The names of flowers came to us from different countries, but Ancient Greece beats all records. Yes, it is understandable, the cult of beauty flourished here, and each of the most beautiful creations of nature gave rise to the most beautiful legend.
The origin of the names of various colors is very curious. Often, the name contains in a compressed form the history and legend of the flower, reflects the main or characteristic features, an assessment of its main qualities, its place of growth, and even some kind of secret.
Adonis(from the Phoenician - lord) was the lover of the goddess of love Aphrodite herself, her constant companion. But the gods, and especially the goddesses, are jealous. The goddess of the hunt, Artemis, sent a wild boar to Adonis, who killed him. Aphrodite sprinkled the blood of Adonis with nectar, and it turned into flowers - adonis. Aphrodite weeps bitterly for her beloved, and anemones grow from her tears.
Envy ruined and Peona, healer of the Olympic gods, a student of the god of healing Asclepius. When he cured the god of the underworld Hades, the teacher hated the student. Fearing the revenge of Asclepius, Peon turned to the gods whom he treated, and they turned him into a magnificent flower - a peony.
Delphinium many peoples of Europe are compared with spurs, and only in Ancient Greece, living surrounded by the sea, believed that it looked like a dolphin's head. And no wonder, in Ancient Greece the cult of the dolphin flourished, it was one of the incarnations of the god Apollo, in honor of the dolphin, Apollo founded the city of Delphi.
According to legend, there once lived a young man in Hellas, whom the gods turned into a dolphin because he sculpted a statue of a deceased lover and breathed life into her. The young man often swam to the shore if he saw his beloved on it, but she did not notice him. And then the young man, in order to express his love, brought the girl a delicate azure flower. This was the delphinium.
"Hyacinth" in Greek it means "flower of the rains", but the Greeks associate its name with the legendary youth Hyacinth. He, as usual in legends, was friends with the gods, especially the god Apollo and the god of the south wind Zephyr patronized him. One day, Apollo and Hyacinth competed in the discus throw. And when the disk was thrown by the god Apollo, Zephyr, wishing Hyacinth victory, blew heavily. Alas, unsuccessful. The disk changed trajectory, hit Hyacinth in the face and killed him. Saddened, Apollo turned drops of hyacinth's blood into beautiful flowers. The shape of their flowers on one side resembled the letter "alpha", on the other - the letter "gamma" (the initials of Apollo and Hyacinth).
And Slavic mythology gave beautiful names to flowers. They say that there was once a girl Anyuta. She fell in love with a beautiful young man, but he was afraid of her love. And Anyuta was waiting for him, waiting until she died of longing. And flowers grew on her grave, in the tricolor petals of which her purity, bitterness from betrayal and sadness were reflected: white, yellow and purple.
Or maybe everything was different, and many believe that the excessively curious Anyuta was turned into flowers, because she loved to look where it was not necessary.
Basil was also unlucky. He was bewitched by a mermaid. She tried to drag Vasilka into the water. But the stubborn boy did not succumb to her and settled in the field. A distressed mermaid turned him into a blue flower, the color of water.
About the origin roses There are many different legends.
From the waves of the sea, the goddess of love Aphrodite was born. As soon as she came ashore, the flakes of foam that sparkled on her body began to turn into bright red roses.
Muslims believe that the white rose grew from Mohammed's sweat drops during his nightly ascent to heaven, the red rose from the sweat drops of the archangel Gabriel who accompanied him, and the yellow rose from the sweat of the animal that was with Mohammed.
The painters depicted the Mother of God with three wreaths. A wreath of white roses meant Her joy, red - suffering, and yellow - Her glory.
The red moss rose arose from the drops of Christ's blood flowing down the Cross. The angels collected it in golden bowls, but a few drops fell on the moss, a rose grew out of them, the bright red color of which should remind of the blood shed for our sins.
V Ancient Rome the rose served as a symbol of sensual love. All guests of the imperial orgies put on wreaths of roses, threw rose petals into a bowl of wine, and after taking a sip, brought it to their beloved.
During the fall of Rome, the rose served as a symbol of silence. At that time, it was dangerous to share one's thoughts, so during feasts, an artificial white rose was hung on the ceiling of the hall, the look at which made many restrain their frankness. This is how the expression "sub rosa dictum" appeared - what was said under the rose, i.e. under secret.
Lily
According to Jewish legends, this flower grew in paradise during the temptation of Eve by the devil and could be defiled by it, but no dirty hand dared to touch it. Therefore, the Jews decorated them with sacred altars, the capitals of the columns of Solomon's temple. Perhaps for this reason, according to the instructions of Moses, lilies decorated the menorah.
The white lily - a symbol of innocence and purity - grew out of the milk of the mother of the gods - Hera (Juno), who found the baby of the Theban queen Hercules hidden from her jealous gaze, and knowing the divine origin of the baby, wanted to give him milk. But the boy, sensing his enemy in her, bit and pushed her away, and the milk spilled across the sky, forming the Milky Way. A few drops fell to the ground and turned into lilies.
They say about the red lily that it changed color on the night before the suffering of Christ on the cross. When the Savior walked through the Garden of Gethsemane, as a sign of compassion and sadness, all the flowers bowed their heads before Him, except for the lily, which wanted Him to enjoy its beauty. But when the pained look fell on her, the blush of shame for her pride in comparison with His humility spilled over her petals and remained forever.
In Catholic lands, there is a legend that the Archangel Gabriel on the day of the Annunciation appeared to the Blessed Virgin with a lily. With a lily, as a symbol of purity and purity, Catholics depict St. Joseph, St. John, St. Francis.
There is a belief that when lily of the valley fading, a small round berry grows - combustible, fiery tears, with which the lily of the valley mourns the spring, the round-the-world traveler, scattering her caresses to everyone and not stopping anywhere. The lily-of-the-valley in love endured his grief just as silently as he carried the joy of love.
When artificially breeding lilies of the valley, they are often grown in special-shaped vessels that look like balls, vases, and eggs. With careful care, lilies of the valley grow so tightly around the vessel that it becomes invisible.
chrysanthemum Japan's favorite. Its image is sacred and only members of the imperial house have the right to wear it. Only the symbolic chrysanthemum with 16 petals enjoys the power of government protection. It is a symbol of the life-giving sun.
In Europe, chrysanthemums were first imported to England in the 17th century. Here they are not so much flowers for bouquets as funeral ones. Perhaps that is why there is a sad legend about their origin.
The poor woman's son died. She decorated the grave dear to her with wild flowers picked along the way until the cold came. Then she remembered a bouquet of artificial flowers, which her mother bequeathed as a guarantee of happiness. She placed this bouquet on the grave, sprinkled it with tears, prayed, and when she raised her head, she saw a miracle: the whole grave was covered with live chrysanthemums. Their bitter smell seemed to say that they were dedicated to sorrow.
Carnation
According to ancient legend, once upon a time gods lived on Earth. And once the goddess Artemis, the daughter of Zeus and Latona, returning from hunting, saw a shepherd boy who was playing the flute. He did not suspect that the sounds of the flute frightened and dispersed all the animals in the area. Enraged by the unsuccessful hunt, the goddess fired an arrow and stopped the heart of a wonderful musician. But very soon the anger of the goddess was replaced by mercy and repentance. She called on the god Zeus and asked him to turn the dead youth into a beautiful flower. Since then, the Greeks have called the carnation the flower of Zeus, the wise and powerful god who gave the young man immortality.
Lotus- a symbol of passing through all the elements: it has roots in the earth, grows in water, blooms in the air, and is fed by the fiery rays of the Sun.
Mythopoetic tradition ancient india imagined our land as a giant lotus blooming on the surface of the waters, and paradise as a huge lake overgrown with beautiful pink lotuses, where righteous, pure souls live. The white lotus is an indispensable attribute of divine power. Therefore, many gods of India have traditionally been depicted standing or sitting on a lotus or with a lotus flower in their hand.
In the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata, a lotus is described, which had a thousand petals, shone like the sun and scattered around a delicious aroma. This lotus, according to legend, lengthened life, returned youth and beauty.
Narcissus
In ancient Greek legend, the handsome young man Narcissus cruelly rejected the love of a nymph. The nymph withered from hopeless passion and turned into an echo, but before her death she cursed: "Let the one whom he loves not reciprocate with Narcissus."
On a hot afternoon, exhausted by the heat, young Narcissus leaned over to drink from the stream, and in its bright jets he saw his own reflection. Narcissus had never met such beauty before and therefore lost his peace. Every morning he came to the stream, dipped his hands into the water to hug the one he saw, but it was all in vain.
Narcissus stopped eating, drinking, sleeping, because he was unable to move away from the stream, and melted almost before our eyes, until he disappeared without a trace. And on the ground where he was seen, a fragrant white flower of cold beauty grew for the last time. Since then, the mythical goddesses of retribution, the Furies, have adorned their heads with wreaths of daffodils.
At different peoples and at different times the narcissus was loved and had different meanings. The Persian king Cyrus called it "the creation of beauty, immortal delight." The ancient Romans greeted the winners of battles with yellow daffodils. The image of this flower is found on the walls of ancient Pompeii. For the Chinese, it is obligatory in every home on New Year's holiday, and especially many daffodils are bred in Guangzhou (Canton), where they are grown in glass cups in wet sand or in small pebbles filled with water.
beautiful legend about orchids was with the New Zealand tribe of Majori. They were sure of the divine origin of these flowers. Long ago, long before humans existed, the only visible parts of the earth were the snow-capped peaks of high mountains. From time to time the sun thawed the snow, thus causing the water to descend from the mountains in a stormy stream, forming amazing waterfalls. Those, in turn, rushed towards the seas and oceans with seething foam, after which, evaporating, they formed curly clouds. These clouds eventually completely blocked the view of the earth from the sun.
Once the sun wanted to pierce this impenetrable cover. There was heavy tropical rain. After him, a huge rainbow formed, embracing the entire sky.
Fascinated by the hitherto unseen spectacle, immortal spirits - the only inhabitants of the earth at that time - began to flock to the rainbow from all, even the most distant lands. Everyone wanted to grab a place on the colorful bridge. They pushed and fought. But then everyone sat down on the rainbow and sang in unison. Little by little, the rainbow sagged under their weight, until it finally collapsed to the ground, scattering into a myriad of small multi-colored sparks. Immortal spirits, who had never seen anything like it before, watched the fantastic colorful rain with bated breath. Every particle of the earth gratefully accepted the fragments of the heavenly bridge. Those that were caught by the trees turned into orchids.
From this began the triumphal procession of orchids across the earth. There were more and more multi-colored lanterns, and not a single flower dared to challenge the right of an orchid to be called the queen of the flower kingdom.
Plants in the legends and tales of Russia
Voronkina Lyudmila Artemievna, teacher of additional education MBOU DOD DTDM g.o. Tolyatti
This material will be of interest to students of middle and high school age.
Target: expanding the horizons of children.
Tasks: introduce students to beautiful stories related to plants.
According to ancient legends, the East Slavic god Yarilo endowed the earth with plants (according to scientists, this word goes back to the two words yara-spring, and yar-year, it is no secret that earlier, in pagan times, the year was counted from spring). "Oh, you goy, Mother of the Cheese Earth! Love me, the god of light. For your love, I will adorn you with blue seas, yellow sands, blue rivers, silver lakes, green grass-ant, scarlet, azure flowers ..." And so every spring, the earth blooms from winter sleep.
THE LEGEND OF THE LILY OF THE VALLEY
In ancient Slavic legends, lily of the valley flowers were called the tears of Volkhova (the mistress of the underwater kingdom), who loved the gusli Sadko, whose heart belonged to an earthly girl - Lyubava. Upon learning that her lover's heart was occupied, Volkhova did not open her love to Sadko, but sometimes at night, by the light of the moon on the lake, she sobbed bitterly. And large tears-pearls, touching the ground, sprouted lilies of the valley. Since that time, the lily of the valley in Russia has become a symbol of hidden love.
THE LEGEND OF CHAMOMILE
A girl lived in the world and she had a favorite - Roman, who made gifts for her with his own hands, turned every day of the girl's life into a holiday! Once Roman went to bed - and he dreamed of a simple flower - a yellow core and white rays diverging to the sides from the core. When he woke up, he saw a flower next to him and gave it to his girlfriend. And the girl wanted all people to have such a flower. Then Roman went in search of this flower and found it in the country of Eternal Dreams, but the king of this country did not give the flower just like that. The ruler told Roman that the people would get a whole field of chamomile if the young man stayed in his country. The girl waited for her beloved for a very long time, but one morning she woke up and saw a huge white-yellow field outside the window. Then the girl realized that her Roman would never return and named the flower in honor of her beloved - Chamomile! Now the girls are guessing on a camomile - "Lo-bit-does not love!"
LEGEND ABOUT VASILKA
An old folk myth tells how a beautiful mermaid fell in love with a handsome young plowman Vasily. Their love was mutual, but the lovers could not decide where to live - on land or in water. The mermaid did not want to part with Vasily and turned him into a field flower of the color of the cool blue of the water. Since then, every summer, when blue cornflowers bloom in the fields, mermaids weave wreaths from them and put them on their heads.
THE LEGEND OF THE DANDELION.
One day the flower goddess descended to earth. She wandered for a long time through the fields and forest edges, through gardens and forests, wanting to find her favorite flower. The first thing she saw was a tulip. The goddess decided to talk to him:
- What are you dreaming about, Tulip? she asked.
Tulip answered without hesitation:
- I would like to grow in a flower bed near an ancient castle, covered with emerald grass. The gardeners would take care of me. Some princess would love me. Every day she would come up to me and admire my beauty.
From the arrogance of the tulip, the goddess grew sad. She turned and walked on. Soon on the way she came across a rose.
- Could you be my favorite flower, Rose? the goddess asked.
- If you put me near the walls of your castle, so that I can braid them. I am very fragile and tender, I cannot grow anywhere. I need supports and very good care.
The Goddess did not like the answer of the rose and she went on. Soon she came to the edge of the forest, which was covered with a purple carpet of violets.
- Would you be my favorite flower, Violet? - asked the Goddess, looking hopefully at the small graceful flowers.
- No, I don't like attention. I feel good here, on the edge, where I am hidden from prying eyes. The brook waters me, the mighty trees shield from the hot sun, which can damage my deep rich color.
In desperation, the Goddess ran wherever her eyes looked and almost stepped on a bright yellow dandelion.
- Do you like living here, Dandelion? she asked.
- I like to live wherever there are children. I love hearing their romps, I love watching them run to school. I could take root anywhere: along roadsides, in courtyards and city parks. Just to bring joy to people.
The goddess smiled.
- Here is a flower that will be my favorite. And now you will bloom everywhere from early spring to late autumn. And you will be the children's favorite flower.
Since then, dandelions have been blooming for a long time and in almost any conditions.
THE LEGEND OF PANSY
In Russia, there was a belief that the beauty Anyuta lived, kind and trusting, and with all her heart she fell in love with a handsome seducer, but he was frightened of her love and left, promising to return soon. Anyuta waited for him for a long time, looking at the road, fading away from melancholy and died. Tricolor "violets" grew on her grave, and each of the flowers personified Anyuta's feelings: hope, resentment and sadness from unrequited love.
THE LEGEND OF ROWAN
Once the daughter of a rich merchant fell in love with a simple guy, but her father did not want to hear about such a poor groom. To save the family from shame, he decided to resort to the help of a sorcerer. His daughter accidentally found out about this and the girl decided to run away from her home. On a dark and rainy night, she hurried to the river bank to the meeting place with her beloved. At the same hour the sorcerer also left the house. But the guy noticed the sorcerer. In order to take the danger away from the girl, the brave young man threw himself into the water. The sorcerer waited until he crossed the river and waved his magic staff when the young man was already getting out onto the shore. Then lightning flashed, thunder struck, and the guy turned into an oak tree. All this happened in front of the girl, who, because of the rain, was a little late for the meeting place. And the girl, too, remained standing on the shore. Her thin frame became the trunk of a mountain ash, and her hands - branches stretched towards her beloved. In spring, she puts on a white outfit, and in autumn she drops red tears into the water, grieving that “the river is wide, you can’t step over it, the river is deep, and you won’t drown.” So there are two lonely trees that love each other on different banks. And “you can’t get over the mountain ash to the oak, it’s clear that the orphan can swing alone for centuries.”
LEGEND ABOUT KALINA
Once upon a time, when viburnum berries were sweeter than raspberries, there lived a girl in love with a proud blacksmith. The blacksmith did not notice her and often walked through the forest. She then decided to set fire to the forest. The blacksmith came to his favorite place, and there only a viburnum bush grows watered with tears, and under it sits a tearful girl. The tears shed by her did not allow the last bush in the forest to burn. And then the heart of the blacksmith stuck to this girl, but it was too late, like the forest, the youth and beauty of the girl burned down. She quickly grew old, but the ability to respond to love returned to the guy. And right up to old age, he saw the image of a young beauty in his hunched old woman. Since then, viburnum berries have become bitter, like tears from unrequited love.
LEGEND ABOUT ROSE
There is a legend that tells where rosehip itself came from and how its healing properties were discovered. Once a young Cossack woman and a young man fell in love with each other, but the old ataman also laid eyes on the beauty. He decided to separate the lovers and sent the young guy to military service. In parting, he gave his beloved a dagger. The old chieftain wanted to force the Cossack woman to marry him, but she escaped and killed herself with a gift weapon. In the place where her scarlet blood was shed, a bush grew, which covered itself with beautiful flowers with a charming aroma. When the chieftain wanted to pluck an amazing flower, the bush was covered with prickly thorns, and no matter how hard the Cossack tried, he did not succeed, only injured his hands. In the fall, bright fruits appeared to replace the flowers, but no one dared even try them, one day the old grandmother sat down to rest from the road under a bush and heard him say to her in a girlish voice that she was not afraid, but made tea from berries. The old woman obeyed and after drinking tea, she felt 10 years younger. Good fame quickly spread and rose hips began to be known and used for medicinal purposes.
THE LEGEND OF THE HAWTHORN
According to Russian legends, a green-eyed girl with a beautiful face lived in the village, she valued loyalty and purity above all virtues. But she liked the grandson of Genghis Khan, Batu Khan. For several days he unsuccessfully tried to talk to her, but the girl was engaged and did not answer Batu Khan. Then Batu Khan tracked her down, but the Russian woman was not afraid, snatched a dagger from under the shushpan and stabbed herself in the chest. She fell dead at the foot of a hawthorn, and since then young girls in Russia have been called hawthorns, young ladies, and young women - boyars.
The legend of the cuckoo's tears plant
He says that the cuckoo was crying over this plant on the Ascension Feast and spots from her tears remained on its flowers. Look closely and you can really see the spots - that's why the plant is called cuckoo's tears! Another name for cuckoo tears is spotted orchid.
THE LEGEND OF THE FERN
Everyone knows this legend, which tells about Ivan's Day (The pagan holiday of Ivan Kupala, previously celebrated on the day of the summer solstice (i.e. the longest daylight day of the year) before the baptism of Russia, is now celebrated on July 7 on the day of the Nativity of John the Baptist, i.e. astronomical correspondence to the pagan holiday is now lost). So, according to legend, it was at midnight on Ivan Kupala that a bright fiery fern flower bloomed, so bright that it was impossible to look at it, and the earth opened up, flaunting all the treasures and treasures. An invisible hand rips it off, and the human hand has almost never been able to do it. Whoever manages to pluck this flower will acquire the power to command everyone. After midnight, those who were lucky enough to find a fern flower ran "in what their mother gave birth" through the dewy grass and bathed in the river to receive fertility from the earth.
THE LEGEND OF IVAN-TEA
It is connected with the Russian old word “tea” (not a drink!), which meant: most likely, perhaps, apparently, etc. In one Russian village, the guy Ivan lived. He was very fond of red shirts, he used to put on a shirt, go out to the outskirts and walk along the edge of the forest, walk. The villagers, seeing a bright red color among the greenery, said: “Yes, this is Ivan, tea, he walks.” They got so used to it that they didn’t even notice how Ivan was gone in the village and began to speak to the scarlet flowers that suddenly appeared near the outskirts of the village, “Yes, this is Ivan, tea!”
THE LEGEND OF THE BATHROOM
An old legend about a bathing suit that came to us from Western Siberia: “The slender young shepherd Alexei often drove herds of horses to a watering hole to Baikal. Horses flew at full speed into the clear waters of the lake, raising fountains of spray, but Alexei was the most restless of all. He dived and swam so joyfully and laughed so contagiously that he frightened all the mermaids. The mermaids began to come up with various tricks to lure Alexei, but none of them received his attention. Sighing dejectedly, the mermaids sank to the bottom of the lake, but alone fell in love with Alexei so much that she did not want to be with him She began to get out of the water and quietly pursue the shepherd. Her hair burned out from the sun and turned golden. Her cold eyes lit up. However, Alexei did not notice anything. Sometimes he paid attention to the unusual outlines of the fog, similar to a girl stretching out her hands to him. But and then he only laughed and so accelerated the horse that the mermaid jumped aside in fear. The last time she sat not far from Alexei by the night fire, trying to attract attention with a whisper, a sad song and a pale smile, but when Alexei got up to approach her, the mermaid melted in the morning rays, turning into a bathing flower, which Siberians affectionately call Zharki.
As you can see, many legends tell us about the events associated with plants. Basically, everything is connected with the highest human feelings: love, pride, faith, hope, loyalty, courage. There are also a number of legends about the healing power of plants.
THE LEGEND ABOUT SABELMIK.
Hello my dear readers!
It's already May, the last month of spring. The ground is covered with young grass, flowers grow everywhere. There are also many flowers in the garden. The early ones have already faded, now they have been replaced by later spring flowers - tulips, daffodils, irises, lilacs, lilies of the valley. The gardens are very beautiful. We love them for their beauty, warmth, amazing sincerity. Flowers give us a lot of joy.
Children can also be introduced to early years with garden flowers. Consider how beautiful they are, what colors they are. Watch them as they bloom and grow. The kids are happy to help take care of the flowers in the garden. They like to make bouquets of them and give them. In the garden, you can simply admire the flowers and inhale their fragrance. But when cutting, you must remember that it is undesirable to keep flowers in the room. They can cause allergies in children and adults. And the smell of some garden flowers can simply cause dizziness. So you have to be careful with these.
We have tulips in bloom now, already later, because. the early ones are gone. Daffodils, lilacs, lilies of the valley and irises also bloom. And today I want to tell you a little about garden flowers, as well as introduce you to some of them.
NARCISSUS
It is impossible to remain indifferent at the sight of this flower. He is very graceful. Yellow center and white or yellow petals. He was sung by poets.
V ancient Greek mythology exists the legend of Narcissus.
There once lived a beautiful nymph named Echo. She met a beautiful young man and fell in love with him. It was Narcissus. He remained cold and the gods punished him. One day, by the river, he bent down to quench his thirst. Seeing his reflection in the water, he fell in love with it and died of love. But the gods took pity on him and turned him into a flower.
During the feast or upon the return of the warriors with a victory, the Romans decorated themselves with wreaths of daffodils. And in Switzerland they organized special feasts-daffodils.
There is a legend in China that the narcissus is the flower of the water god. Legend has it that one poor woman ran out of supplies and could barely scrape together some rice to feed her son. But suddenly someone knocked. On the threshold, the woman saw a hungry wanderer and gave him the last. The Stranger thanked for the alms, went up to the pond and hid in its waters. The next day, an amazingly beautiful flower grew near the pond. And the people said to the woman: "It was the water god himself who thanked you." Maybe in China, if they want to express their gratitude to someone for their kindness, they give daffodils.
Tulip and bitterwort lit up with love,
And a marvelous handsome man, Narcissus in love ...
... Bloomed over the stream.
TULIP
Following the daffodils, tulips bloom. It is difficult to imagine bouquets of daffodils without tulips. What color do these flowers not have! It seems that nature has arranged a feast for itself, scattering multi-colored tulips everywhere.
The name "tulip" comes from the Persian-Turkish word "dulbent" - "turban" or headdress. Tulip is a very simple but beautiful flower. Peter 1 brought him to our country. Previously, only rich people could afford to grow tulips because the bulbs were expensive.
In the 16th century, the tulip came to Europe. And the fascination with tulips has reached great proportions. In Holland it has become a tulip mania.
On the slab of a house in Amsterdam, an inscription was preserved, which said that two stone houses in 1634 were bought for 3 tulip bulbs.
In England, he was sung by poets, in fairy tales he served as a cradle for fairies and elves.
Tulips were very fond of the Turkish sultans.
The legend of tulips says that it was in the yellow tulip that happiness was concluded. But no one could get to him. because the buds did not open. But one day a little boy took a flower and the tulip opened by itself. A child's soul, carefree happiness and laughter opened the flower.
In the language of flowers, a tulip means a declaration of love. In poetry, this flower is also often mentioned.
Wonderful guest of distant Iran,
A favorite of sun-scorched countries
In the gardens of Hafiz, a fiery tulip
He opened his crimson rim like a bowl.
Lily of the valley
The sun rises and illuminates the grove. And in it are stretched green stems with white porcelain flowers. What are these flowers? These are lilies of the valley.
In some fairy tales, lilies of the valley serve as a refuge for sunbeams, and their flowers serve as lanterns for little gnomes.
Eat a lot legends about lilies of the valley. Here is one of them.
An old Slavic legend tells.
Daring Sadko was loved by the water princess Volkhova. One day she saw her lover with another girl, Lyubava. The proud princess turned away and walked away. From her beautiful eyes, tears rolled down, which turned into delicate flowers, studded with magical pearls.
Since then, the lily of the valley has been considered a symbol of pure and tender love.
And here is another legend.
The Celts believed that lilies of the valley were the treasures of the elves. According to their legend, young hunters, having ambushed wild animals, saw an elf in the forest thicket, who was dragging pearls up the mountain. One hunter decided to take a tiny ball, but when he touched it, the mountain of treasures crumbled. People rushed to collect them, but the elven king flew to the noise, who turned all the pearls into flowers. And since then, the elves have been taking revenge on people for the loss of their treasure.
Poem about lily of the valley
E. Serova
A lily of the valley was born on a May day,
And the forest keeps him
I think it's behind him
It will ring softly.
And this ringing will hear the meadow,
Both birds and flowers
Let's listen, what if
Can we hear you and me?
LILAC
Almost together with lilies of the valley, lilacs bloom in our country. It comes in both white and purple.
Her homeland is Persia. Here and the legend of the lilac.
One day in April, when the earth was waiting for heavenly gifts, the goddess of flowers Flora set off to wake the Sun in order to quickly see the magical attire of trees, hear birdsong, and drown in flowers.
The sun descended to earth, mixing the rays of the rainbow with the rays of the sun. The goddess began to shower trees, meadows, earth. Everywhere grew bells, then pink stars. And then only lilac paint remained and Flora began to sprinkle only it. In the place where the paint fell, lilac brushes appeared.
The smell of lilac is very fragrant. These beautiful bushes delight us with their beauty.
irises
Together with the apple trees, irises are also beginning to bloom. They are somewhat similar to orchids. It means "rainbow" in translation. The ancient Greeks believed that these beautiful flowers came from pieces of the rainbow.
These are the beautiful legends about garden flowers I wanted to tell you. All flower photos are mine. We have these flowers all growing at home.
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The flowers in the photo in the article are all ours, they grow at home.
Write your comments, tell us what garden flowers are blooming now. What flowers do you like the most in spring?
WATER LILY.
The marvelous water lily, or, as it is also called, the water lily (a relative of the famous Egyptian lotus), according to the Greek myth, arose from the body of a lovely nymph who died of love for Hercules, who remained indifferent to her.
In ancient Greece, the flower was considered a symbol of beauty and eloquence. Young girls wove garlands from them, decorated their heads and tunics with them; they even wove a wreath of water lilies for the beautiful Helen on the day of her wedding to King Menelaus and decorated the entrance to their bedroom with a wreath.
The leaf of the water lily is floating like a raft, outwardly simple, heart-shaped and thick, like a flat cake; there are air cavities inside it, therefore it does not sink. There is several times more air in it in order to hold its own weight, the excess of which is necessary for unforeseen accidents: if, say, a bird or a frog sits down, the sheet must hold them.
Once upon a time there was such a belief: water lilies descend under water at night and turn into beautiful mermaids, and with the advent of the sun, mermaids turn into flowers again. In ancient times, the water lily was even called the mermaid flower.
Maybe that's why botanists gave the name to the water lily "Nymphea Candida", which means "white nymph" (nymph - mermaid).
In Germany, it was said that once a little mermaid fell in love with a knight, but he did not reciprocate her feelings. From grief, the nymph turned into a water lily.
There is a belief that nymphs (mermaids) hide in flowers and on the leaves of water lilies, and at midnight they begin to dance and drag people passing by the lake with them. If someone managed to somehow escape from them, then grief will dry him up later.
According to another legend, water lilies are the children of a beautiful countess, carried away into mud by a swamp king. Heartbroken, the Countess went daily to the shore of the swamp. One day she saw a wonderful white flower, the petals of which resembled the complexion of her daughter, and the stamens - her golden hair.
There are also legends that say that each water lily has its own elf friend (little man), who is born together with the flower, and dies together. Corollas of flowers serve the elves as both a home and a bell. During the day, the elves sleep in the depths of the flower, and at night they swing the pestle and call, calling their brothers for a quiet conversation. Some of them sit in a circle on a leaf, hanging their legs into the water, while others prefer to talk, swaying in the corollas of water lilies.
Gathering together, they sit in capsules and row, row with petal oars, and the capsules then serve them as boats or boats. The conversations of the elves take place at a late hour, when everything on the lake has calmed down and plunged into a deep sleep.
Lake elves live in underwater crystal chambers built from shells. Pearls, yachts, silver and corals glisten around the halls. Emerald streams roll along the bottom of the lake, dotted with multi-colored pebbles, and waterfalls fall on the roofs of the halls. The sun shines through the water into these dwellings, and the moon and the stars call the elves to the shore.
The charm of the water lily acts charmingly not only on Europeans. There are many legends and legends about it among other peoples.
Here is what, for example, is said in the legend of the North American Indians.
Dying, the great Indian leader shot an arrow into the sky. The arrow really wanted to get two bright stars. They rushed after the arrow, but collided, and sparks fell on the ground from the collision. From these heavenly sparks, water lilies were born.
A powerful plant, and not just a beautiful flower, was considered a white lily among the Slavic peoples.
The water lily is nothing more than the famous fairy-tale weed-grass. Rumor ascribes magical properties to it. She can give strength to overcome the enemy, protect from troubles and misfortunes, but she can also destroy the one who was looking for her with unclean thoughts. A decoction of a water lily was considered a love drink, it was worn in an amulet on the chest as a talisman.
The Slavs believed that the water lily was able to protect people from various misfortunes and troubles while traveling. Going on a long journey, people sewed leaves and flowers of water lilies into small bags, carried water lilies with them as an amulet and firmly believed that this would bring them good luck and protect them from misfortunes.
There was also a kind of spell on this occasion: “I am riding in an open field, and grass is growing in an open field. I didn’t give birth to you, I didn’t water you. Overcome the grass! evil people: famously they wouldn’t think of me, they wouldn’t think bad; drive away the sorcerer-slander.
Overcome-grass! Overcome high mountains, low valleys, blue lakes, steep banks, dark forests, stumps and decks. I will hide you, overpowering grass, at the zealous heart all the way and all the way!
Unfortunately, in fact, a beautiful flower cannot even stand up for itself. And it is not he who should protect us, but we must protect him so that this miracle does not disappear, so that sometimes in the morning we can see how bright white stars appear on the surface of still dark water and, as if wide-open eyes, look at the beautiful world of nature, which is even more beautiful because that these flowers exist - white lilies.
A relative of our white water lily is the yellow water lily, which is popularly called the egg lily. The Latin name for the capsule is "nufar luteum". "Nyufar" comes from the Arabic word, which also means "nymph", "luteum" - "yellow".
At whatever time of the day you come to look at a blooming water lily, you will never find its flowers in the same position. All day long, the water lily follows the movement of the sun, turning its floating head towards its rays.
In the distant past, the entire coastal strip of Italy, from Pisa to Naples, was occupied by swamps. In all likelihood, the legend of the beautiful Melinda and the swamp king was born there. The king's eyes shimmered like phosphorescent rot, and instead of legs there were frog legs.
And yet he became the husband of the beautiful Melinda, whom he was helped to get by a yellow egg-pod, personifying treason and deceit from time immemorial.
Walking with her friends by the swampy lake, Melinda admired the golden floating flowers and, in order to pick one of them, stepped on the coastal stump, under the guise of which the lord of the bog was hiding. The "stump" went to the bottom and dragged the girl along with it, and in the place where she disappeared under water, snow-white flowers with a yellow core surfaced.
So after the lilies-pods appeared water lilies-water lilies, meaning in the ancient language of flowers: "You must never deceive me."
The pod blooms from late May to August. At this time, next to the floating leaves, you can see large yellow, almost spherical flowers sticking high on thick pedicels.
The capsule has long been considered a medicinal plant in folk medicine. Both leaves were used, and a thick, up to 15 centimeters long, rhizome lying on the bottom, and large, well-smelling flowers reaching 5 centimeters in diameter.
They cut off the egg-pod and in order to decorate her dwelling with flowers. And in vain: the flowers of the capsule, like the white lily, do not stand in vases.
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An interesting question is how to distinguish between a lotus and a water lily.
lotus and water lily(in English water lily) at first glance are very similar, but there are differences. Even according to the taxonomy, lilies belong to the flowering department, and the lotus is angiosperms.
Here is how they are distinguished:
The leaves and flowers of the lotus are above the water, the leaves of the water lily float on the water. 
The lotus has three kinds of leaves, and the water lily has one kind.
The lotus has a barrel-shaped pistil embedded in the receptacle. It is easy to distinguish from a water lily by the fruits-boxes. 
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The stamens of the lotus are filamentous, while those of the water lily are lamellar.
The lotus needs warmth, and the water lily is able to withstand low temperatures. Different types of water lilies grow in our lakes and rivers, and lotuses only in warm regions. 
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air_kiss:
The names of flowers came to us from different countries, but Ancient Greece beats all records. Yes, it is understandable, the cult of beauty flourished here, and each of the most beautiful creations of nature gave rise to the most beautiful legend.
The origin of the names of various colors is very curious. Often, the name contains in a compressed form the history and legend of the flower, reflects the main or characteristic features, an assessment of its main qualities, its place of growth, and even some kind of secret.
Adonis(from the Phoenician - lord) was the lover of the goddess of love Aphrodite herself, her constant companion. But the gods, and especially the goddesses, are jealous. The goddess of the hunt, Artemis, sent a wild boar to Adonis, who killed him. Aphrodite sprinkled the blood of Adonis with nectar, and it turned into flowers - adonis. Aphrodite weeps bitterly for her beloved, and anemones grow from her tears.
Envy also killed Peon, the healer of the Olympic gods, a student of the god of healing Asclepius. When he cured the god of the underworld Hades, the teacher hated the student. Fearing the revenge of Asclepius, Peon turned to the gods whom he treated, and they turned him into a magnificent flower - peony.
Delphinium many peoples of Europe are compared with spurs, and only in Ancient Greece, living surrounded by the sea, they believed that it looked like a dolphin's head. And no wonder, in Ancient Greece the cult of the dolphin flourished, it was one of the incarnations of the god Apollo, in honor of the dolphin, Apollo founded the city of Delphi.
According to legend, there once lived a young man in Hellas, whom the gods turned into a dolphin because he sculpted a statue of a deceased lover and breathed life into her. The young man often swam to the shore if he saw his beloved on it, but she did not notice him. And then the young man, in order to express his love, brought the girl a delicate azure flower. This was the delphinium.
« Hyacinth" in Greek means "flower of the rains", but the Greeks associate its name with the legendary young man Hyacinth. He, as usual in legends, was friends with the gods, especially the god Apollo and the god of the south wind Zephyr patronized him. One day, Apollo and Hyacinth competed in the discus throw. And when the disk was thrown by the god Apollo, Zephyr, wishing Hyacinth victory, blew heavily. Alas, unsuccessful. The disk changed trajectory, hit Hyacinth in the face and killed him. Saddened, Apollo turned drops of hyacinth's blood into beautiful flowers. The shape of their flowers on one side resembled the letter "alpha", on the other - the letter "gamma" (the initials of Apollo and Hyacinth).
And Slavic mythology gave beautiful names to flowers. They say that there was once a girl Anyuta. She fell in love with a beautiful young man, but he was afraid of her love. And Anyuta was waiting for him, waiting until she died of longing. And flowers grew on her grave Pansies , in the tricolor petals of which her purity, bitterness from betrayal and sadness were reflected: white, yellow and purple.
Or maybe everything was different, and many believe that the excessively curious Anyuta was turned into flowers, because she loved to look where it was not necessary.
cornflower no luck either. He was bewitched by a mermaid. She tried to drag Vasilka into the water. But the stubborn boy did not succumb to her and settled in the field. A distressed mermaid turned him into a blue flower, the color of water.
About the origin roses There are many different legends.
From the waves of the sea, the goddess of love Aphrodite was born. As soon as she came ashore, the flakes of foam that sparkled on her body began to turn into bright red roses.
Muslims believe that the white rose grew from the sweat drops of Mohammed during his nightly ascent to heaven, the red rose from the sweat drops of the archangel Gabriel who accompanied him, and the yellow rose from the sweat of the animal that was with Mohammed.
The painters depicted the Mother of God with three wreaths. A wreath of white roses signified Her joy, red - suffering, and yellow - Her glory.
The red moss rose arose from the drops of Christ's blood flowing down the Cross. The angels collected it in golden bowls, but a few drops fell on the moss, a rose grew out of them, the bright red color of which should remind of the blood shed for our sins.
In ancient Rome, the rose served as a symbol of sensual love. All guests of the imperial orgies put on wreaths of roses, threw rose petals into a bowl of wine, and after taking a sip, brought it to their beloved.
During the fall of Rome, the rose served as a symbol of silence. At that time, it was dangerous to share one's thoughts, so during feasts, an artificial white rose was hung on the ceiling of the hall, the look at which made many restrain their frankness. This is how the expression "sub rosa dictum" appeared - said under the rose, i.e. under secret.
Lily
According to Jewish legends, this flower grew in paradise during the temptation of Eve by the devil and could be defiled by it, but no dirty hand dared to touch it. Therefore, the Jews decorated them with sacred altars, the capitals of the columns of Solomon's temple. Perhaps for this reason, according to the instructions of Moses, lilies decorated the menorah.
The white lily - a symbol of innocence and purity - grew out of the milk of the mother of the gods - Hera (Juno), who found the baby of the Theban queen Hercules hidden from her jealous gaze, and knowing the divine origin of the baby, wanted to give him milk. But the boy, sensing his enemy in her, bit and pushed her away, and the milk spilled across the sky, forming the Milky Way. A few drops fell to the ground and turned into lilies.
They say about the red lily that it changed color on the night before the suffering of Christ on the cross. When the Savior walked through the Garden of Gethsemane, as a sign of compassion and sadness, all the flowers bowed their heads before Him, except for the lily, which wanted Him to enjoy its beauty. But when the pained look fell on her, the blush of shame for her pride in comparison with His humility spilled over her petals and remained forever.
In Catholic lands, there is a legend that the Archangel Gabriel on the day of the Annunciation appeared to the Blessed Virgin with a lily. With a lily, as a symbol of purity and purity, Catholics depict St. Joseph, St. John, St. Francis.
There is a belief that when lily of the valley a small round berry blossoms, grows - flammable, fiery tears, with which the lily of the valley mourns the spring, the round-the-world traveler, scattering her caresses to everyone and not stopping anywhere. The lily-of-the-valley in love endured his grief just as silently as he carried the joy of love.
When artificially breeding lilies of the valley, they are often grown in special-shaped vessels that look like balls, vases, and eggs. With careful care, lilies of the valley grow so tightly around the vessel that it becomes invisible.
chrysanthemum Japan's favorite. Its image is sacred and only members of the imperial house have the right to wear it. Only the symbolic chrysanthemum with 16 petals enjoys the power of government protection. It is a symbol of the life-giving sun.
In Europe, chrysanthemums were first imported to England in the 17th century. Here they are not so much flowers for bouquets as funeral ones. Perhaps that is why there is a sad legend about their origin.
The poor woman's son died. She decorated the grave dear to her with wild flowers picked along the way until the cold came. Then she remembered a bouquet of artificial flowers, which her mother bequeathed as a guarantee of happiness. She placed this bouquet on the grave, sprinkled it with tears, prayed, and when she raised her head, she saw a miracle: the whole grave was covered with live chrysanthemums. Their bitter smell seemed to say that they were dedicated to sorrow.
Its scientific name is Myosotis, meaning "mouse ear" in translation, forget-me-nots received because of the leaves covered with hairs. There are various legends about the origin of forget-me-nots. They talk about the tears shed by the brides when parting with their loved ones. These tears turn into blue flowers, like their eyes, and the girls give them to their lover as a keepsake.
According to a popular belief in Germany, forget-me-nots grow on the graves of unbaptized children, as if reproaching their parents for forgetting to perform this rite.
Your name "daisy"The flower received from the Greek word margarites -" pearl ".
Romantic knights, for whom the Virgin Mary served as an ideal, chose the humble daisy as their flower. According to custom, a knight in love brought a bouquet of daisies to the lady of the heart. If the lady dared to answer "yes", she chose the largest daisy from the bouquet and gave it to the man. From that moment on, he was allowed to draw a daisy on his shield - a sign of mutual love. But if the lady was indecisive, she wove a wreath of daisies and gave it to the knight. Such a gesture was not considered a categorical refusal, and sometimes, until the end of his life, the owner of a wreath of daisies waited for the favor of a cruel lady.
There is an origin story lilacs. The goddess of spring woke up the Sun and his faithful companion Iris (rainbow), mixed the rays of the sun with the colorful rays of the rainbow, began to generously sprinkle them on fresh furrows, meadows, tree branches - and flowers appeared everywhere, and the earth rejoiced from this grace. So they reached Scandinavia, but the rainbow had only purple paint left. Soon there were so many lilacs here that the Sun decided to mix the colors on the Rainbow palette and began to sow white rays - so white joined the purple lilac.
The birthplace of lilac is Persia. It came to Europe only in the 16th century. In England, lilac is considered a flower of misfortune. An old English proverb says that one who wears lilac will never wear a wedding ring. In the East, lilac is a symbol of a sad parting, and lovers give it to each other when parting forever.
Water lily
In Germany, they said that once a little mermaid fell in love with a knight, but he did not reciprocate. Legends of the origin of flowers. From grief, the nymph turned into a water lily. There is a belief that nymphs hide in flowers and on the leaves of water lilies, and at midnight they begin to dance and drag people passing by the lake with them. If someone managed to somehow escape from them, then grief will dry him up later.
According to another legend, water lilies are the children of a beautiful countess, carried away into mud by a swamp king. The countess's mother, heartbroken, went daily to the shore of the swamp. One day she saw a wonderful white flower, the petals of which resembled the complexion of her daughter, and the stamens were her golden hair.
Camellia consider a beautiful, but soulless flower - an emblem of coldness and callousness of feelings, Legends of the origin of flowers are an emblem of beautiful, but heartless women who, not loving, lure and destroy.
There is such a legend about the appearance of camellia on earth. Eros (Cupid), who was fed up with the love of the goddesses of Olympus and earthly women, was advised by his mother Aphrodite to fly to another planet. On Saturn he heard a chorus of angelic voices and saw beautiful women with a white body, silvery hair and light blue eyes. They looked at Eros, admired his beauty, but were not carried away by him. In vain did he shoot his arrows. Then, in desperation, he rushed to Aphrodite, who, indignant at such uncharacteristic heartlessness for women, decided that these insensible creatures were unworthy of being women and should descend to earth and turn into flowers.
Carnation
According to an ancient legend, once upon a time gods lived on Earth. And once the goddess Artemis, the daughter of Zeus and Latona, returning from hunting, saw a shepherd boy who was playing the flute. He did not suspect that the sounds of the flute frightened and dispersed all the animals in the area. Enraged by the unsuccessful hunt, the goddess fired an arrow and stopped the heart of a wonderful musician. But very soon the anger of the goddess was replaced by mercy and repentance. She called on the god Zeus and asked him to turn the dead youth into a beautiful flower. Since then, the Greeks have called the carnation the flower of Zeus, the wise and powerful god who gave the young man immortality.
Lotus- a symbol of passing through all the elements: it has roots in the earth, grows in water, blooms in the air, and is fed by the fiery rays of the Sun.
The mythopoetic tradition of ancient India represented our land as a giant lotus blooming on the surface of the waters, and paradise as a huge lake overgrown with beautiful pink lotuses, where righteous, pure souls live. The white lotus is an indispensable attribute of divine power. Therefore, many gods of India have traditionally been depicted standing or sitting on a lotus or with a lotus flower in their hand.
In the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata, a lotus is described, which had a thousand petals, shone like the sun and scattered around a delicious aroma. This lotus, according to legend, lengthened life, returned youth and beauty.
Narcissus
In ancient Greek legend, the handsome young man Narcissus cruelly rejected the love of a nymph. The nymph withered from hopeless passion and turned into an echo, but before her death she cursed: "Let the one whom he loves not reciprocate with Narcissus."
On a hot afternoon, exhausted by the heat, young Narcissus leaned over to drink from the stream, and in its bright jets he saw his own reflection. Narcissus had never met such beauty before and therefore lost his peace. Every morning he came to the stream, dipped his hands into the water to hug the one he saw, but it was all in vain.
Narcissus stopped eating, drinking, sleeping, because he was unable to move away from the stream, and melted almost before our eyes, until he disappeared without a trace. And on the ground where he was seen, a fragrant white flower of cold beauty grew for the last time. Since then, the mythical goddesses of retribution, the Furies, have adorned their heads with wreaths of daffodils.
In different nations and at different times, the daffodil was loved and had different meanings. The Persian king Cyrus called it "the creation of beauty, immortal delight." The ancient Romans greeted the winners of battles with yellow daffodils. The image of this flower is found on the walls of ancient Pompeii. For the Chinese, it is obligatory in every home on New Year's holiday, and especially many daffodils are bred in Guangzhou (Canton), where they are grown in glass cups in wet sand or in small pebbles filled with water.
beautiful legend about orchid was with the New Zealand tribe of Majori. They were sure of the divine origin of these flowers. Long ago, long before humans existed, the only visible parts of the earth were the snow-capped peaks of high mountains. From time to time the sun thawed the snow, thus causing the water to descend from the mountains in a stormy stream, forming amazing waterfalls. Those, in turn, rushed towards the seas and oceans with seething foam, after which, evaporating, they formed curly clouds. These clouds eventually completely blocked the view of the earth from the sun.
Once the sun wanted to pierce this impenetrable cover. There was heavy tropical rain. After him, a huge rainbow formed, embracing the entire sky.
Fascinated by the hitherto unseen spectacle, immortal spirits - the only inhabitants of the earth at that time - began to flock to the rainbow from all, even the most distant lands. Everyone wanted to grab a place on the colorful bridge. They pushed and fought. But then everyone sat down on the rainbow and sang in unison. Little by little, the rainbow sagged under their weight, until it finally collapsed to the ground, scattering into a myriad of small multi-colored sparks. Immortal spirits, who had never seen anything like it before, watched the fantastic colorful rain with bated breath. Every particle of the earth gratefully accepted the fragments of the heavenly bridge. Those that were caught by the trees turned into orchids.
From this began the triumphal procession of orchids across the earth. There were more and more multi-colored lanterns, and not a single flower dared to challenge the right of an orchid to be called the queen of the flower kingdom.
