Flowers Garden Plants

I have a classmate who knows a lot about scientific names of plants and trees. Her father is a botanist that's why she's taken interest in the same field as well. I often hear her say that she wants to become like her father. She used to tell us that all the trees and plants in their house have name plates where the scientific names are indicated. Myrtle, my classmate, was named after a famous medicinal plant -- Myrtle. The myrtle plant is widely used in the arena of alternative medicine as an antiseptic.

During our Botany class, our professor told us to do a research on any plant we like and we're going to present it next week. It's like a show and tell class where the students have to bring with them a plant sample and a research about that plant. Myrtle used the myrtle plant. She found a lot of information from her dsl broadband internet. She told us that Myrtle originated in the Mediterranean region. People cultivated this plant so that they can have an oil source. In fact, Greeks used this to clean and tend to their wounds during ancient times. Myrtle is really a wonderful and useful plant.

One late afternoon, Myrtle narrated to me (even though, I wasn't asking at all) the scientific name of the Myrtle plant. She told me it's called Myrtus Communis. I repeated the scientific name like a chant. I even teased her that beginning that day, I'm going to call her Myrtus Communis. She also informed me that Myrtle plant has medicinal use. The antiseptic and astringent elements of the plant enables it to cure wounds. If you have any digestive and urinary problems, you can use the leaves of Myrtle to heal it. The oil of Myrtle is used to cure any chest ailments. Myrtle may be a simple plant, but it has lots of uses.

One late afternoon, when my friend and I were chatting at Starbucks, she brought up the topic of marriage and wedding. She expressed her deep desire to get married in a beautiful garden with her prince charming. She also explained in detail all her wedding plans -- from flowers up to the reception. She said that she wants to use tulips as her flower for the big day. This is no surprise for me since I know that she loves tulips ever since we were kids. Between sips of capuccino and bites of oreo cookie cake, my friend imagines her wedding day. To remove her from dreamland, I decided to share with her the history of tulips.

I told my friend that originally tulips are from Holland and not from Canada. It was only after World War II that tulips reached the soil of the Canadians. I've read from the books that I used that tulips came to Canada due to Hitler and the Nazis. In 1940, Hitler suddenly attacked Holland, forcing Queen Wilhelmina and her family to escape from London. London at that time was not safe at all since Hitler was attacking the city. Queen Wilhelmina then decided to let her daughter, Princess Juliana to flee to Canada for help. Princess Juliana then went to Canada and the Canadian soldiers helped defeat Hitler's troops. As a sign of friendship and gratitude, the Queen sent 100,000 tulips in Canada. This is how tulips came to Canada from Holland.

As remembrance and symbol of friendship between Holland and Canada, the Canadians celebrate the The Canadian Tulip Festival in Ottawa every year. My friend and I always dream of going to this festival because it showcases the colorful and beautiful hues of tulips. I discovered from the internet that Ottawa is known as the capital city of Tulips in North America. This is due to the 100,000 tulips that Queen Wilhelmina and her daughter, Princess Juliana gave the Canadians. The first ever Canadian Tulip Festival was held in 1953, a few years after World War II. Today, Canadians continue to commemorate the special friendship by holding the tulip festival every year.

When I was cleaning my room, I found a newspaper that narrated the story of the world’s largest flower in 2003. It was found out that titan arum, the world’s biggest known flower, was blooming right at the heart of US Botanic Garden in Washington DC. According to science books, this flower rarely blooms since it only flowers every fifteen years. Aside from its enormous size, its stinky smell is also its distinct trait.

The flower of Titan Arum or Amorphophallus Titanium is about five feet high, up to twelve feet in height. For the record, the height of Titan Arum is double the size of the average height of people. The leaves of this plant are equally towering as its height. It can grow up to eighteen feet in height and fifteen feet in diameter. If you’re interested in this flower, you can visit the US Botanic Garden and savor its pleasing appearance using the best video recorder. You may also visit the rainforest areas of Sumatra, Indonesia to view this flower if you wish.

The stinky smell of Titan Arum is the reason it’s also called as corpse flower. It smells like a dead fish. Another intriguing element of Titan Arum is its flower only lasts for two days; afterwards, it will start to wither. So, bride-to-bes, who want to use Titan Arum for their wedding, should have second thoughts about using such. The guests and even the groom might leave the ceremony because of the deadly smell of the flower.

I don't know how else to get rid of the bugs that ravage my garden plants except by using screens or taking very good care of the terrariums. Trouble is, I don't have the time to wipe them clean or address the moss building around the flower-cages. I don't like the sight of this greenish gunk creeping up my azaleas at all. Nor the spider webs filling up the crevices of the garden screen, blocking the warm July sunlight that help in the growth of my geraniums. Somebody actually suggested I buy pitcher plants at Lowes.

My first glimpse of the X Judith Hindle freaked me out. If this is the plant that will devour the bugs in my garden (I hope the rodents, too), then I'd be happy to keep it at a price. I heard it was difficult to buy these plants outside of Lowes stores. I had chums who purchased Venus' flytraps and Cobra lilies to adorn their gardens and at the same time keep them clean from insects. No, but someone suggested if I didn't like the Scarlet Belle or the X Judith Hindle at Lowes, I can check out some cheap hybrids at Walmart.

But these plants take a beating in the cold weather. If you look at a regular pitcher plant, you may find a lot of bugs trapped inside, and an occasional spider or two, but none of them may be dead. The only insects that it seems to kill are the crickets and the bigger insects. It's great in my bog garden but I won't dream of watering it with tap water or putting on some Miracle-Gro. This plant doesn't care for fertilizer for the simple reason that it already gets its supply of nitrogen from the bugs it feeds on.

I've never known how to cook a tomatillo jam until I grew a shrublike plant with yellow flowers and thick-husked fruits. They are more often called ground cherries. Lots of gardeners in Texas (of various zones) dote on the tomatillo because these edible flower-fruits reseed like hell they don't have difficult time planting them. Another is that these tomatillos have been good sources of Vitamin C like any citrus fruit. So far, I've collected recipes which allows me to include the tomatillo in the meal.

For instance, I've tried salsa. There's no doubt that only in salsa will you be able to exploit the real taste of the tangy sweetness tomatillo. There are species that taste like pineapple. Some like to put the Aunt Molly variety into various chili recipes and jams. My cousin never thought it's possible to feed humans with tomatillos but he's done some experiment with the chickens in the backyard. As long as it's warm and sunny, there will always be tomatillos in the garden.

The sauce made of tomatillo, mixed with onions, olive oil, jalapeno, oregano, chili, beans, cilantro, chicken stock, and also lime juice makes for a really savory chicken stew. I'm sure no one likes to eat ground cherries stewed in a hot weather, but wait till the end of fall arrives. With a tomatillo in your garden, you don't have to visit Mexican restaurants each time you're craving for salsa and chili. A pureed version of the tomatillo salsa also makes for an amazing bowl of tortilla snack dips.