A splash of Colour in My Garden

It has been another grey gloomy day with some areas getting some drizzle, but we seemed to have missed it. I woke up this morning with a really bad headache again.. the other one never really left me but was feeling much better each day. I was going to walk around and get a few shots in the city on my home from feeding Jamie's Cat, but just wasn't up to it. A Petunia in my garden had to do for today's blip.


About the Petunia:
Scientists believe that the petunia comes from South America and is of the hybridization between two different species of petunia flowers i.e.
petunia axillaris (a white large typed and night scented petunia) and
Petunia integrifolia a mainly violet colored petunia. The petunia belongs to the solanaceae family. It is closely related to tobacco, gooseberries, tomatoes, deadly nightshades, potatoes and chili peppers. The vast majority of petunias seen in gardens are hybrids.

Herbalism and Medicine:
Petunia is used as a hallucinogen that can cause a profound twist into a person’s perception of reality. It has been used for centuries on entheogen ritual to invoke a state of mind that spawn a feeling of “divine within”. It alters once consciousness into believing celestial manifestation and vision. Shamans then can easily control the mind of their subject into accepting alterations of reality.

In modern times, it use as a healing agent for a 12-step program of drug addicts to induce a different state of mind. In Ecuador, it was used by the Indians to induce the feeling of travelling on a plane. It contains the basic Nitrogen atoms of an alkaloid. Alkaloid containing floras have been utilized by humans in the early time for therapeutic and recreational use.

Superstitions: Petunias are associated with the sign of Capricorn. And in pagan tradition, it is believed to be a tallish protection.

What Petunia Means:
Its Native American origin described Petunia as tobacco that cannot be smoked from the root word petun - derived in the Tupian Languages. This is not surprising since it shares the family of Solanaceae where tobacco belongs to.In the language of flowers, Petunia are also associated with feelings of anger and resentment but also signifies not losing hope.

Petunias are known as "Mary's Praises" in Germany due to their uplifting flowers. They are a common symbol of the Virgin Mary in Christianity, and are often planted in gardens dedicated to the Mother of Christ. In popular folklore, petunia flowers are also believed to represent anger and resentment, or to soothe these negative emotions by their presence.
Read more : http://www.ehow.com/