May 2012 Flowerrs

8/2/2019 May 2012 Flowerrs

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May's latest article by Dr Jeffrey Lant



Preface / Introduction

This is the first article for May enjoy and provide me feedback.



Table of Contents

1. '.... it's raining violets.'2. About the Lily of the Incas... tenacious, beautiful, an artifact of a great nation gone... and of thecondor flying high, seeing all, calling you.3. 'There's pansies, that's for thoughts.' The gentility, sweetness and enduring resentment and anger of the most popular flower of all.



'.... it's raining violets.'

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant

Author's note. Before you read this article, give yourself the right musical accompaniment, "AprilShowers" sung by Al Jolson. Jolson made many recordings of this famous song. The music waswritten by Louis Silvers, the lyrics by B. G. De Sylva; it was first sung by Jolson in the 1921Broadway musical "Bombo".

A quick search of any search engine should yield this pip of a song with the inimitable Jolson touchthat soon made him a household name. "April Showers" spurred him on his way; it will help us onours, too.

Acres of violets... nestled amongst the trees... quiet... serene... so abundant, unforgettable bysunlight... irresistible by moonlight... attired in transient glory for the midnight visit of Titania and allher court... you fell asleep too early to see...

These are the violets of my youth... and I cannot see a single blossom without being seized by thememory of their beauty. That is why, when the spring comes and the May violets with it, I prefer towalk alone through Cambridge streets, so that when I find the patches of violets I know so well, Ican allow myself the bittersweet sensation of remembrance.

A companion on these walks, so desirable so often, is de trop in violet season. Such a one would tryto be congenial, amiable, a real friend. But that is not what you want when the violets come.... youwant what only you can recall... the memory of youth, beauty, of endless time for squandering andof the springtime of your life, when your life was just for living, and all life's miseries andinjunctions were yet to come, not present realities. The violets saw it all and smiled... for no oneknew better than they how brief that season was. But they didn't share that insight with you... theyknew it would come soon enough on its own. And so it did, thus closing this time in all but memory.Each violet seen is a bridgeway to that memory... and precious so.

The violets of Woodward Avenue.

Winters in the heartland of America which is Illinois, are hard, interminable, testing the fortitude of every living thing, all longing for release and the clemency of spring. By February you are desperatefor relief... and while the snow may stop for an instant, the mud does not. It is everywhere, not leastin the places you are sternly admonished never to track it. But the mud is more insistent upon goingin with you, than you are in heeding the insistent admonition.

Out of this rich mud, the mud that feeds America and the world, come the violets in rampancy and profusion. Their job is to obliterate the despondent memories of winter... and create the momentwhen you, turning a corner, see them in all their glory, catching your breath and (without evenknowing) breathing a paean of pure thanks for this flicker of time, forever magnificent; now

ineffably part of your soul.

Some facts about violets.

Viola is a genus of flowering plants in the violet family Violaceae, with around 400-500 speciesdistributed around the world. Most species are found in the temperate Northern Hemisphere;however, viola species (commonly called violets, pansies, or heartsease) are also found in widelydivergent areas such as Hawaii, Australasia, and the Andes in South America.

Flower colors vary in the genus, ranging from violet, as their common name suggests, throughvarious shades of blue, yellow, white, and cream, whilst some types are bicolored, often blue and

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yellow. Many cultivars and hybrids have been bred in a greater spectrum of colors. Flowering isoften profuse, and may last for much of the spring and summer.

Edible violets.

Violets are not only wonderful to look at; they titillate the palate in surprising ways. Violets have adelicate, sweet and sometimes peppery flavor. Before including them in your next salad, however,reaping the advantages of their abundant antioxidants, have a care. Violets are good for you; someflowers that resemble violets are not. These include spring larkspur and monkshood, which are infact poisonous. This suggests the plot for a murder mystery suitable for "Masterpiece Theatre". MissHoneycroft, though no longer young, was appreciated by hostesses for her wit and lively humor of aliterary kind; her well-tended violets were much admired... it came as a great shock to thecommunity when her body was found amongst them, jarring in bright red riding boots and nothingmore... Kinky. Who would water the violets now?

Special warning: Be extra careful not to add African violets to that salad, even just a few. Africanviolets, beloved of grandmothers worldwide (including mine) are so named because of their resemblance to violets, although they are not true violets and are absolutely not edible; neither arethe rhizome or roots of any violets. They are poisonous to humans.

More ways to eat violets.

Violets may be sauteed like spinach and added to stir-fry vegetables. Wild violets also have asomewhat viscous texture when cooked which is used in traditional cooking as a thickener for soupsand stews. But while I am sure you like a good stew so prepared... I am surer you crave the sweeter uses of violets....

Violets are a symbol of everlasting love and the enduring passion which their purple color suggests.Remember, this color, in Ancient Rome and Byzantium, was reserved for emperors... the highest placed mortals on earth. Now swept away, you can enjoy some of their rarefied delights.

To make candied violet flowers, pick a large number of flowers and let them dry on a paper towel

for a couple of hours. Beat an egg white to a froth, and color it with food coloring, if desired. Using afine brush, carefully coat each flower with the egg white, then pour fine sugar over each. Blend thesugar in your blender to make it a finer consistency. Lay each flower on wax paper to dry, then useas a decoration for your confections when the flowers are stiff enough to move. This will impress thespecial one in your life. But you want more than to impress, don't you? You want to ensnare this person forever and forever passionately. Admit it. Here violets are essential.

Offer your beloved "Parma violets", a select British tablet confectionery manufactured by theDerbyshire-based company Swizzels Matlow. For maximum effect, offer, too, a glass of CremeYvette, made from Parma violets, the most luxurious and lush violets of all. Rarer than rare, thisliqueur has not been made for decades... giving it will therefore make the desired impression... and

ensure the total submission of the one you crave to distraction. Such is the enduring power of theviolet, in the wild or distilled.

"So if it's raining, have no regrets, Because it it isn't raining rain you know, It's raining violets..."

Run outside now and seize them... and this moment... before they and it pass away forever, to your certain regret.







About the Lily of the Incas... tenacious, beautiful, an artifactof a great nation gone... and of the condor flying high, seeingall, calling you.

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant

Author's program note. This story started, for me at least, about 3 months ago when my helper Aime

Joseph and I were at the Shaw's Market in Porter Square, Cambridge. I almost always visit their floral department while I'm there, since flowers for me are as necessary as food; not luxuries, butessentials, especially during the long, dour days that characterize a Bay State winter.

I knew my options like the back of my hand... especially the roses which these days come in a far wider array of colors than were available when I was growing up. But roses, breathtaking when youmake your selection in the store, fade quickly when taken home despite the detailed suggestions for cutting the stem, adding plant food, and changing the water. The rose dazzles, captivates... but toosoon dies... at the last a source of dismay.

I needed something else... something different... something to entice... and last... but what?

Then there they were... serenely confident.... an explosion of color... something new, at least for me;they may have been there before but today my eye perceived them rather than overlooked... andwhile I didn't know it then these blooms had already begun their insidious maneuvers to seize notmerely my eye... but in very short order... my heart.

So did the Lily of the Incas and I commence our relationship... like the person you loved from firstglance and later wondered how you ever lived without. Yes, these flowers have such a power and Iwelcomed them without cavil for I needed their gifts... especially their long-lasting presence, a presence (it pains me to recall) I once doubted.

Each morning, not yet a true believer, still uncertain, skeptical, anxious I ran to my beloved... to see,

perhaps to mourn their passing, only to be rebuked by the lilies not just with their beauty but their tenacity and commitment. For such a love one searches for a lifetime. I had found mine in thegrocery store.

The Incas and their lily.

Like many flowers the lilies of the Incas have several different names. They are called Peruvianlilies; they are also known as parrot lilies. And like all plants they also bear a sonorous scientificsobriquet, alstroemeria, named by Carolus Linnaeus for his close friend Swedish baron ClasAlstromer (1736-1794). But no name suits them so well or do they cherish as much as Lily of theIncas.

Atahaulpa... Pizarro... destiny... and the flower that remembers.This plant and its explosion of colors calls us sharply back to the greatest tragedy of the Inca nation;its subversion and destruction by a handful of rapacious soldiers under the command of a destructivegenius, Francisco Pizarro (1471-1541). He was born poor, illegitimate and suffered for it in everyway. Rage, anger, a need to prove himself to himself and others fueled his ambition. He had nothingto lose and so learned the benefits of unbridled audacity. Such a man, shrewd, inventive, always boldwas dangerous... as the Inca emperor Atahualpa -- and his entire nation -- soon learned.

For both sides their encounter at Cajamarca in 1532 was epochal, for there the tiny Spanish force of just 180 men and 37 horses, masters of stratagem, courage, lies and trickery captured the Sapa Inca("unique Inca") and so in an instant made Spain the richest and most important nation on earth... and







every Spaniard in the piratical expedition richer than Croesus. This is how it happened...

Pizarro's force was as nothing against the might of the Incas... but Pizarro would do anything toconquer... and here he had the advantage against the uncomprehending Incas. And so, by treacheryAtahualpa fell into his hands. To free himself, or at the very least to preserve his life, he offered tofill a room about 22 feet long and 17 feet wide up to a height of 8 feet once with gold and twice withsilver within 2 months.

With this offer Atahualpa enriched the Spaniards and signed the death warrant of himself and all his people... for once apprized of the riches of the Incas, the Spaniards had absolutely no intention of doing anything but extracting more and more. And so was Atahualpa strangled... for he had notmerely outlived his usefulness but (now understanding the Spaniards better) understood what must be done to eradicate them. That made him dangerous .... and his brutal end inevitable. The date wasJuly 26, 1533....

And here legend steps in...

For within just days, on the very spot where the last Sapa Inca, the hapless Atahualpa died, hisclothes and part of his body incinerated, a flower never seen before began to grow, strengthened bythe blood of Atahualpa, soon a vision of loveliness. Of course the Spaniards, who had everything

else, wanted this, too. But they could not pluck it... or uproot it. It was tenacious, impervious towhatever they did... but it yielded to an Inca maiden of the royal line. To the astonishment of all,this princess succeeded where the avarice and connivance of the Spaniards failed. The legend statesthat Pizarro himself tried to pick the flower, but failed. "This," he said, "is a lily of the Incas." Andso it was, and so it has remained.

The Spanish empire, all of Nueva Espana, is long gone now, forgotten. But the lily of the Incas hasflourished. Many hybrids and about 190 cultivars have been developed, with different markings andcolors, ranging from white, golden yellow and orange to apricot, pink, red, purple and lavender. Themost popular and showy hybrids commonly grown today result from crosses between species fromChile (winter-growing) with species from Brazil (summer-growing). This strategy has resulted in

plants that are evergreen and flower for most of the year.El condor pasa.

Over this exuberance of never-ending beauty flies the majestic condor, the great eyes of the Incas.Peruvian composer Daniel Alomia Robles wrote their anthem in 1913, inspired by Andean folk tunes. Go now to any search engine and find the version you like best. My personal favorite is byWayna Picchu, a Latin folk band from Peru. Simon and Garfunckel's version (1970) made the songfamous and makes the words plain: "A man gets tied up to the ground. He gives the earth its saddestsound. Its saddest sound." To rise, strew your hard path with lilies of the Incas... and look up inwonder whenever the condor passes. The unyielding flowers are for beauty... the condor shows youdeliverance... freedom... joy. Look up now... he is passing somewhere near you and beckons...

Perhaps this time you will respond... and soar.







'There's pansies, that's for thoughts.' The gentility,sweetness and enduring resentment and anger of the mostpopular flower of all.

by Dr. Jeffrey Lant

Author's program note. This is the story of a popular flower, perhaps the most popular flower for

Sunday gardeners whose name became a pernicious and hurtful epithet hurled by men at other menwhose sexual orientation they did not approve and worked to excoriate. Know then, right from thestart, that this cannot be merely a botanical tale. It is far more than that... just as the multi-hued pansies are far more than just a pretty face in your window box. And so, let's begin with a tune byRichard Rodgers with lyrics by Lorenz Hart. It's called "Ten Cents a Dance" and was published in1930. You'll find it in any search engine.

Ruth Etting got her big break with this song. Lee Morse was supposed to sing it in the musical"Simple Simon" but when she turned up drunk at the Boston opening, Florenz Ziegfeld fired her onthe spot, hiring Etting. The song is a sultry lamentation by a bored girl who retails for just 10 cents adance and the kinds of men who briefly enjoy her presence, including "pansies and rough guys." Of

all the many kinds of men she mentions only "pansies" is demeaning, insulting, so common anaffront that the singer doesn't even know the distress she's caused... far more than her own (not sovery woeful) situation.

My own father.

I saw the fury pent up in this single word whilst walking in West Los Angeles when I was in highschool in the early 60s. He drew my attention to a man who was sitting in the driver's position of his parked car plucking his eyebrows. My father spat out the single word "pansy!" It was an uglymoment as he was usually mild- mannered and accepting. But clearly not on this subject. How hadsuch a cheering flower, with so many gay colors, become a word of hate, disdain, bigotry, disgust; aword meant to shame, harass and belittle? It was a long way from Lord Tankerville's garden....

Lady Mary Elizabeth Bennett (1785-1861).

Every now and again a researcher like me finds a story so perfect about a given thing, it must befate. So it is with the pansy. The popularization of the pansy began as the work of a single lady, LadyMary Elizabeth Bennett. Daughter of the 4th Earl of Tankerville she had the most enchanting work place imaginable, the gardens of her father's charming estate Ashley House at Walton-upon-Thames.Here in 1812, in this genteel world right out of Jane Austen the flower we love so well was presented to a world which had only to see it to love it.

Lady Mary was one of the 19th century's gifted amateurs whose work we admire and whosecomfortable lifestyle we envy. She had the means to collect and cultivate every known sort of Viola

tricolor (commonly known as heartsease), the precursor of the pansy. Under the supervision of her gardener, William Richardson, a large variety of plants was produced by cross-breeding. In 1813,Mr. Lee, a well-known florist and nurseryman, further cultivated the flower. As a result Lady Mary,Mr. Richardson, and Mr. Lee found their place in history secured by the endearing pansy whichknew from its inception how to insinuate and charm.

Another aristocrat helps the pansy.

By now you may not be surprised to learn yet another nobleman, James, first Baron Gambier entersthe picture, ready to give his patronage to this by now fashionable flower: "Quite the thing, my dear,so eager, so cheering, such a taking littlle thing, what?" And so it was. Lord Gambier worked at his







country estate (Iver), with his gardener (Mr. Thomson). His particular interest was a yellow viola"Viola lutea", a wide-petalled pale yellow species of Russian origin...

.. . with time and resources his at the wave of a hand, many crosses were tried. "Viola altaica" wasthe most productive; it laid the foundation for the new hybrids classed as "Viola x Wittrockiana."What his lordship wanted was a round flower of overlapping petals. In the late 1830s a sportoccurred; the unpredictable event that produced narrow nector guides of dark color on the petals, buta broad blotch on the petals (which came to be called the "face') was found. Rule, Brittannia! Good

show! Hip,hip, hurrah! In 1839 this new variety was released to an expectant public under the name"Medora." And so it went.... by the end of the 1830s, there were over 400 named pansies readilyavailable to gardeners who once considered its progenitor, heartsease (beloved of Lady Mary), aweed. Things were very different now! It all culminated when the pansies took their rightful place inthe chorus serenading Alice on her golden afternoon in Wonderland in the 1951 film by WaltDisney. (You can find it is any search engine.)

Sadly, the pansies themselves saw this not as a triumph but as a consolation prize, for they hadwanted Tara, not Wonderland.

Katie Pansy O'Hara -- not.

Margaret Mitchell was a one-book author. But what a book -- "Gone with the Wind" (released1936). It was a publishing event of the first magnitude and then a film that many (including myself)regard as the finest ever done. And the pansies were all positioned for maximum impact and joysince Mitchell loved the name "Pansy" and had so called her unforgettable heroine. But she wasgently persuaded that her protagonist needed a stronger name; besides, the word "pansy" wasalready being used pejoratively and that would never do for a woman America was about to focus onwith obsessive, unslakable interest. Thus, Pansy morphed into Scarlett, to the pansies' eternal regret.It is a subject that rankles them to this day... and which can only be raised with the utmost delicacyand care.

The anger, irritation, pique and outrage of the pansies.

You have only to mention the high jacking of their name by hate mongers to produce universaloutrage amongst the pansies. Their job, so well accomplished for so long, is to brighten lives, raisespirits, enhance affection and beautify even the most oppressive of situations. There is no room intheir mission for causing pain, just for lessoning and eradicating it.

Thus, they asked me as a special favor to urge you, each of you, to do what you can to restore their good name, a name famous for goodness, kindness and love. Their mission is for all, wherever theyare, whatever their station or position, and it has no room at all for denigrating anyone at any time.That is not the pansies' way -- and it must not be yours.

Pansies are a thoughtful flower. Their very name derives from the French word "pensee" for thought;

even Ophelia in her madness remembers that -- "There is pansies, that's for thoughts." ("Hamlet," act4, scene 5.)

And their thoughts are simple... that the misuse of their long-held name is an outrage, unjust,unwarranted, unkind, unnecessary and must stop at once, not just for their benefit... but for the benefit of the haters who may then be liberated from their vituperation, leaving the most friendlyand thoughtful of flowers to get on with their work... lightening the misery of our species... themisery we create for each other every single day. Misery even a single glorious pansy can diminishat once and turn to gladness, a secret all their own.







Resource

About the Author Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a widerange of online services for small and-home based businesses. Dr. Lant is also the author of 18 best-selling business books.

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May 2012 Flowerrs