Sharing the wonders of flowers and nature, gardening, plant history, folklore, art, and poetry. Bedfordshire photographer for the National Garden Scheme charity. #SolaceInNature #DailyBotanicalBeauty
https://www.venetiajane.co.uk
VenetiaJane’s Garden
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“Fair Lonicera prints the dewy lawn,
And decks with brighter blush the vermil dawn;
Winds round the shadowy rocks, and pansied vales,
And scents with sweeter breath the summer-gales;”
- from ‘The Botanic Garden’ by Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802).
St Barnabas is patron saint of Cyprus, Antioch, and peacemakers. He is also invoked against hailstorms. Born Joseph, he was renamed Barnabas (“Son of Encouragement”) after joining the apostles. He was martyred in Cyprus in 61AD. Image: St. Barnabas by Veronese, Uffizi, Florence.
“What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfilment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade.”
— from ‘On Gardening’ by Gertrude Jekyll (1843–1932) #FlowersOnFriday
In Norse mythology three sisters, the Norns, weave the fates of mankind, and sustain Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life, with water from the eldest sister’s well. It is said this water, as it trickled down to earth through leaves & branches, made honeydew for the bees. #FairytaleTuesday
It is said that as Venus ran through the forest seeking her beloved Adonis, briar thorns pricked her feet. Where her blood fell, red roses grew. White roses sprang from her tears as she mourned him, and as the sun set, its golden rays transformed some to yellow. #RoseWednesday
The illustration in my collage is by Maginel Wright Enright (1881–1966), from the story Sunshine Flowers by Clara Ingram Judson. Maginel Wright Enright was the younger sister of the renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
Meadowsweet, Filipendula ulmaria, was once used to flavour mead, the ancient honey wine. Mead infused with herbs was called “metheglin”, from Welsh words meaning “healing drink”; a fitting name for a beverage flavoured with a plant long valued as a healing herb. #FolkloreSunday
The fairies once played so long catching sunbeams that darkness fell before they reached home. They hid the beams in their flower cradles as they slept, but by dawn they had spilled out, turning some flowers gold, like buttercups and marigolds, and giving others a golden heart 💛
An old folk custom for determining when or if a wedding would take place was to pluck the petals from a common daisy (Bellis perennis) one by one while repeating the chant, “This year, next year, sometime, never”. The last remaining petal held the answer! #folklore #wildflowers
“Barnaby bright, Barnaby bright;
Longest day and shortest night”
St. Barnabas’ Day, 11 June, coincides with the summer solstice in the Old Style calendar. St. Barnabas is a saint invoked to bring peace. His flower is the ‘Midsummer Daisy’, the ox-eye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare)
