I continue the series of records "Legends of Flowers".

ASTER
If you have ever looked at a silvery star for a long time, you probably noticed that the star is not just a luminous dot; it emits either blue, then white, then pink light, as if calling someone, sending signals.
A beautiful legend tells of aster, which in Greek means "star". She grew out of a speck of dust that fell from a star. And if you hide in a flower garden at night, you can hear the flowers talking to their sister stars. Aster with its sharp petals-rays, as it were, looks like a star.


Astra came to Europe from CHINA. In 1728, her seeds were brought to Paris by Father Inkerville and presented them to the famous French botanist Antoine Jussier. Jussieu raised in royal garden Trianon large flowers of bright colors.
At first, the wild-growing aster flowers had blue, carmine and purple colors. But by the nineteenth century appeared garden molds with white, purple, red, pink and lilac inflorescences.
Germany became the center of breeding and selection of asters. It was there that most varieties and garden groups were created, many of which are still grown today.
.
ASTRA - symbol sadness. This flower was considered a gift to man from the gods, his amulet, amulet, a particle of his distant star. Therefore, the sadness symbolized by him is sadness for the lost paradise, for the impossibility of ascending into the sky.
Astra is one of the Tatars' favorite garden flowers, The eight-petal ASTER FLOWER is depicted on the State Emblem of the Republic of Tatarstan. An even number of flower petals emphasizes the eternal source of life, a wish for longevity and prosperity.

VIOLET

The wonderful smell of violet, incomparable to anything in its tenderness, and the pleasant combination of the elegant lilac color of the flower with the juicy bright green of the leaves have made the little violet a favorite of man since time immemorial. It arose, according to one Eastern legend, from Adam's tears of gratitude when, while he was on the island of Ceylon, the archangel Gabriel brought him the joyful news of the forgiveness of his sins by the Lord.

beautiful daughter of Atlas asked Zeus to protect her from the persecution of Apollo and was turned into a wonderful violet. Proserpina plucked a flower, but Pluto suddenly appeared and abducted her, and she dropped the plucked flowers on the ground ... This is another legend about the origin of violets.
The graceful Parma violet has been grown for centuries for bouquets.
The Celts, honoring the delicate purple violets as a symbol of innocence, modesty and virginity, showered them on the bed of the newlyweds.
For the ancient Greeks, violet was a sign of sadness and death., but, nevertheless, according to tradition, violet wreaths were worn on the heads children on their 4th birthday, thus commemorating their farewell to early childhood.
For Christians, violet symbolizes humility.. It is hardly noticeable among other flowers, as if pressed against the ground and yet reaches for the light. So it is with a person: his life should pass unnoticed, and in his heart he should strive for God.
Violet aroma promotes relaxation, soothes nervous system , has an anti-stress effect.

LILY OF THE VALLEY

There are many legends about the origin of lily of the valley. The ancient Romans believed that lily of the valley- This drops of fragrant sweat of the goddess of hunting Diana that fell on the grass when she ran away from Faun, who was in love with her.
In England, they said that lilies of the valley grow in the forest in those places where the fabulous hero Leonard defeated the terrible dragon.
Other legends say that lilies of the valley grew from beads of scattered snow white necklaces or that they are dwarf lanterns.
In Rus', the flower is associated with the names of Sadko, Lyubava and Volkhova.. The sea princess Volkhova fell in love with the young man Sadko, and he gave his heart to the favorite of the fields and forests, Lyubava. Saddened Volkhova went ashore and began to cry. And where the tears of the princess fell, lilies of the valley grew - a symbol of purity, girlish love and sadness.

In early spring V shady corners forest between two large sheets a stalk appears, studded with delicate, white pearls, fragrant with a uniquely delicate aroma.
Lily of the valley - a symbol of purity, tenderness, fidelity, love. How many lush flowers there are, but it was the lily of the valley that the ancients considered Germanic and Scandinavian goddess flower rising sun and the springs of Ostara.
And when holidays were held in honor of this goddess, everything around was decorated with lilies of the valley. Boys and girls gathered in the outskirts, kindled fires and danced until the flowers in their hands withered. Then they threw them into the fire, sacrificing to the goddess.
Lily of the valley is the favorite flower of the Parisians. And on the 1st of May, the Parisians go around decorated with white lilies of the valley as the emblem of the "outpouring of hearts",
That's why The first of May in Paris is known as Lily of the Valley Day.

Lilies of the valley are also associated in some places in Germany. tales of the white maiden indicating secret treasures. This White Maiden appears there on moonlit nights with a bouquet of lilies of the valley and keeps close to the place of the treasure.
After the flowering of lilies of the valley in place of crumbling petals appears large red berry. And there is a legend about her too.
Spring endowed a young man named Lily of the Valley with love for life and he always thanked her with warm, affectionate words. Spring fell in love with Lily of the Valley, but not for long. Forever young, she is very restless. All her life, traveling from south to north, she does not find peace for herself and, scattering caresses to everyone, does not linger with anyone for a long time. In passing, she caressed Lily of the Valley. However, she soon left spring Flower hot summer. The young man Lily-of-the-Valley cried so much about the beloved Spring that had left him, that the tears turned into white flowers, and the blood of the heart stained the berries.

LILAC

Lilac got its name from the Greek "syrinx" - tube. One of the ancient Greek legends tells how Pan, the god of forests and fields, fell in love with a beauty nymph Syringa. But the god was ugly: bearded, horned, goat-legged and Syringa, fleeing his persecution, turned into a beautiful fragrant plant- lilac. Anyone who has ever heard the melodious play of a flute made of lilac will never forget its enchanting sounds.

There is another legend about the origin of lilacs.
The goddess of spring awakened the Sun and its faithful companion IRIS (rainbow), she 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 got to Scandinavia, but the rainbow was left with only PURPLE paint. 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 the Balkans. Four hundred years ago it was brought to Vienna, and from there it spread throughout Europe. Shades and shapes of lilac are extremely diverse.
In Russia, it was first called chenille- from the word blue.

Astra is one of the most ancient flowers, a miniature star that illuminates everything around it with a silvery light. Asters were brought to Europe from China, where they symbolized elegance, modesty and beauty. However, asters got their name not in China, but in Ancient Greece. Astra in translation into Russian means "star". According to legend, from the constellation Virgo, which for the Greeks was associated with the goddess of love - Aphrodite, a tear rolled down - star dust. Having flown to the ground, in those places that were touched by dust particles, unprecedented flowers grew - asters, so reminiscent of heavenly stars with their inflorescence. The Greeks believed that if you stand near the growing asters late at night, then in complete silence you can hear faint whispers - so, according to legend, the asters keep in touch with their sisters - the stars in the sky. Astra is a symbol of people born under the Virgo zodiac sign. This flower, sent to people by the gods, identifies sadness over the sky, over a lost paradise, which can no longer be reached.

The Chinese legend of the appearance of the aster is also directly related to the stellar origin of the flowers. One day two monks set out on a long journey to see a star up close. They wandered through dense forests, climbed mountain heights, made their way through glaciers and finally reached Mount Altai. At the very top, the monks realized that the stars were still far from them, as they were at the very beginning of the journey. Frustrated, they set off on their return journey. For a long time they descended the mountains without water and food, and suddenly they saw a delightful meadow in front of them. In the meadow flowed a stream with transparent and clean water and there were beautiful flowers everywhere. The wise monk said to his companion:
- We traveled so much to comprehend the beauty and mystery of the stars in the sky, and reached it on earth.

The monks took some flowers to the monastery for breeding, calling them asters.
In Hungary, the aster is called autumn rose because this flower is capable of blooming late autumn and even early winter. Asters evoke a wide variety of emotions in people - from sadness for the departed to thoughts of eternal unfading beauty.

Astra - asterisk,
Autumn flower.
You are a harbinger of a harsh winter.
You are the last madness of autumn
Before the inevitable extinction eternal.
Her last love.
Her last rainbow you explosion.
Her impulse of deep passion-colorfulness!

Astra - star
Autumn flower.
You are a riot of marvelous colors
Before the last breath...
You are the inflorescence of all constellations
On the apricot-purple sky
Autumn aliens - colors.
Her sky-high - wonderful
Shades, tones, midtones,
driving us crazy
With your palette on canvas
wondrous nature,
Fairytale, magical!

Astra - star
Autumn flower.
Your bouquet is late, motley
Given to a woman
Autumn for happiness.
He pushes away old age -
Youth keeps!

Add site to bookmarks

Aster

Russian name- Astra. Family - Compositae or Asteraceae (Compositae or Asteraceae) Homeland - Europe, Asia, North Africa, Central and North America.

Historical reference

During excavations in the Crimea on a tomb that was about two thousand years old, archaeologists discovered an image of an aster. This indicates that the plant has been known to people for a very long time. Astra came to Europe from China. In 1728, its seeds were donated to the French botanist A. Zhussier. He was the first to grow these plants in the royal garden of Trianon. Their flowers resembled those of daisies, but were much larger, which is why Jussier called them "queen daisies". A few decades later, European breeders bred many new varieties of asters, including perennial ones.

Legend

The thin petals of an aster are a bit like the rays of distant stars, so beautiful flower and received the name “aster” (Latin aster – “star”). An ancient belief says that if you go out into the garden at midnight and stand among the asters, you can hear a quiet whisper. These flowers communicate with the stars. Already in ancient Greece, people were familiar with the constellation Virgo, which was associated with the goddess of love, Aphrodite. According to ancient Greek myth, the aster arose from cosmic dust when the Virgin looked from the sky and wept. For the ancient Greeks, the aster symbolized love. In China, asters symbolize beauty, precision, elegance, charm and modesty.

For Hungarians, this flower is associated with autumn, which is why in Hungary the aster is called the “autumn rose”. In ancient times, people believed that if a few aster leaves were thrown into a fire, the smoke from this fire could drive out snakes. The aster flower is a symbol of women born under astrological sign Virgin.

Biological signs

The genus includes about 600 species. Asters are herbaceous bushy annuals or summer plants with straight green (sometimes reddish) stems. Their height varies from 30 cm to 1.5 m. root system aster is compact, so it needs good nutrition. The leaves are simple. The flowering time of asters depends on their type and variety, but they mostly bloom from late summer to late autumn. Aster inflorescence - baskets that can be collected in a panicle. The color of the flowers is white, pink, red, lilac, cream, purple or blue, depending on the variety and variety. Thanks to active breeding, the number of varieties of asters today exceeds four thousand.

Asters are annual and perennial. Both those and others are quite unpretentious. However, their decorative effect is directly related to the conditions in which they grow. It will be nice if asters occupy a sunny area in the garden or on the balcony. In this case, it is more likely that under the conditions of a short summer, the plants will have time to bloom. Asters are undemanding to soils, but stagnant moisture can lead to root rot. perennial asters propagated by seeds and vegetatively, and annuals - only by seeds. Perennial asters are good honey plants.

Usage

Depending on the variety, asters are used for cutting, for decorating balconies and flower beds, for planting in groups, mixborders, discounts and borders. Some asters have practical use. For example, these plants are used in Tibetan folk medicine.

August - asters,
August - stars...

M. Tsvetaeva

So August is already approaching the middle - you won’t notice how autumn will come (although the summer this year didn’t really spoil us with warm days) ...

But there is a special charm in August! He is rich in gifts! At night, he gives us shooting stars - just have time to make wishes! And in the daytime, earthly stars delight the eye: different colors amazing flowers bloomed in the gardens and in the city flowerbeds - asters!

And "aster" in Greek means "star". Indeed, they are so similar!

If you have ever looked at a silvery star for a long time, you probably noticed that the star is not just a luminous point that emits either blue, or white, or pink light. The light of the star is not the same: in the middle it is bright yellow, golden, and at the edges, as it were, darkened. Emitting light, the star seems to be calling someone, sending signals to the Earth, and probably receiving responses! After all, it is not for nothing that sometimes they break from the sky and fall down.

Ancient people, noticing this, began to look closely at the trees, flowers, trying to recognize the star interlocutor, and ... they saw small light blue flowers with yellow circles in the middle, which, swaying from a light breeze, resembled the color and vibration of stars.
- Astra! they exclaimed! Since then, this name has remained behind him!