Fascinating flowers we love

1 – Gerbera

🌼 The sunny Gerbera is a popular choice for its wide variety of colours and long life in a vase.

🌼 Gerbera are named after Traugott Gerber, a German botanist from the 1700s, but they originated in South Africa and are also known as the African daisy

🌼 Did you know that Gerbera can assist with a better night sleep? They emit oxygen and absorb carbon monoxide and toxins at night and of course will make for a colourful bedside display.

2 – Orchid

🌸 With more than 25,000 documented orchid species throughout the world this means there are four times the number of orchid species than birds or mammals.

🌸 Orchids grow on every continent (except Antarctica). From the Arctic Circle to the southernmost jungle.

🌸 Orchid flowers always grow upside down when mature.

🌸 The vanilla orchid (and its vanilla bean) is the only commercially grown orchid crop (Vanilla planifolia). Orchids yummy enough to eat and cook with!

🌸 People use orchids for numerous purposes. Substances isolated from orchids are used in perfumes, spices and in traditional Asian medicine.

🌸 Biologists at Harvard University have identified the ancient fossilized remains of a pollen-bearing bee as the first hint of orchids in the fossil record, a find they say suggests orchids are old enough to have coexisted with dinosaurs. Their analysis indicates orchids arose some 76 to 84 million years ago.😮

3 – Daffodil

🌼 Ancient Romans cultivated daffodils and believed that their sap possessed healing properties. 🌼 Florists can develop an allergic reaction on the skin called "daffodil itch" after preparing floral arrangements made with daffodils. 🌼 Due to toxic sap in the stem, daffodil should not be kept in the vase with other plants, unless the stems are soaked in water for 24 hours. 🌼 Narciclasine is a substance isolated from the bulb, which (according to some medical studies) has the potential to treat breast cancer. 🌼 Galantamine is a drug that can reduce the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. It increases a natural substance in the brain required for thought and memory. Galantamine is obtained from the bulbs and flowers of daffodils. 🌼 They are the official 10th Wedding Anniversary Flower and the national flower of Wales. 🌼 They are one of the rare species of plants that are able to successfully grow through the snow. 🌼 Bunch of daffodils offered as a gift ensures happiness and represents good fortune. 🌼 The Cancer Society of New Zealand's Daffodil Day symbolises hope for 1 in 3 New Zealanders affected by cancer. Please donate generously.

https://www.daffodilday.org.nz/?gclid=COniwtHyjN0CFdZ2vAodWcAAlQ&gclsrc=ds

#DaffodilDay #DaffodilDayNZ #FlowerPower

4 – Poppies

Poppies symbolise the sacrifices made by service members around the world. During World War One, the poppies disappeared because of the trampling and bombing of the battlefields. The destruction stopped them from growing for four full seasons. After the war was over the poppy began to bloom again. According to reports, this historical growth was spectacular, with 2,500 poppy seeds per square foot found.

5 – Chrysanthemum

🧡 Chrysanthemums or 'Mums' for short come in a rainbow of colours and are usually available all year. 🧡 They are one of the most popular flowers only next to the rose. 🧡 They contain a chemical called pyrethrum which is a natural bug repellent. 🧡 These blooms also remove toxins from the air. 🧡 They are the November birth flower.

6 – Protea

❤️Protea symbolizes diversity and courage. ❤️ Protea date back approximately 300 million years, making them one of the oldest flowering plants. ❤️ It is believed they originated in the supercontinent Gondwana as they occur naturally in the Southern Hemisphere ❤️ Protea come in over 1,500 species (diversity) ❤️ Protea can survive wildfires, and withstand the toughest conditions (courage).

7 – Easter Lily

🐇 Native to the Ryukyu islands of southern Japan, this lily (Lilium longiflorum) was discovered by the famous plant explorer Carl Peter Thunberg in 1777 and sent to England in 1819. 🐇 Because the date of Easter varies each year, greenhouse growers carefully schedule their crop of potted lilies to bloom just in time for Easter. 🐇 Although the Bible describes lilies growing in Palestine, the large white lily we recognize today didn't become common in churches until the 1800s, when popular tradition gave them the nickname Easter lily.

#Gerbera #Orchid #Daffodil #Poppies #Chrysanthemum #Protea #EasterLily