Ever wondered what the National Flower of Turkey is and why it holds such significance in the country’s culture and history? You’re about to embark on a fascinating journey that will reveal not only the identity of this captivating bloom but also its deep-rooted symbolism and influence in Turkish society.
Of Fat White Grubs And Pale Jade Beads
21.08.2023 - 12:01 / theunconventionalgardener.com / guest
Alison Tindale tells explains everything you need to know about Chinese artichokes!
A few years ago I planted my first Chinese artichokes (Stachys affinis), bought from the Organic Gardening Catalogue, in the clay soil of my allotment. Not one of them came up. I reckon they rotted away – they like a rich but well-drained soil but I think I read this after planting and so dolloped some spare sand on top of the soil hoping the worms would take it down for me. Maybe they don’t do that.
Chinese artichokes have many other names including Japanese artichokes, knotweed and crosnes – pronounced ‘crones’ – after Crosnes in France to which village they were brought from Asia in the nineteenth century. They are popular in France but haven’t caught on in England yet, on account, I read, of being fiddly to clean and looking like fat white grubs. This much is revealed in a five minute Internet search and then endlessly repeated on other websites along with some more tantalising snippets.
“Chinese poets compare them to jade beads and give them poetic names such as kan lu, meaning sweet dew”. (I believe this comes originally from Jane Grigson’s Vegetable Book).
That set me on fire with curiosity and I clicked and clicked in search of that Chinese poet who looked at some knobbly tubers and saw precious jewels. I haven’t found the poem yet but will just have to keep hunting. That’s probably because my reaction today on finally digging up my first homegrown tubers was, “they look like strings of pearls not fat white grubs|. I hadn’t thought that when the tubers for planting had arrived from Poynztsfield Nursery in Scotland. But today I was beguiled: it was raining and the tubers had a fragile translucence about them. So that Chinese poet and I
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