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Importance of plants to mankind
Importance of plants to mankind
Importance of plants to mankind
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Flowers have long been admired by cultures originating from all around the world. Many new developments in the agriculture and landscape fields have been adopted by ornamental horticulture practitioners. Gardens filled with floral ensembles have been admired for centuries; recognition continues today.
The Palace of Versailles, Central Park, and Busch Gardens all proudly display meticulous landscape designs. These locations are just a few places travelers and locals frequently visit. In past years, societies of historical note did not always have access to ample water supplies. Despite this obstacle, gardens still produces a variety of plant life. Generations prior recognized the beauty of nature and did their best to maintain the earth's plant life.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, considered to be one of the seven wonders of the world, has been said to be a city unparalleled in beauty due to its outstanding visual presentation. Historical accounts state this magnificent garden was constructed near 605 B.C. under the reign of
King Nebuchadnezzar. The creation of this...
Marigolds “Marigolds,” written by the author Eugenia W. Collier, begins with the main character, Elizabeth. The story is told in first person, being told by Elizabeth when she gets older. “Marigolds” takes place in Maryland during the Depression. The reader can tell it is the time of the Depression because in the story it says, “The Depression that gripped the nation was no new thing to us, for the black workers of rural Maryland had always been depressed.” Both the setting and time in this short story are important.
Lehner, Ernst, and Johanna Lehner. Folklore and Symbolism of Flowers, Plants and Trees. New York: Tudor. 1960
Kim, Seungduk. “Yukio Nakagawa: La Fleur De L’ame / Nakagawa’s Extreme Ikebana: The Life And Death Of Flowers.” Art-Press 297 (2004): Art Source.
Because of flowers’ popularity in Victorian England, Wilde’s use of floral imagery was purposeful and had some effect on the audience as a whole. Even stylistically, the language of the novel is flowery and dream-like. The question is why did Oscar Wilde use floral imagery in The Pic...
In the early 16th century the Netherlands experienced what was called “tulip mania” this was the beginning of the nations love for flora and foliage (Taylor 13). The result of this impressive flower invasion was a society that took a historical turn from which the results still remain today. Flower merchants, botanists and floral still life artists, were occupations that were an accurate reflection of the Netherlands demands (Brown). An interesting example of a life that was effected by, and devoted to the archiving of the flower craze was Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750) the 17th century Dutch flower painter. Rachel Ruyschs’ career straddled the 17th and 18th century, and her stunningly accurate floral pieces reflect the maturing, yet evolving art of floral still life painting (“Rachel Ruysch: Bibliography”). Ruyschs’ Still Life with Flowers on a Marble Tabletop (1716) is an excellent example of a painting that appropriately represents the genre of art that was created solely through specific societal events.
Pat Willmer, Pollination and Floral Ecology (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2011), 536.Dressler, L. Robert. The Orchids: Natural History and Classification. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1981.
In “The Flowers,” by Alice Walker, the flowers are used throughout the story to symbolize the beauty and naivety of childhood. In the beginning of the story the author shows the main character Myop walking down a path along the fence of her farm. Myop sees “an armful of strange blue flowers with velvety ridges…” The flowers are bright and colorful, reminding the reader of an innocent type of beauty often associated with them. This suggests the flowers were inserted in the story by Walker to reveal how young and innocent Myop appears to be. Later in the story, after Myop had discovered the dead body of a man who seemed to have been hung “Myop laid down her flowers,”. As Myop put down the flowers she was also putting down the last of her innocence.
The main symbolic image that the flowers provide is that of life; in the first chapter of the novel Offred says “…flowers: these are not to be dismissed. I am alive.” Many of the flowers Offred encounters are in or around the house where she lives; it can be suggested that this array of floral life is a substitute for the lack of human life, birth and social interaction. The entire idea of anything growing can be seen as a substitute for a child growing. The Commander’s house contains many pictures; as they are visual images, “flowers are still allowed.” Later, when Serena is “snipping off the seed pods with a pair of shears… aiming, positioning the blades… The fruiting body,” it seems that all life is being eradicated, even that of the flowers.
One of the best things Nebuchadnezzar did was rebuild Babylon and make it better than ever. One of his most famous creations is the hanging gardens, which is one of the even wonders of
During the 17th century, Dutch artists painted numerous still lives of flower bouquets in vases. These flowers exhibited the wealth of the patron because of how expensive it would have been to buy the flowers. Tulips were the most popular during this time. Like the calla lily, the tulip is not native to Europe, when the tulip was brought to the Netherlands it became sought after on a level that is hard to associate with flowers today. A period of Tulip-o-mania occurred with the Dutch bankrupting themselves in order to buy tulips. While the appearance of calla lilies did not create the same frenzy as tulips, they nevertheless were impactful on flower trends. The calla lily itself could have more specific meanings. Being a white flower some considered it bad luck to have in the home or to bring to a hospital as they were used at funerals and during Easter celebration in church displays. The calla lily was known before the 1920s and was therefore included in the Victorian language of flowers, though its popularity did not peak until later. A calla lily was used to symbolize “magnificent beauty” to the Victorians but would reinvent itself in the decades that followed.
Beauty can be defined in many ways. Though, regardless of its definition, beauty is confined by four characteristics: symmetry, health, vibrancy and complexity. Michael Pollan, in the book The Botany of Desire, examines our role in nature. Pollan sets out to discovery why the most beautiful flowers have manipulated animals into propagating its genes. Most people believe that humans are the sole domesticators of nature, although, beauty in some sense has domesticated us by making us select what we perceive as beautiful. In flowers, for example, the most attractive ones insure their survival and reproductive success; therefore the tulip has domesticated us in the same way by insuring its reproduction. Whether it is beauty or instinct humans have toward flowers they have nevertheless domesticated us.
Babylon is even home to one of the Seven Wonders of the World, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. They are in the plalace of Nebuchadnezzar II. The gardens were built on 23 metre tall and being water by a very complicated watering system, the water being provided by The Euphrates River. They were a mountain like series of planted terraces. Excavations have found the elaborate pully system watering the gardens right up to the top terrace.
Although this extremely close connection of the individual with nature, the basic principle of Japanese gardens, has remained the constant throughout its history, the ways in which this principle has come to be expressed has undergone many great changes. Perhaps the most notable occurred in the very distinct periods in Japanese history that popularized unique forms of garden style—Heian (781-1185), and the Kamakura (1186-1393). Resulting from these two golden ages of Japanese history came the stroll garden from the former period and the Zen garden from the latter. As we shall see, the composition of these gardens was remarkably effected by the norms of architecture and the ideals of popular religion in these eras. Therefore, in understanding each garden style in its context, it is essential to also take into account the social, historical, and theological elements as well as the main stylistic differences.
love with flowers " is frequently used in the flower industry to get people to
There is a Chinese saying which, when translated, roughly means “One who plants a garden, plants happiness.” There is no denying of the fact. Avid gardeners among you will fondly remember your first gardening experiences. Perhaps, you were only a toddler then helping the older members of the family in backyard landscaping. Don’t you still feel the same thrill when you see the first signs of buds in your daffodils or dahlias?