Thursday, February 2, 2012

Flowers, What is in a Name?


The weather has been so Spring like here  that I have been thinking about the garden and about flowers. I sat for a bit and flipped through some books and some catalogues. I came a across a sweet little book I thought I would share with you. It contains
 one hundred stories of myth and legend to enjoy. 100 Flowers and How They Got Their Names written by Diana Wells and illustrated by Ippy Patterson has fun and interesting bits about your favorite friends in the garden. The book offers two hundred plus pages of lovely illustrations, stories, folk beliefs, facts and lore. If you are interested in not only flowers but roots as well this is a fun book. It makes a great gift for any gardener. As a gardener myself it is always fun to have something besides the "how to" books in the gardening book collection. 


In this book you will find out that Empress Josephine, Napoleon's wife used the Rose to hide her teeth when she laughed. 
Another fun fact is that The Acanthus leaves inspired ornamentation in Ancient Greek architecture. As an artist I truly enjoy the inspiration nature provides. I am crazy about flowers not just in my garden but in my artwork as well.



Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. 
It will never fail you.-Frank Lloyd Wright(1869-1959)

Echinachea Unpainted                                                                           by Velásquez©2011

Botanical Name: Echinacea Purpurea 

I have an affinity for the Echinacea flower also known as the coneflower and snake root. 
One of my favorite flowers to draw, paint and grow. Various species of Echinacea were used to treat poisonous insect and snake bites, toothaches, sore throat, wounds, as well as mumps, smallpox, and measles  by the Plains Indians

Echinacea is the best known as an herb for stimulating the immune system.

Echinacea is a genus of nine species of flowering plants all native to eastern North America. 

Drought-tolerant perennial plants which can grow up to six feet tall. The most 

common types are Echinacea Purpurea and Echinacea Angustifolia. 


The nine species of Echinacea are: 

▪ Echinacea angustifolia - Narrow-leaf Coneflower 

▪ Echinacea atrorubens - Topeka Purple Coneflower 

▪ Echinacea laevigata - Smooth Coneflower, Smooth Purple Coneflower 

▪ Echinacea pallida - Pale Purple Coneflower 

▪ Echinacea paradoxa - Yellow Coneflower, Bush’s Purple Coneflower

▪ Echinacea purpurea - Purple Coneflower, Eastern Purple Coneflower 

▪ Echinacea sanguinea - Sanguin Purple Coneflower 

▪ Echinacea simulata - Wavyleaf Purple Coneflower 

▪ Echinacea tennesseensis - Tennessee Coneflower 



Can't wait to paint them all! Thank you for stopping by!

All images and content belong to Deborah Velásquez. Copyright 2005-2012.  All rights reserved.
Please do not use anything without permission or without making note of the origin on your blog or website

3 comments:

  1. Your flower is so pretty and what a great book. Thanks for sharing this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. A flower painter after my own heart! And you love gouache, no less! One can never have too many flower books, ever...off to track it down! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sweet you remember the gouache!! I agree you can never have too many flower books!

      Delete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...