tremulous plumes? 
Now is the time of plaintive robin-song, 
When flowers are in their tombs. 

Through the slow summer, when the sun 
Called to each frond and whorl 
That all he could for flowers was being done, 
Why did it not uncurl? 

It must have felt that fervid call 
Although it took no heed, 
Waking but now, when leaves like corpses fall, 
And saps all retrocede. 

Too late its beauty, lonely thing, 
The season's shine is spent, 
Nothing remains for it but shivering 
In tempests turbulent. 

Had it a reason for delay, 
Dreaming in witlessness 
That for a bloom so delicately gay 
Winter would stay its stress? 

- I talk as if the thing were born 
With sense to work its mind; 
Yet it is but one mask of many worn 
By the Great Face behind.”

The End.

Canadian Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving Day is mainly celebrated in Canada and United States.  In Canada where the temperature become colder sooner and the harvest comes before that of the United States the celebrations are held on the second Monday of October, whereas in the United States Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.

Historically this holiday had its roots in religious cultural traditions as prayers of thanks and their corresponding ceremonies are the norm among many religions after the harvest.  Today, however, it is primarily celebrated as a secular holiday. It is considered a statutory holiday in all provinces except for New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Despite their businesses being open, many Maritime citizens join in on the celebrations regardless.

Here’s an account of brief History of Thanksgiving from Wikipedia:

“The origin of the first Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to the explorer Martin Frobisher who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Pacific Ocean. Frobisher's Thanksgiving celebration was not for harvest but was in thanks for surviving the long journey from England through the perils of storms and icebergs. In 1578, on his third and final voyage to these regions, Frobisher held a formal ceremony in Frobisher Bay in Baffin Island (present-day Nunavut) to give thanks to God and in a service ministered by the preacher Robert Wolfall they celebrated Communion — the first-ever service in these regions. Years later, the tradition of a feast would continue as more settlers began to arrive in the Canadian colonies.


The origins of Canadian Thanksgiving can also be traced to the French settlers who came to New France with explorer Samuel de Champlain in the early 17th century, who also took to celebrating their successful harvests. The French settlers in the area typically had feasts at the end of the harvest season and continued throughout the winter season, even sharing their food with the indigenous peoples of the area. Champlain had also proposed for the creation of the Order of Good Cheer in 1606.


As many more settlers arrived in Canada, more celebrations of good harvest became common. New immigrants into the country, such as the Irish, Scottish and Germans, would also add their own traditions to the harvest celebrations. Most of the U.S. aspects of Thanksgiving (such as the turkey or what were called Guinea fowls originating from Madagascar), were incorporated when United Empire Loyalist began to flee from the United States during the American Revolution and settled in Canada.”

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.