HALF YEAR GONE BY...

“Without labor nothing prospers.” - Sophocles

The sunflower, Helianthus annuus, is today’s birthday flower. The generic name means sunflower in Greek and it has been a symbol of the sun in many cultures including the Incas (the plant is native to the Americas). It symbolises adoration, affection, infatuation, glory, false riches, constancy and gratitude. In the language of flowers it means: “You are splendid”.

The birthday of:
John Gay, poet and playwright (1685);
Baron von Mueller, Melbourne Botanic Gardens founder (1825);
Stanley Spencer, artist (1891);
Harold (Joseph) Laski, politician (1893);
Walter Ulbricht, statesman (1893);
Czeslaw Milosz, Nobel laureate (1980) author (1911);
Ruskin Spear, artist (1911);
Lena Horne, singer (1917);
Buddy (Bernard) Rich, drummer (1917);
Susan Hayward (Edythe Marrener), actress (1918);
Tony Hatch, pianist (1939);
Mike Tyson, pugilist (1966).

At around about this time, the people of Appleton in England ceremoniously “Bawm the Thorn”, that is they decorate an ancient hawthorn tree growing in the middle of town. A procession marches to the tree and everyone bedecks its branches with ribbons, flags, banners and flowers. The children then proceed to dance around it. It is thought this ceremony is a remnant of the pagan tree-worship rituals.