Year of the Water Snake

There is a secret language we know, the language of symbols. Symbols surround us in myriad forms and form  part of our daily lives. Many of the symbols we take for granted today as static signs of religious or secular life were created long ago. Over time, they have acquired layers of increasingly complex meaning, and this evolution of meaning tells us much about how we developed our ideas about the nature of life and the universe.

 Here are just a few associated with the garden

Carnation: a symbol of betrothal or engagement.and China, a carnation is a symbol of marriage.  In our family it symbolizes death.
Chrysanthemum: in Japan, 'mums are a symbol for long life.
Clover leaf:  trinity  luck.
Daisy:  symbol of innocence
Iris: associated with death as Iris was a Greek goddess of the rainbow, . The three upright petals and three drooping sepals are symbols for faith, valor, and wisdom.
Jasmine:  Hindu symbol for love
Juniper: symbolizes chastity (because juniper berries are protected by the tree's thorny leaves), Christ (an association with the crown of thorns place on the head of Christ),
Lily: symbolizes purity, chastity, and innocence.
Lotus: a common symbol in Asian art, the lotus symbolizes birth and rebirth through the fact that the petals open when the sun comes out and close when the sun sets. Also a symbol for fertility, creation, and purity.  the flower represents the enlightenment to which we aspire.
Orchid: a symbol of perfection. The spots on an orchid sometimes represent the blood of Christ.
Poppy: a symbol of death
Thistle: a thorny plant with a beautiful flower, the national symbol of Scotland. It's thorns symbolize both evil and protection. In Christianity it represents the suffering of Christ.

China is famous as being home to many thousands of varieties of flowers. The ten most widely appreciated and culturally significant peony, Chinese herbaceous peony, camellia, azalea, narcissus, chrysanthemum, plum blossom, lotus, The flowering crab apple,the orchid, the pine and bamboo are also very popular. Many different aspects of plants, flowers and trees are admired, including their shapes, colors, and scents. Furthermore, they are often endowed with spiritual and human attributes. In Chinese, the expression Three Friends in Cold Winter refers to pine, bamboo and plum trees. Similarly, the expression Four Men of Honor refers to plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum, and Four Elegancies refers to the simple yet graceful orchid, chrysanthemum, narcissus and calamus. The .pine is held in high esteem as one of the Three Friends in winter because it is evergreen, grows straight and tall, and can endure cold weather with relative ease. People there value it as a symbol of integrity, tenacity and uprightness

Bamboo has many rhetorical implications in Chinese culture. Somewhat similar to pine, the fact that it is evergreen, and its stems are strong and hard make it an apt symbol of integrity, strength and loyalty. In Chinese, the hollow aerial culms and the nodes of bamboo are homophones for modesty with self-esteem. The worship of bamboo as a form of divine being was recorded in several classical history books, including The Annual of the Huayang Kingdom, which was one of the earliest chronicles of southeast China. It was also mentioned in The History of the Later Han Dynasty.

The graceful plum blossom can withstand freezing cold that kills other flowers, and also has a delightful scent. Because it is the earliest blossom to bloom after winter, it stands out among its peers. And like bamboo and pine, the plum blossom also had its legion of fans. Lin Bu a Song Dynasty hermit who lived at Mt Gushan near the West Lake in Hangzhou was famous for his love of both plum trees and cranes. An idiom, 梅妻鹤子, literally meaning plum as wife and cranes as children, actually was generated from Lin Bu's way of life, as a metaphor for a lifestyle free of worldly worry

The chrysanthemum is regarded by Chinese people as strong, graceful, and with no  desire for fame or gain. Over time many other poets have written about how the chrysanthemum flourishes in autumn, and maintains its delicate scent despite the cold wind attempting to sweep it away. For Chinese people, these are values to be held in high esteem.

The peony is another flower prized in Chinese culture. It is enjoyed for its stately color and heavenly fragrance. Due to its grace and poise, it is a fitting symbol of splendor, wealth, and happiness. Among others, it was proposed as the national flower of China.. Peony has been endowed with the quality of indifference to the powerful and the influential, and strength to stay true to its own principles.

Narcissus, the water fairy, is considered special because it grow in clean water and exudes an elegant and pure fragrance. Due to these attributes it is regarded as possessing pure and refined qualities.

 Peach blossoms are thought to represent pretty ladies.

The Lotus ,due to the fact it grows in mud but manages to achieve to be visually pleasing, lotus stands for grace and purity. .

The seed of the red bean shrub is a token of love. (handpicked, wild flower describes a woman one has an affair with. A popular Chinese song includes t line "Don't pick a wild flower by the roadside", meaning it is better to stay faithful to one's love.

	There is a new book titled The Splendid Garden.It is an illustrated compendium on the classic gardens of China. It explains the history of the garden, the traditions and beliefs they represent, their aesthetic and the techniques used to create them. Also included are chapters that survey the great gardens of China, the gardens tourists love to visit and gardeners dream of seeing and exploring. "Chinese gardens are the imitations of natural landscapes,"says Hu Jie the author. The first few chapters are a history of China, starting about 3,000 years ago,and how it relates to the building of gardens. the reproductions of historical Chinese nature paintings gorgeous,but the book includes diagrams of gardens lost in history  .