Monday, June 1, 2009

Have Cabbage, will Profit

In the language of flowers, from the Victorian-era, the cabbage means "profit." {So grow plenty :)} It is a biennial flowering plant eaten as a leafy green vegetable. Cabbage is used for German sauerkraut, Chinese suan cai, and Korean kimchi. It is an excellent source of Vitamin C and contains amounts of glutamine, an amino acid with anti-inflammatory properties. The Europeans use the leaves to make a raw paste to treat acute inflammation which is placed in another leaf and wrapped around the infected area to ease the pain. Also there are claims that it's effective in relieving painfully engorged breasts in women who breast feed. But the cabbage juice has proven to be effective for promoting the rapid healing of peptic ulcers. Some cabbage varieties is the colewort, oxheart, Savoy, Late Flat Dutch, Early Jersey Wakefield, Danish Ballhead and of course red cabbage. China is the leader in producing cabbages followed by India and the Russian Federation.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Flower Keepsakes for Mother's Day


Flowers are usually the tradition for giving on Mother's Day, but for this year break out of tradition and give her a flower keepsake. Yes, flowers are beautiful and fresh but they soon wither and die. These rose flower keepsakes are floral-related gifts that give the meaning of each color rose and they never die. They are unique gifts she'll cherish for always.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Hippe...who flower?


It's actually called Hippeastrum. It's a really beautiful flower but has a funny name. Originating from the family of Amaryllis, it's a tropical plant with rather large flower heads. They come in colors of red, rose, pink, white, orange, yellow and pale green.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Mimicry of Flowers


If you know what "mimic" means, then just apply it to these flowers. Mimicry of flowers is the imitation of common characteristics to another organism, whether it be for camouflage, defense or reproductive interactions or counteractions. This simply means that certain species of flowers, expecially the Ophrys (a large group of orchids referred to as "bee orchids" that look like furry bodies of bees and other insects) mimic other organisms to attract or repel them. The scientific name Orphys means "eyebrow" in Greek referring to their furry edges. This gives the "mimic" organism an advantage in most cases and a disadvantage to the receiver in some other cases.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Don't Eat the Carmel Daisies!

I'm sure everyone has probably seen or heard of the movie “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies” starring Doris Day, but have you ever heard of Carmel Daisies? Though the name does sound a bit tasty, they are not edible. But Daisies, on the other hand, from the family species of Asteraceae can be eaten, just make sure you do your own research first.
The Carmel Daisy is from the family (biological classification) species of Dipsacaceae or Teasel, a flowering plant which contains 350 species of perennial or biennial shrubs and herbs that are native to the more temperate climates in Asia, Europe and Africa. The flowers are rather small with creamy yellow petals and when the petals are shed they leave behind a greenish looking dried flower which is good for floral arrangements.