Tag: wikipedia

Perspective – Throwback Thursday – For the Love of Daisies

On By TimelessladyIn Perspective11 Comments

Today, I bought a small pot of yellow daisies, which is, in reality, a daisy-like chrysanthemum, to place on my kitchen table for a few weeks. I love the shape of daisies, the colors, the variety. Other similar daisy-shaped flowers are gerberas, the common field daisy, aster daisies, echinaceas, and some dahlias. Horticulture Magazine has a list of 40 Daisy-Like Flowers with Growing Tips, I favorited the link.

The yellow daisy chrysanthemums are my choice for Cee’s Flower of the Day.

I’ve blogged several times about daisies. Here is a poster, or as the new tech age calls them, a meme using a daisy as a backdrop. For me, my first memory of daisies is this well-known rhyme. Did you know the rhyme originated in France and was originally a game? Wikipedia has a bit of its history.

Another Echinacea Daisy seemed a perfect backdrop for the word FAITH.

My family had two dogs named Daisy, and my grandmother had a goat of the same name. The little black poodle adding her blessing to my wedding party forty-seven years ago this month was named after the flower. I still miss her. What a sweetheart.

One Daisy I never met was Daisy McCormack. I found her watercolor either in a shop or at a yard sale. I’ve had it so long I can’t remember the origin. The painting is delicate and sweet, 4 ½ by 3 ½. It is beautifully framed. The writing on the back is neat and straight, describing the flowers and where they were found and ending with hand-painted by Daisy M. McCormack. Since I watercolor and have painted many flowers, I treasure her work even though I will never know her in this life. Judging by the color of the backing paper, the work is decades old.

The Daisy in the photograph, top row, third from the left, is someone I met only once. She was Aunt Daisy to my grandfather. When his mother passed away in the Spanish Flu epidemic, she left behind four children under nine. Aunt Daisy took my grandfather in during this terrible time. Once, when I was small, he took me to her home in the hills near Martinsville, Virginia. I am forever grateful to this kind aunt for nurturing my grandfather when he was only six. She lived to be 94, and I hope she was blessed her whole life for her kindness.  

P.S. My great-grandfather is the young gentleman on the lower left.

Lastly, I include a favorite oldie of mine. Somehow, I know a lot of the words. Perhaps from listening so often as a child to Bing Crosby and Mitch Miller Sing-A-Long Records. (Yes, I do mean vinyl records.) My mother loved the voice of Nat King Cole, so this is for her.

I usually write short posts, but this one kept growing, as I hope my love for daisies will grow throughout my lifetime.

Phloral Arrangement – IAVOM Wildflowers and Autumn Berries

On By TimelessladyIn Phloral Arrangements18 Comments

In my gardens everything is beginning to dry out and brown. The annuals have had their summer fling, and the perennials are beginning to nod off too, ready to be put to bed for the winter months. I thought instead of picking flowers from my gardens for this week’s In a Vase on Monday, I would take a bike ride and see if there were any wildflowers to be found. 

I was surprised to find a few sprigs of honeysuckle having a bit of a renaissance, blooming, and still spreading a bit of fragrance. Since it was in a spot no one would see, I didn’t feel badly picking it for a bouquet. I kept riding, picking berries, and Autumn leaves, surprised to find the goldenrod was over, I had been sure it would still be available. 

A neighbor saw me peddling up the street, took note of the sprigs I held in my hand, and asked if I was giving my flowers a ride. I answered yes, and that they were free flowers. 

One wild stem I found was Porcelain Berry, something new to me, and a little dangerous in appearance. If a berry ever looked poisonous to me, this one surely did. I had a plastic bag in my pocket and I wrapped it around the stem after I picked it in case the sap was deadly. 

For a bit of clarity, and peace of mind, before I handled it further, I used my photo search app. Ampelopsis glandulosa is its classification. It isn’t poisonous at all, and has some health benefits. These are the culinary uses I found when I researched the plant: Leaves and buds can be consumed after being cooked, the fruit (berries) can be consumed raw or cooked.

I find the porcelain berries beautiful, however, they are very invasive and can kill native plants. Birds eat the plump berries and the seeds are spread in this way. 

Health benefits of Ampelopsis glandulosa: Some health benefits are treating boils, abscesses and ulcers, bruising. They are anti-inflammatory, diuretic, has been used to treat breast cancer.

The plants used in today’s IAVOM are: honeysuckle, bittersweet berries, porcelain berries, crabapple, frost aster, autumn clematis seedpods and sassafras leaves.