Yellow mimosa flowers, bright and cheerful, have become a symbol of International Women's Day. It is accompanied by a sprig of mimosa that men give gifts on March 8 to their beloved women, but few people wonder why.

Mimosa is native to Australia and was introduced to Europe in the early nineteenth century. Mimosa branches begin to bloom at the end of winter and their fluffy pale yellow flowers make us instantly forget about slush and cold weather and give us a good mood.

According to the ABC of Flowers, mimosa symbolizes strength and femininity. As you can see, it is no coincidence that this particular flower has become a symbol of Women's Day. March 8 became International Women's Day in memory of the 129 female workers who died in a fire at the New York factory where they worked, which broke out during a protest against inhumane working conditions. An unfortunate incident occurred on March 8, 1908, and mimosa is one of the few plants that bloom in early March.

How to keep mimosa fresh for a long time

How to make sure that your mimosa branch, donated on March 8, does not wither in a few hours? Here are some little tips.

Cut the base of the branch half an inch, then fill the tub with clean, cool water, add a few drops of lemon, and put your mimosa in it. Leave the flowers in the water for several hours.

After that, put the vase of flowers in a sunny place, but be careful: the mimosa should always be kept a little damp: periodically spray it with water using an aerosol spray.

March 7, 2016

The first spring holiday and the stalls filled with fragrant yellow flowers- mimosas. Fragrant brushes made of small balls of sunny color have firmly entered the consciousness and are associated exclusively with March 8th. Ladies spoiled by attention and flowers may believe that only greedy or unimaginative men give mimosas. Alas, yellow bouquets fell out of favor in the 90s, probably because they were too sharply reminiscent of Soviet times and scarcity. I wanted to get a million scarlet roses on March 8 in creative packaging made of multi-colored cellophane instead of a mimosa branch in a newspaper ... But can the lively spring fragrance of these flowers compare with an odorless greenhouse rose? Green Portal is in defense of sunny March bouquets!

We will immediately reveal the main secret: festive flowers are called "mimosas" by mistake. Actually this acacia silver(Acacia Dealbata), a real mimosa, it is a distant relative. The only thing these plants have in common is the legume family. An attempt to name the main flower on March 8 as a yellow mimosa will also be a failure - the name is already taken, and the Caragana plant bears it.

The real homeland of a plant with yellow fragrant flowers is Australia, but in Russia you can meet it on Black Sea coast. Acacia silver is a fairly tall tree with a spreading crown or a wide bush.

Flowering time begins in February, and ends in spring, in April. Our heroine was named silver because of the gray-ash color of the foliage and the light whitish coating on the branches.

If you live in warm regions, then you can easily grow "mimosa" (in quotation marks to make it clear that we are talking about silver acacia) in your garden. But the plant will not withstand the harsh winter of the middle zone, it will freeze and die. Residents of cold regions can try to grow a silver acacia at home, and if there is a winter garden or greenhouse, this will be the most the best option. For the summer, room "mimosa" can be planted in open ground, after arranging for her several sessions of hardening (for this you need to open all the windows and ventilate the room, each time increasing the cooling time). When the time for cold weather comes, it is necessary to return the sissy home.

"Mimosa" propagates easily (by cuttings or seeds), requires almost no care, does not need pruning. To germinate the seeds, soak them in warm water (about 40 degrees), and after two days plant them in a mixture of sand and peat. Seedlings appear fairly quickly and grow well.

In spring or autumn, you can plant a silver acacia with apical cuttings. Place them in a sand-peat mixture and wait for them to take root. It is advisable to place your plantings in a warm place where the temperature is kept between 20 and 25 degrees. The grown bushes are transplanted as they grow, not forgetting to feed them with mineral fertilizers and organic matter.

"Mimosa" loves sunny, wind-protected areas with fertile soil. Abundance of moisture does not require, drought-resistant. silver acacia in favorable conditions gives a noticeable increase in order to make the crown more magnificent, it is recommended to work with a secateurs and cut out weak, poorly located and overgrown branches.

Acacia silver and real mimosa are slightly similar to each other, except for the shape of the leaves.

Mimosa (note, without quotes!) can be a tree, shrub or herbaceous plant, and its species grow in hot and humid countries (mainly in South America). This means that at the dacha in middle lane Russia cannot grow this exotic beauty. The only possible variant of existence is indoor, and even then not for all types, because you can’t place a tree in a small apartment ... However, mimosa bashful(Mimosa pudica) can be grown as an annual.

If the summer is warm, sunny, and the gardener does not stint on watering, then it will become an unusual decoration for a flower garden. For sowing, you need to collect seeds and sow them in February-March, the plant reproduces worse with cuttings.

Mimosa shy is a low shrub with thorns on the stems, feathery light green leaves and pink light colors in the form of balls. In addition, mimosa is very sensitive to touch - it is worth touching it slightly, as the branches fall, and the leaves fold. The same metamorphosis occurs with the plant at night, but in the morning the touchy again takes its former form. By the way, it is this feature that is reflected in the name of the flower, mimosa seems to be embarrassed by excessive attention ... Look at the photo: on the left, the leaves under the flower are open, and on the right they have shrunk.

There are many myths and legends associated with bashful mimosa. A Philippine legend tells that bandits attacked the family of the shy girl Maria, the mother of the little girl began to pray for her daughter, and by this prayer the little girl was turned into a flower. And this flower remained as shy as the girl was.

There is a belief that a shy mimosa folds leaves when a deceiver and a liar appear. And botanists give their explanations for the “shamefulness” of the plant: this is how it protects itself from tropical rains or from living creatures that can eat it. The bashful mimosa itself does not eat anyone - this is not an insectivorous plant, for life it needs a little earth, sun and water.

The bashful mimosa has another protective mechanism - the roots of the plant begin to smell unpleasant if you touch them. Interestingly, not all touches react. This feature was carefully studied by the American scientist Rabbi Musah. He conducted a study and found that the roots are indifferent to touching glass or metal, and a warm hand will definitely make them exude a bad aroma. You can feel it, for example, when transplanting. By the way, silver acacia also has this property, although its roots have a more tolerable smell, reminiscent of garlic.

As for the bashful mimosa flowers, they smell pleasant. Understanding people characterize the smell as fruity, honey, vegetable, invigorating. If the room is too cold, if there is little light or the soil is poor, then the plant may not bloom.

The most popular variety of "touchy" is considered to be 'Campina'. She has pink spherical inflorescences and feathery leaves resembling a fern. Mimosa bashful Campina is inexpensive, sprouts well and blooms well. Keep the plant pot in the sunniest window and away from curious household members who like to watch how the mimosa reacts to touch. If you disturb the touchy too often, it will forget how to “fold” or will not withstand constant stress and dry out.

Note to smokers: bashful mimosa does not tolerate the smell of tobacco smoke and sheds leaves, so quit smoking or do not start a capricious touchy at home.

Pink-lilac balls of blooming shy mimosa look exotic and unusual, but it is unlikely that you will be able to make a decent bouquet from this plant. Mimosa is good in a pot in a conspicuous place, and let the fragrant branches of silver acacia take the place in a vase.

It is not for nothing that the fragrance of these solar flower balls is often used by perfumers to create perfumes. The smell of yellow branches of "mimosa" is the smell of the coming spring and women's holiday!

Mimosas - fluffy little suns on thin branches - have become a real symbol of International Women's Day. On the eve of the holiday, they fill stores with yellow clouds, tickle the nostrils with a delicate tart aroma. Mimosa stands in a vase for a long time, does not require care and creates a great mood for the household. But why exactly her?

History reference

In 1910, in Copenhagen, at the suggestion of Clara Zetkin, a decision was made to recognize March 8 as International Women's Day. The date was not chosen by chance, 2 years before that, on March 8, 1908, a rally was held in New York as part of the struggle for women's rights. The rally turned out to be bloody, more than 100 participants died, but they managed to get their way. The world has recognized that women are the same members of society as men, with the same rights and privileges.

It is impossible to establish the exact date after which mimosa became the symbol of March 8. Most likely, such popularity of the flower is explained by the fact that it blooms very early, at the end of February. Beautiful appearance, fragility and tenderness, combined with high frost resistance, make mimosa look like a woman, beautiful, strong, confident, incredible.

In the Soviet Union, March 8 has been officially celebrated since 1921. Since 1966, the day has become a day off, but has ceased to be a symbol of women's struggle against discrimination. The beautiful half of humanity was solemnly congratulated, but it was not customary to give gifts and flowers on this holiday.

If you look at the Izvestia newspaper, the first photograph of a woman with a bouquet appeared by March 8, 1969. Previously, the newspaper for "Women's Day" posted pictures of workers in factories and fields without any holiday symbols. The main flowers of the holiday are mimosa, lilies of the valley, tulips, all the rest either have not blossomed yet, or were sold at too high a price.

mimosa today

Despite the huge number of flowers available in stores, the tradition of giving mimosa has been preserved. These flowers have a delicate aroma and even useful properties:

1. They are among the aphrodisiacs - set in a romantic mood, contribute to the establishment of relationships.
2. They relieve stress, fatigue, allow you to relax after a hard day's work, forget about problems.
3. Calm the nerves, relieve headaches.

Mimosa bloom means that winter is over, cold and snow are over. Nature is about to wake up, and yellow mimosa balls are the first spring swallows.

We learned a picture that repeats itself from year to year before March 8th. I also bought these strong-smelling yellow flowers. Well, I hope you know, it's not a mimosa. Although the entire Internet is full of this, but if someone suddenly, by an absurd accident, does not know what flowers he buys for his women, and even more so does not know what a real mimosa looks like, you have one road - under the cut!

So let's find out...

The already mentioned mimosa has become a symbol of March 8 under a false name. In fact, what we used to call “mimosa” is officially considered a silver acacia in the Russian classification.

There is another name for it - Australian acacia, it was brought from Australia.

Our "yellow mimosa" belongs to the genus Acacia, it is from the legume family. It is a fast-growing evergreen tree up to 12 m high. Its trunk is prickly, and the foliage has a silvery-green color. The foliage of the "yellow mimosa" is very beautiful and similar in shape to the foliage of a fern. The unusual thing about silver acacia is that its flowering comes in winter and ends with the arrival of spring.

In our country, acacia has acclimatized on the Black Sea coast, in the Caucasus. Some plants in Sochi choose a special flowering season: not spring, but winter. These plants include acacia, the branches of which with yellow flowers in early spring called "mimosa" became familiar flowers by March 8th. The winter flowering period suggests that the silver acacia was brought from the southern hemisphere.

The real mimosa is a more modest lilac flower that never gives such luxurious inflorescences, although it belongs to the same family as the acacia. Although the Italian (Spanish and Catalan) name of this plant sounds like Mimosa.

Mimosa pudica - its homeland is the distant country of Brazil. This is an unusually interesting and beautiful plant from the legume family (mimosa subfamily).

Mimosa shy is not famous for appearance, but an interesting property to fold their leaves when touched, for example, with a light click of a finger. This is due to the presence of sensitive hairs at the base of its leaves that react to touch, and, due to a change in turgor, this leads to folding of the leaves. Again they open only after 30-60 minutes. The leaves of the plant fold on their own at night and unfold again with the first rays of the sun.

And here's how she can do it:

The sensitivity of the bashful mimosa is proverbial. The ability of its leaves to instantly fold up not only at night, but also with mechanical irritation, and then slowly return to its previous state is literally amazing.

There are about 500 species of mimosa on the globe, most of which are common in tropical America and are represented by herbs, shrubs and trees. The name of the genus comes from the Greek word mimos - "mim", "actor" and reflects the plant's ability to "play". But only a few species show their characteristic reaction to touch, among them - everyone's favorite bashful mimosa.

In 1729, the French astronomer de Meyren reported the daily movements of the leaves of the bashful mimosa (Mimosa pudica). These movements were repeated with a certain periodicity, even if the plants were placed in darkness, where there were no such external stimuli as light, which suggested the endogenous origin of the biological rhythms to which the movements of the leaves of the plant were timed. De Meyren suggested that these rhythms may have something to do with the alternation of sleep and wakefulness in humans.

Decandol in 1832 determined that the period with which mimosa plants make these leaf movements is shorter than the length of the day and is approximately 22-23 hours.

In room conditions, it is grown as an annual plant, but in its homeland it is a branched thorny shrub.