10 • April 2018 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC.


Spring in The Garden... Quenched by Rain! SPRING GUIDE #2 JOKES & Humor # 3 by Kimberly Childers • kimberlychilders@att.net


Santa Rsa, CA. ~ It’s SPRING! Vital to transition, renewal and emerging growth.


Blossoms and


life are ‘springing’ forth in this el- egant season. It is certainly about SEX but isn’t that what makes the world go round, the circle of life, seeds throughout the Earth, every living cell and be- ing?


Rain has


quenched the land and may it continue through April to bring evocative flowers and fragrance to our gardens. The Latin for April (aperire) means ‘to open’ refer- ring to the opening of flowers. Did you know that flowers were the


dominant plants on Earth about 90 million years ago according to fossil records? Flowers are called angiosperms from the Greek words for ‘vessel’, angeion and ‘seed’ or sperma. They are successfully abundant flowers that develop to contain seeds. You do the math. They are the largest group in the plant dom. bats,


king- Bees,


butter-


flies, other pollinator to- gether


with


flowers are in an essential, very complex, co-evolution- ary ‘dance’. Humans


would not have evolved if it wasn’t for flowers, all 300,000 differ-


ent species, Gasp! The emergence of flowers changed the world. It is thought that all flowers descended from Amborella tricopoda found


only in New Caledonia. Delve fur- ther into this!!


In the garden we eat many


flowers like broccoli, cauliflower, nasturtiums, squash blos- soms and more. We plant flowers specifically for bees, but- terflies and pollinators, while en- joying their presence


in


our gardens. Insects are seduced by flower’s deli- cious sweet nectar and they inadver- tently become dusted with pollen, fly- ing to other plants dis- persing their pollen again and again.


They are being fed with sugary, nu- tritious syrup but are also working for plants and evolution develop- ing slowly over time.


Flowers seduce insects but we as well have been seduced by flowers! Tulips,


originally from Turkey,


caused Tulip Mania’ in England and 17th century Holland. People actually sold their houses and lost their fortunes to buy expensive tu- lip bulbs! It wasn’t known at that time that ‘Tulip breaking virus’ caused the color variations. It was


A


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10 • April 2018 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC.


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a fast-paced fascinating mystery because of a flower!


use edible flowers in everything now.


squash


blossoms, chive flow- ers, rose petal jam, elderberry syrups


and can- died violet flowers the new palate is flower- filled.


Summer drinks with flower wa- ters, mixed drinks with flower syr- ups. From the Orchid martini to the Rose blush gim- let, red hi- biscus tea,


lavender ice cream, and marigold butter, rosemary infused olive oil, the list goes on, limited only by your adventurous spirit. Delightful orange flower water and rose bud face toner, essential oils from flowers, healing creams made with calendula flowers are a better way to nourish your skin instead of products laced with ir- ritating chemicals absorbing into your pores, Gasp! Celebrate and explore the splendor of flowers all around you.


There are many


books and the internet is filled with tempting recipes as well as sweet scented potpourri ideas, healing yarrow salves, rosemary hair rins- es for brunettes and chamomile for blonds. But whatever you do--- know the flowers you eat and make absolute- ly sure you have identified them as edible!


There are books, blogs,


and videos with proper identifica- tion information. Make sure, too, blossoms aren’t tainted with poi- sonous pesticides! When you can grow them in pots on your porch or in your organic garden you can be sure they are safe to eat! Molecules of scent and intrigue


fill the dancing spring air, nurtur- ing to mind and body. Flowers have been used all over the world for millennia, for fragrance, for food, for medicine and are an abso-


... continued on page 13 “The most important thing in life for you is your positive stance in life!” ~ Mehmet Murat ildan


Innovators of modern cuisine From


The world tongue-twister cham- pion just got arrested. I hear they’re gonna give him a really tough sentence. ~


Why did the diet coach send her clients to the paint store? She heard you could get thinner there. ~


With the economy


improved, my son finally found a job in electrical


engineering. He traveled to various locales to analyze and fix problems with his


company’s equipment. Yet it frustrated him that his employer gave him little training. One day he heard about some training classes coming up and asked if he might attend. “Oh, sure,” his boss said. “You’re going to be the instructor.”


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