Sharon Falsetto's Blog

Posted by Sharon Falsetto

The gift of scent is always appreciated! But instead of giving the traditonal bottle of perfume (which is usually a synthetic scent in today's world) give the gift of true scent, that of flowers and plants of the natural world. Traditional scented gifts given throughout history include the pomander, scented gloves and scented herb pillows; these are inexpensive gifts which can be homemade and given for Valentines, Mother's Day, Weddings and Birthdays. It was traditional in Europe to make homemade scents in still rooms.

If you'd prefer to give actual flowers for Valentines Day, consider exotic species such as Orchids and Lilies, in addition to the traditional Rose; the Victorians exchanged a small posy of flowers, known as a tussie mussie to express their love. Each individual flower had a meaning so it was very important to know what a flower meant before presenting it to a sweetheart! Flower meanings varied in different literatures so it was also important for both the giver and the receiver to refer to the same text!

If you are getting married in 2009 you may wish to consider fragrant flowers such as Rose, Hyacinth and Lily-of-the-Valley in your wedding bouquet; if it is a Spring wedding, consider some alternatives of Tulip, Peony and Gerber Daisy. Although these flowers are not as fragrant as some others, they are simple, yet still manage to make a statement.

For other ideas on weddings for 2009, check out wedding bouquet styles and if you'd like to know what Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Aniston or even Queen Victoria had in their bridal bouquets, you may want to read celebrity wedding flowers! And where did the tradition of wedding flowers begin? You may be suprised to learn that herbs were actually more common as bridal bouquets than flowers originally; this may be due in part to the fact that herbs disguised body odors when bathing was not so frequent!

Fashions may change, but flowers always seem to be in fashion - and the gift of scent, combined with flowers, is sure to melt your lover's heart....

Posted by Sharon Falsetto

Plants are often taken for granted in our gardens and varied landscapes and habitats around the world; but how much thought is given to the long use of plants in our society?

I have written several articles relating to the history of various aspects of the history of plants. The history of the greenhouse shows that we have been fascinated with plants for centuries from the humble vegetable to the more exotic species of the world which were brought back to Europe by plant explorers such as Joseph Banks. A more focused history on medicinal herbs, shows that medical herbs have had many uses by many societies over the centuries.

Plants have been a 'fashion' item of sorts over the years too; plants were often used for their fragrances, in addition to their medicinal values, and evidence has been discovered in pompeii, indicating that ancient pompeiians were frequent users of many plants such as rose, lavender and lily in the making of ancient perfumes. It became the fashion to create still rooms to enable the easy preparation of medicinal recipes and aromatice perfumes at home. The Victorians made it fashionable to give tussie mussies, small posies of flowers which were discreetly passed between lovers; the Victorians also made botanical art popular too.

The most popular flower throughout history must be the rose; roses have had many uses and meanings but are probably most associated with love. Rose essential oil and the actual flower of rose are known to have aphrodisiac properties. There are many, many varieties of cultivated roses throughout the world today, although the ancient roses relate back to the Far East.

So, next time you give the gift of a flower, plant or perfume, for whatever occasion, give some thought as to the history of the ancestors of that flower or plant or the ingredients of a perfume! You never know, it may just have a really interesting story to tell...

Posted by Sharon Falsetto

Plants are indigenous to the habitats in which they have evolved and, when taken out of a particular habitat , they have to adapt to survive or will die. As Christmas approaches, we see many plants decorating many holiday homes but how many people realize that most of these plants are not indigenous to the areas in which they are now found?

Both Poinsettia and Christmas Cacti are indigenous to warmer climates than the colder homes in the Western world they now found themselves. Christmas cacti are indigenous to Brazil and my article The Christmas Cactus will tell you more about this unusual plant which is not a traditional cacti, despite its name. The Poinsettia struggles to survive successfully in Western homes too; this is maybe because it is more used to its native home of Mexico! There are many plants associated with Christmas and the article Christmas Plants of the World will reveal more.

There are some species of plants which have evolved to adapt to their environment; orchids are a good example. There are up to 30,000 species of orchids in the world and despite having two basic ecological habits (terrestrial and ephiphyte) orchids are found in climates from tropical rainforests to artic tundra. Read An Introduction to Orchid Flowers to learn more about these adapatable flowers!

Then there are those plants which thrive on fire or snow. Many Australian plants use bush fires to their advantage, as explained in the Effects of Australian Bush Fires. Some plants, such as evergreen trees, survive through winter much as they do the rest of the year; however, they actually need snow to do so, as revealed in Why Do Plants Need Snow?

Finally, even plants can use a bit of natural help in the garden! As plants produce the essential oils used to treat many ailments in the practice of aromatherapy why shouldn't plants benefit too from their own natural defensive mechanisms - How to Use Essential Oils in the Garden teaches you how to use this natural form of defense to protect your plants.

Posted by Sharon Falsetto

Most of my articles over the past couple of weeks have had a similar thread running through them, that of the value of plants in the medicinal world. The Ebers Papyrus of Ancient Egypt provides us with ancient evidence of the use of plants by the Egyptians. There is also evidence that the Chinese and the Indians realised the value of plants from early beginnings.

The ancient and biblical essential oils of both Myrrh and Frankincense are perhaps remembered for their uses as gifts to the baby Jesus, but they have had a number of other important uses over the years.

The Romans were aware of the the medicinal use of plants too; in my article, The Lost Medicinal Plants of Pompeii, you can discover how plants have been preserved in the volcanic ash from the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D., providing us with knowledge of the plants used at that time.

Plants have been known to many indigenous tribes for centuries for their medicinal value and the rainforests of Borneo hold many secrets within their lush canopies; however, if the destruction of our rain forests continues we may be at risk of losing some of these valuable plants forever. The Native Americans have also used many indigenous plants for both medicinal value and as food.

And finally, as we approach Veteran's Day on November 11, you may be interested to know what medicinal properties the poppy holds and how to identify different poppy species.

The world of plants provides us with a fascinating insight into the usefulness of plants in our world today; in fact some plants may hold the cure for such diseases as Cancer and Aids, demonstrating that the value of plants is priceless in our world today, as others have discovered from long ago. As the modern way advances in technology, we should not forget the value of our plant world.

Posted by Sharon Falsetto

As the new feature writer for botany, I would like to welcome readers to this section! Over the coming months, I will be focusing on a number of topics to help de-mystify the scientific world of plants including how different cultures and indigenous people use plants around the world, various diverse plant ecology systems and the use and profile of a number of medicinal plants and plant species.

I hope to make the world of botany both interesting and less mysterious than before by a series of 'introductions' and 'how to' articles in addition to the more complex and scientific articles. Botany is seen as a complex area of study but it can also be fun and fascinating when we learn how plants, from small wildflowers to huge trees, survive and live in the natural world. A lot more is going on than we may first imagine when we pass a tree or flower and the evolution of the plant kingdom helps explain where plants first came from.

Botany has developed in recent years with the introduction of ethnobotany; although ethnobotany has been around for quite some time, it is only the recent revival of interest in medicinal plants which has brought it once again into the spot light. The brief study of ethnobotany will introduce you to this subject. The current concern of climate change may also have an effect on the plant ecology systems of the world, another area which is involved in the subject of botany.

Plants play an important role in our world and learning to understand them more helps us to protect the environment and prevent the endangerment of plant species from extinction. So enjoy the articles in our section and study botany along with us!