Back in May I posted about crafting a couple trellises for the deck.
That was then.
This is now.
I’ll definitely be doing this every year, trying different vining plants. These took a while to take off, and I’m disappointed the moonflowers I included in the pots aren’t blooming. I see the big leaves, just no blooms. In fact, I’ve never gotten moonflowers to bloom — what’s the secret?
Have you ever seen a passion flower vine (Passiflora)? I hadn’t until a few years ago. My sister bought me one this year in a hanging basket and it’s so amazing. Symbolically, the flower is said to represent the crucifixion (passion) of Christ.
According to Wikipedia:
In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish Christian missionaries adopted the unique physical structures of this plant, particularly the numbers of its various flower parts, as symbols of the last days of Jesus Christ and especially the Crucifixion:
- The pointed tips of the leaves were taken to represent the Holy Lance.
- The tendrils represent the whips used in the Flagellation of Christ.
- The ten petals and sepals represent the ten faithful apostles (less St. Peter the denier and Judas Iscariot the betrayer).
- The flower’s radial filaments, which can number more than a hundred and vary from flower to flower, represent the Crown of Thorns.
- The chalice-shaped ovary with its receptacle represents a hammer or the Holy Grail.
- The 3 stigmata represent the 3 nails and the 5 anthers below them the 5 wounds (four by the nails and one by the lance).
- The blue and white colors of many species’ flowers represent Heaven and Purity.
The flower has been given names related to this symbolism throughout Europe since that time. In Spain, it is known as espina de Cristo (“Christ’s Thorn”). Old German names[12] are Christus-Krone (“Christ’s Crown”), Christus-Strauss (“Christ’s Bouquet”[13]), Dorn-Krone (“Crown of Thorns”), Jesus-Leiden (“Jesus’ Passion”), Marter (“Passion”[14]) or Muttergottes-Stern (“Mother of God’s Star”[15]).
So beautiful. So exotic. So “fleeting days of summer.”
Follow your passion and success will follow you.
~ Arthur Buddhold
Writing by Ear 
chappy said,
Friday, August 14, 2009 at 11:43 am
what a sweet read! an uplifting bit of trivia to see the weekend in.
RL said,
Saturday, August 15, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Wow!! Stunning. Congratulations on a successful garden experiment!