Hydrangea Through the Mirror's Edge
by Elizabeth McTaggart
Title
Hydrangea Through the Mirror's Edge
Artist
Elizabeth McTaggart
Medium
Digital Art - Fractal Art And Digital Collage
Description
Hydrangea Through the Mirror's Edge::...
.................................................................
Hydrangeas are popular ornamental plants, grown for their large flower-heads, with Hydrangea macrophylla being by far the most widely grown with over 600 named cultivars, many selected to have only large sterile flowers in the flower-heads. Some are best pruned on an annual basis when the new leaf buds begin to appear. If not pruned regularly, the bush will become very 'leggy', growing upwards until the weight of the stems is greater than their strength, at which point the stems will sag down to the ground and possibly break. Other species only flower on 'old wood'. Thus new wood resulting from pruning will not produce flowers until the following season.
Hydrangeas are moderately toxic if eaten, with all parts of the plant containing cyanogenic glycosides. Hydrangea paniculata is reportedly sometimes smoked as an intoxicant, despite the danger of illness and/or death due to the cyanide.
In Japan, ama-cha, meaning sweet tea, is another tisane made from Hydrangea serrata, whose leaves contain a substance that develops a sweet taste (phyllodulcin). For the fullest taste, fresh leaves are crumpled, steamed, and dried, yielding dark brown tea leaves. Ama-cha is mainly used for kan-butsu-e (the Buddha bathing ceremony) on April 8 every year—the day thought to be Buddha's birthday in Japan. Ama-cha is poured over a statue of Buddha in the ceremony and served to people in attendance. A legend has it that on the day Buddha was born, nine dragons poured Amrita over him; ama-cha is substituted for Amrita in Japan.
In Korean tea, Hydrangea serrata (hangul:산수국 hanja:山水菊) is used for a tisane called sugukcha (수국차) or ilsulcha (이슬차).
The pink hydrangea has risen in popularity all over the world, but especially in Asia. Pink hydrangeas have many different meanings, but generally means, "You are the beat of my heart", as described by the celebrated Asian florist Tan Jun Yong, where he was quoted saying, "The light delicate blush of the petals reminds me of a beating heart, while the size could only match the heart of the sender!"
[source: Wikipedia]
Uploaded
May 26th, 2013
Embed
Share
Comments (45)
Elizabeth McTaggart
Sparrow ~~ Thank you so much for the visit to my site and all the wonderful compliments you left! I really appreciate the time you took!
Elizabeth McTaggart
Thank you so much Bob and Nadine, for the feature in Artist News Group! I appreciate the support!