We’ll never get over the Mayflower

While July 4 may not mean much to Kiwis, to Americans it is a most important day. The anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the fourth of July is celebrated as the founding of the United States of America.

Initially, when considering a plant that symbolises the US of A to be our Plant of the Week, we thought of the mighty redwood. It’s big, thick and more akin to being woody than irony. But, then again, most of the Americans I’ve personally met have been rather sharp, so this would not be fair.

Aside from that, a couple of Bushs in the White House and an angry looking eagle holding a bunch of arrows, along with an olive branch in its fearsome talons (take from that what you will!) do not a garden make.

So, instead we looked back to before the Boston Tea Party turned sour, to a simpler time, when early settlers ‘rocked’ on up to Plymouth... in the Mayflower.

In 1620, pilgrims from England disembarked from their ship – named the Mayflower – in Plymouth, Massachusetts and established the first permanent European colony in New England. Although Europeans had founded settlements prior, the arrival of the Pilgrims is often celebrated as the official beginning of America as a nation in its pre-independence days.

When Captain Myles Standish, the crew and passengers of the Mayflower stepped ashore, they found a vast carpet of spring-blooming flowers before them. And so they named them in honour of the vessel that had carried them safely to their new home.

Native to the eastern regions of North America, mayflowers (Epigaea repens) are white in colour with a pinkish tinge and grow to approximately 1.5cm in size, clustered at the ends of the plant’s branches.

The genus name, Epigaea, derives from the Greek for ‘upon the ground’, because of the plant’s growing habits. The flowers grow on leafy, twiggy stems and, providing the soil is moist and acidic, and there is ample shade, the plant can spread rapidly across vast spaces. In this sense, some may say it is much like the people it has come to represent!

It must be remembered that mayflowers are wild. While it is possible to grow them in a home garden, conditions must be just right, with loose, well-drained soil and plenty of shelter. Those attempting to tame this freedom-loving American should also ensure the plant is removed intact and the roots are not disturbed.

Producing a fragrant aroma, mayflowers open to star shape and in the norethern Hemisphere they bloom during April and May.
 
In terms of medicinal uses, as a natural diuretic, the mayflower has been used to treat bladder and urinary problems. Which means, of course, that this is one American that literally does take the....!

While they may not be too threatening, born free, these pretty blooms symbolise independence and, it has been said that, on a still day, standing amidst the mayflowers if one listens hard enough they might just hear a faint whisper on the breeze saying: ‘don’t tread on me!’

Happy birthday America and best wishes from little old New Zealand; ‘May’ the next twelve months ‘Flower’ for you and your all of your kind!