Woodland Whispers: The Mayflower’s Tale from Nova Scotia
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast:
April 4, 1901
On this day, dear aficionados of flora and fauna, Nova Scotia embraced its wild heart with the passage of The Floral Emblem Act.
This momentous occasion saw the mayflower, also known as ground laurel or trailing arbutus, crowned as the official flower of this verdant Canadian province.
Should you find yourself wandering the streets of Nova Scotia, do cast your eyes upon the decorative ironwork outside the Legislative Library. There, immortalized in metal, you'll spy the delicate form of the mayflower - a testament to its significance in the province's natural heritage.
Now, before you rush to transplant this charming wildflower into your own garden, I implore you to pause and consider its true nature.
The mayflower, you see, is a woodland nymph, as shy and retiring as a debutante at her first ball. It thrives in the dappled shade of forest glades, its roots entwined in a mystical dance with mycorrhizal fungi.
But let us not dismiss this diminutive beauty as merely ornamental. Oh no! Its leaves have long been steeped to create a diuretic tea, proving that even the most delicate of flowers can possess hidden strengths. And as an early spring ephemeral, it brings a welcome burst of fragrance to the woodland floor when most of nature is still slumbering.
However, I must caution you, dear gardeners, against attempting to tame this wild spirit. The mayflower is not meant for the manicured beds of our domestic gardens.
As eloquently stated in The Hutchinson News of Hutchinson, Kansas, on July 6, 1915:
Among the truly 'wild' flowers, two that ask of man only to be let alone in their native fastnesses, are the mayflower, or trailing arbutus, and the twinberry, or partridge berry, the last-named a member of the madder family, and a distant relative of the coffee tree.
The mayflower is wildest and shyest of all. No more is the eagle at home in the farmyard or the cardinal in the cage that the mayflower in the garden.
As the imprisoned cardinal pines away and dies when the gilded bars of a bird-cage separate it from its liberty, so the mayflower sickens and withers away in the garden.
What a poignant reminder that some beauties are best admired in their natural habitat!
Instead of attempting to cage this woodland sprite, why not create a shaded nook in your garden that mimics its preferred environment?
Perhaps a collection of native ferns and mosses could serve as a tribute to Nova Scotia's beloved emblem.
And so, my fellow guardians of green spaces, let us celebrate the mayflower not by possession, but by preservation.
May we strive to protect the wild places where such delicate wonders flourish, ensuring that future generations can marvel at their fragrant blooms in the early days of spring.