Flowers of summer

Namaste!

It is officially summer here in Nepal. And what is the main feature of summer? Flowers. Wherever you go you can see them everywhere: in the neighbor's garden, at the road verge, along the alleys of the park, in women's hair. In every culture flowers symbolize beauty, youth, gentleness. In many religions flowers have spiritual significance as well.

Rose and its symbolism

Namate!

The rose is one of the world's most beloved flowers. It has been valued since ancient times for its beauty, elegant shape, distinctive petals, rich aroma and rose oil.

In Western tradition the rose is a mystic symbol of the heart, the centre of the cosmic wheel, and also of sacred, romantic and sensual love. The white rose is an emblem of innocense, purity and virginity, hence the deccription of the Virgin Mary as the Rose of Heaven. The red rose symbolizes passion, desire and beauty. Both are symbols of perfection. The rose's association with eternal life caused rose petals to be scattered on graves at the Roman festival of Rosaria, and Roman emperors wore rose wreaths as crowns.
In Christianity the blood-red rose with its thorns is a symbol of the love and suffering of Christ. The rosette also have wheel symbolism making the rose a Western equivalent of the emblematic Asian lotus.

Lotus and its symbolism

Namaste!

Lotus is one of the most beautiful and amazing flowers in the world. First time I saw it "alive" while travelling in Thailand: the surfaces of the small ponds were completely covered with these beautiful flowers. Later I noticed that most devotees visiting Buddhist temples carry lotuses with them. For those people the lotus is the flower of Buddha. According to legend, Buddha was born with the ability to walk and lotus flowers bloomed wherever he stepped.
The thing that has always amazed people in lotus is that it always looks clean and fresh in spite of growing in muddy and stagnant waters. The whole secret is in the special structure of the leaves and petals of the lotus - they have the ability to repel moisture and self-cleaning. Moisture on the surface of the lotus forms the drops and rolls, taking with them all the dirt. And every night the lotus flower closes and hides under the water, to reappear in the morning.

Exotic orchids

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Orchids ... it is impossible not to admire them, not to be delighted with their beauty and elegance. These flowers are like mysterious creatures of the distant tropics, as exotic as their homeland. According to the legend of New Zealand’s aborigines, orchids are the fragments of the crashed rainbow, and perhaps that is why they are so different and varied in colors: there are more than 20,000 currently accepted species, plus about 100 000 artificial hybrids. And even on the same plant there are no two exactly the same flowers.

Rhododendron - the national flower of Nepal

Namaste!

The beauty of the flowering rhododendrons draws thousands of trekkers to Nepal every year. The name rhododendron is derived from the Greek words rhodos (meaning rose) and dendron (meaning tree). There are over 1000 natural species of rhododendron including many bushy species and a number of trees that grow to heights of up to 30 meters. The highest species diversity is found in the Himalaya. Of the over 30 species of rhododendron in Nepal the most renowned is Rhododendron arboretum known as Gurans in Nepali. Starting at elevations of around 1400m the flowers are a vibrant red. However as altitude increases the colour begins shifting to pink, gradually becoming pure white at elevations of 3600m. For Nepalis the most beloved of the tree rhododendron is the Lali Gurans or red one. It is the national flower of Nepal.

Blue Hortensia

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Walking along the streets of London in the summer, I noticed the big bushes, covered with spherical blue, sometimes lilac, flowers. This colour is quite rare in flowers and so it made them more attractive. As I found out later, this was Hydrangea or Hortensia. Its second name the flower got in honor of sister of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire. Hortensia is native to southern and eastern Asia and the greatest species diversity is in China, Japan and Korea. The flower was introduced to Europe in 1820.

Eatable flowers

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Yesterday I was surprised to find out that in Nepal people cook not only some grass like spinach, but even flowers. However, not any flowers, but only those of the orchid tree, which here is called Koirala, and the botanical name is Bauhinia variegata. This tree grows at altitudes from 300 to 1800 m, reaches a height of 10-12 m. The large flowers (8-12 cm in diameter) white or bright pink, appear in late winter when the tree drops leaves. They resemble the flowers of orchids, hence the name of the tree.

Winter flowers of Kathmandu

Namaste!

It is the middle of winter now and still there are plenty blooming flowers around the city, making it more beautiful and colourful.

Solandra