Summer Solstice and the Catalpa Tree - Garden Photo of the day


Catalpa tree flowers - source: Kansas Native Plants 

 Did you know that the Catalpa Tree drops its flowers, which look like orchids, on the Summer Solstice?

 Catalpas are the last to leaf out and their flowers tell us when the longest day of the year is. On this day they fall like snow...

 The Catawba Indians of Upstate New York, where the Catalpa is native, regarded this tree as sacred.  There is a great story about how they were seeded all over the midwest:  The Great Catalpa Craze. 

 I love Christine Agro's messages and mandalas. Here is her 'Catalpa meditation':

source: Catalpa: Be In Tune With Nature




Comments

  1. UnknownJune 23, 2014 at 4:08 PM

    Thanks Jan for sharing the Catalpa Mandala!
    Our tree this year was so beautiful and those flowers...I was trying to peg the scent...something similar to orange blossoms maybe? What do you think?
    Christine

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jan JohnsenJune 26, 2014 at 7:07 AM

      That is a good description.. I grew up in an apartment building and had a close up view of this gorgeous tree outside my window. I always waited for the flowers....

      Delete
  2. DebraJune 23, 2014 at 4:08 PM

    They grow here in Austin and I saw some earlier this spring for the first time. I love the fragrance.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownApril 23, 2016 at 5:27 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownApril 23, 2016 at 5:27 AM

    nice

    ReplyDelete

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