Cupid has always played a role in the celebrations of love and lovers. He is known as a mischievous, winged child, whose arrows would pierce the hearts of his victims causing them to fall deeply in love. In ancient Greece he was known as Eros the young son of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. To the Roman's he was Cupid, and his mother was Venus.

Valentine's Day - the popular festival of love and romance, traces its origin to the ancient Roman Empire. The Romans had a holiday, on or around February 14 to honor Juno, the goddess of women and marriage and the Queen of the Roman gods and goddesses. On the following day began the fertility festival of Lupercalia which was a celebration to honor the gods Lupercus and Faunus.

At this time in Rome, the lives of young men and women were kept very separate. On the evening of February 14th, the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each man would draw a girl's name to be his partner for the duration of the Lupercalia festival. Sometime pairing lasted for a year until next year's celebration. Quite often, the couple would fall in love with each other and later marry.

The festival actually got its present day name and ritual from a priest named Valentinus. During the reign of Emperor Claudius II, Rome was involved in several bloody and unpopular campaigns. It was difficult for Claudius to recruit soldiers because the young men did not wish to leave their wives and families. As a result Claudius banned all future marriages and engagements in Rome. A romantic at heart, Valentinus defied Claudius's order and secretly married couples. When his defiance was discovered, Valentinus was imprisoned and sentenced to death. While in prison Valentinus supposedly fell in love with the jailer's daughter who visited him during confinement. Before his death Valentinus wrote a farewell letter to his sweetheart from the jail and signed ‘From your Valentinus'. Valentinus was put to death on February 14, in the year 270. After his death, Valentinus was canonized a saint and through the ages his name has evolved into Saint Valentine and he has become the patron saint of lovers. His final note, “from your Valentine” has also remained very popular throughout the ages.

The flower most commonly associated with Valentine’s day is the rose. Roses are synonymous with emotions and all that is feminine and beautiful. The herb, patchouli also has connotations of love and deep emotions and is considered an antidepressant and an aphrodisiac. It is felt that the scent of patchouli is reminiscent of sweet, rich earth. As an essential oil patchouli is described as rich, sweet-herbaceous, aromatic-spicy and woody-balsamic.

Patchouli (Pogostemon.cablin) is a herb native to Malaysia cultivated primarily for its oil. There are other patchouli cultivars but their scents are not as strong as pogostemon.cablin or "true patchouli". Patchouli essential oil has a very intense and dominating scent and it is common to blend it with other essential oils to achieve very complex and intriguing aromas. Patchouli is a tender perennial that prefers average to rich soil, constantly moist but not wet. It likes partial shade and will show heat stress in direct, hot sun. It is very sensitive to frost so if grown outdoors in any zone other than tropical, the plant needs to be brought inside during cooler months. It can also be grown as an annual.

From a gardener’s perspective, we are now half way through the winter season. Most likely we are thinking of this years garden projects and looking ahead to the warmer days of spring. This is a great time of year to establish our garden plans and determine what new herbs, flowers and vegetables we want to plant. The new seed catalogs have been arriving and it is not too early to think of placing orders- especially for those who start plants indoors. Coming up very soon is the Wisconsin Public Television Garden Expo. This will take place at the Alliant Energy Center Exhibition Hall in Madison, WI on February 9, 10 and 11. This is an excellent opportunity to get some new ideas, see a wide variety of product offerings, attend seminars and hands-on workshops and interact with plant, garden and landscape experts.
Kathryn Schiedermayer of Garden Spirit will be presenting seminars on establishing an herb garden and growing herbs in your backyard and harvesting and preserving of herbs.

See you there!

Garden Spirit Valentine's Gift Packs are a great way to pamper someone you love this Valentines Day.

These practical and thoughtful gifts, along with our other product offerings can be viewed in detail on our web site at www.gardenspirit.net