B y V i c t o r i a S e c u n d a Legends Lingo and Lore ... of some of my all-time favorite flowers

In the bleak mid-winter, made bleaker by a plummeting economy, it’s cheering to know that out in the garden at least, things are looking up. This annual mood-elevation is most keenly felt in early spring, with the emer- gence of perennials piercing the soil. The borders bristle with “pokers”—crim- son peony “eyes,” blue-green daffodil spears, chartreuse spikes of ornamental grass—which to me are the very embodiment of hope. But it isn’t just the signs of spring that delight; it’s also the names by which cherished flowers are known, and the bewitching fables and history attached to them. Like most gardeners, I of course have my favorites, which fill my heart— and my house—with time-honored enchantment throughout the growing sea- son. Herewith, the top six:

Peony According to Greek mythology, the peony (Paeonia, to Linnaeus nomenclature mavens), was named for Paeon, a student of Asclepias, the god of medicine. Whether in herbaceous or woody form, this voluptuous, per- fumed beauty has been in cultivation in Eastern Asia for roughly 2,500 years, featuring prominently in Chinese and Japanese art, as well as in traditional Chinese medicine. The roots, bark, and flower seeds were prized for their al- leged “curative” powers (NB: don’t try this at home), among them, to cool and nourish the blood, and to reduce pain. Because of their ravishing orna- mental value, they were grown in imperial gardens and were under imperial protection. In 1789, the Chinese tree peony was transported to Kew Gardens

40 fairfield magazine may / june 2009 in England; peonies arrived in the U.S. in plant, but then so, too, was the feckless, represented death, hence were displayed at the 1830s; were bred extensively in France albeit pulchritudinous, Tsarina Alexandra funerals. But lilies are also symbols of purity in the 1880s; and in 1903, the Quin dynasty of Russia, devotee of hydrangeas but also and chastity, and in China, the word for declared the peony to be the national flower of that nutter, Rasputin). There are at least “lily” means “forever in love.” In ancient of China, a designation that did not hold 80 species of the plant, including “mop- Greece and Rome, Madonna lily bulbs were (“official flower” status has been a matter of heads,” climbing vines, shrub-form PeeGee used in an ointment to treat skin inflamma- ongoing political debate). Peonies are said (short for paniculata ‘Grandiflora’), and tions and to prevent wrinkles. Madonna, to symbolize royalty, wealth, honor, shyness, fall-blooming paniculata ‘Tardiva’—“pa- aka Easter lilies, were discovered in the and above all, longevity; a single plant niculata” refers to the pinnacle shape of islands of southern Japan in 1777, and sent can live a century or more, and divisions the blossoms. ‘Tardiva’ blooms are divine to England in 1819; today there are 110 spe- are often handed down from generation to when dried. Here’s how: Cut the blooms cies of lilium and 250 genera, or subspecies. generation. Today there are 1,000 variet- on 18-inch stems just as they begin to turn ies of tree peonies to be found in China pinkish in September, remove the leaves, Baptisia Here’s alone, and herbaceous and woody types are tie the stems together, and hang them another Yankee native, so popular in this country—the American upside down in a cold spot—the garage is known also as Wild Peony Society was formed in 1902—that ideal—for several weeks. When thoroughly Indigo, False Indigo, and Indiana chose it as its state flower. dry and stiff, they’ll last indefinitely indoors Rattlesnake Weed (because of the sound in baskets and other containers. made by dried seed pods). The name, from Iris Also of Greek the ancient you-know-what, comes from origin, the word “iris” Clematis Like “bapto,” meaning to dip or immerse (don’t refers both to the human fuzzy bumblebees defy- you love being linguistically au courant? eye and to Iris, the Greek ing aerodynamics in Think “baptism,” etc.) False Indigo, which goddess of the rainbow and messenger of their ability to take wing, thrives in meager soil, was used by Chero- the gods. History tells us that irises were brittle-stemmed, fragile clematis vines seem kee Indians as an inexpensive source of propagated in Greece between 3,000 and to defy the elements by withstanding high blue dye (relative to the pricier true indigo, 4,000 years ago, and, in ancient Egypt, were winds in winter and going on to produce aka Indigofera tinctoria, native to the trop- used medicinally, primarily as a purgative, spectacular blooms in a breathtaking array ics), and, medicinally, to treat toothaches and cosmetically, to help banish freckles. of colors and shapes. The name–again with and nausea; as an antiseptic; and as a The iris signifies faith, wisdom, and valor, the Greek–derives from klema, meaning mouthwash. Of special interest, according and is associated with the Virgin Mary and vine. Lore has it that clematis represents to Allen M. Armitage’s Armitage’s Native saintliness. Indeed, the iris is the “fleur” mental and physical beauty, but, on the Plants for North American Gardens, is that in Fleur-de-lis, and has appeared as a royal flip side, also deception, artifice, and deceit in the mid-1700s, the English government symbol on the banners of the French mon- (witness clematis’s velvet-gloved steeli- contracted with farmers in South Carolina archy, on the coats of arms of Spain and the ness). There are an estimated 280 species and Georgia to raise the budget-friendly Medicis in Italy, as a design motif on the of clematis, over 100 of them native to plant for export to the British empire. Bap- crown jewels of England and Scotland, and China, but they’ve been found pretty much tisia, which also comes in white, maroon, on Papal crowns. Today it is the national everywhere, from the tropics to Siberia. and pale yellow, gives new meaning to flower of France and, in our country, is the Ancient Romans believed that when the word “tenacity”—once established, it state flower of Tennessee. Taxonomists trained up walls of houses, clematis would would take the combined heft of an Olym- estimate that there are 300 species and protect dwellings from thunderstorms. In pics wrestling team to transplant it. thousands of varieties of the plant under Japan, cultivars date back to the 13th cen- Anyone who has grown these and other the classifications of Siberian, bearded, and tury; clematis have been staples of British magnificent flowers is, in a sense, both a wetland-loving “flag” iris, in a “rainbow” of gardens since 1569; and today there are an horticultural historian and a visionary. Cer- hues—hence, the word “iridescent.” estimated 400 cultivars extant. tainly, as the above pedigrees and legends suggest, nurturing these flowers is a mystical Hydrangea Oriental and experience which has been shared down This flower is as old as Asiatic Lilies: Not to be through the ages. What could be more up- the American hills; fossils confused with the more lifting in these hard times, when the future reveal that hydrangeas plebeian daylily (don’t can seem so uncertain, than to participate grew as many as 70 million years ago in get me wrong, I’m a hemerocallis fan)—nor in this timeless endeavor and, in so doing, North America and are native to the Calla, Canna, Toad and water lilies—true to brighten the future? Not for nothing did region. The name, again, comes from the liliums, such as “Casa Blanca” and “Star- the noted garden photographer, Marina Greek: hydro, or water, and angeoin, or vase. gazer,” have been cultivated for more than Schinz, say, “Gardening is an exercise of On the bright side, the flower represents 3,000 years. Legend has it that these much- optimism.” Seen in this light, the garden love, gratitude, and enlightenment; on the revered, aristocratic flowers sprang from the spade serves as a magic wand. You can bury dark side, it connotes instability and vanity tears of Eve as she left the Garden of Eden. a lot of troubles digging in the dirt (thank (a spot-on description of your gardening The tombs of Egyptian pharaohs were you, unknown author). And in return, the columnist; small wonder I’m mad for the decorated with images of white lilies, which garden will never fail you. n

42 fairfield magazine may / june 2009