Charming pink heather

Charming pink heather in the house – the happiness for the whole year, the British say. In Celtic folklore, heather is a symbolic plant. Common in Ireland and Britain, the low-growing heath or heather is a tough bog plant that blooms with charming pink or purplish flowers that carpet wild areas in summer. Bees love heather and make from it a honey that is a favorite food in parts of Scotland. In Ireland heather was classed as a “peasant” tree, but it nonetheless is included in the tree alphabet.
In England, heather grows in the vicinity of windy ocean coast. It is said that the sight of blooming, billowing in the wind and the sun shimmering on the heath helps get rid of depression and bad mood.

Heather honey – a good antiseptic. It helps with asthma, purifies the blood and has a diuretic effect. Used for treatment of stones in the kidneys, rheumatism and gout.

Scottish legend of heather.
When God created Scotland, he looked at the bare hillsides and decided that they must be decorated. God asked about it the giant oak, the mightiest of all the trees, but the oak rejected the proposal, citing the fact that the soil is too weak, to let his strong roots flourish.

Then the Lord turned to golden fragrant honeysuckle flowers with a request to present their beauty and fragrance on the bare slopes of Scotland. But Honeysuckle refused, because they saw here nothing but hunger and inhospitable terrain, unsuitable for flowering.

Regal Rose, the sweetest of all colors, was the next to whom God spoke. But she explained that her delicate petals are not able to withstand the harsh wind and endless rain.

Disappointed God decided to stop his attempts and leave everything as it was, and suddenly his eyes fell on a little modest low green shrub with tiny flowers: white and purple. It was the heather!

Lord asked the Heather if it was ready to settle on these barren hills to make them beautiful. Heather looked at poor soil, harsh climate and wondered if he could handle the job, but to the joy of God, agreed and promised to do everything what was in its power.

Overjoyed, the Lord rewarded the courageous plant lavish awards and has given it the power of oak – heather bark – tighter than the bark of any other tree or shrub; honeysuckle aroma – a gentle scent of heather is used in the production of scented soap, candles and cosmetic products; rose sweetness – sweet flowers of heather make it desirable for the bees, collecting medicinal heather honey.

To this day, the heather has three divine gifts and graces deserted Scottish hills, despite the soil, rain and wind.
Images: ipola.ru

Charming pink heather