A BEAUTIFUL POEM
About South African Flowers comes from the book “FLOWER FAIRIES OF OUR LAND” by Hope Poland and Honor Rorvik:
Wouldn’t it be magic
If you and I could see
The busy little fairy folk
In every flower and tree?
So if we care for trees and flowers
And touch them tenderly
Our fairy friends will weave a spell
Of joy for you and me
This is a pretty poem written especially for those wonderful flowers that grow in and around us - as far as the eye can see.
Taken from Childrcraft – Green Kingdom – Volume Two:
A flower’s job is to make seeds. There are thousands of kinds of flowers, in all sorts of shapes and colours. And every part of every flower has an important job to do.
At school we learn as early as junior school that the flower consists of anthers, stigma, sepals receptacles, egg, ovules and so on.
We are surrounded by millions of these wonderful gifts from nature.
South Africa boasts some of the most famous Botanical Gardens in the world.
From Kirstenbosch in the Cape which was founded in 1913, to the Karoo Desert National Botanical Garden.
One of the Floral Highlights occurs in Spring in The Karoo National Botanical Gardens when thousands of “Vygies” comes into flower.
There are also numerous Flower Tours which take place all over South Africa right throughout the year in South Africa.
Many flowers are associated with different festivals in the world – from the bright orange Marigolds of Divali – the happy colourful festival of India , to the cheerful garlands and leis of hibiscus welcoming visitors to Hawaii .
Orchids are sophisticated flowers, and there is a theory that there are as many as four times the amount of species of orchids than there are species of mammals in the world. In Singapore you can visit the wonderful Butterfly Garden and thousand upon thousand of different species of Orchids are specially grown to attract butterflies of many different species , delighting and enchanting visitors.
Lilies, Carnations, Roses, Agapanthus, Fuschias, Crocuses – millions of different species, colours , and perfumes - something we would be so much poorer without.
Different flowers for different people, countries, uses, occasions……
