The phrase "Twenty-Four Flower Calendar" is a common Chinese seasonal phrase. In ancient times, people chose flowers that bloomed according to the season as a symbol, and took the flowers as the messengers of the season, so they were called Flower Calendar, and the wind corresponded to the flower season, so there was the saying "Flower Letters Wind". Cheng Dachang of the Southern Song Dynasty also believes that: "flower calendar: the wind that blows in March when the flowers bloom is called flower letter wind. At the beginning of the general view, it seems to be said that the wind to report the messages of the flower." (Yan Fan Lu)
In ancient times, China took five days as one pentad, and three pentads as a solar term. Every year, there are 24 pentads in the eight solar terms from the Slight Cold to Grain Rain, and a certain kind of flower blossoms in each of these pentads, which gives rise to the saying "24 Flower Calendar". Among the plants that bloom in each of the 24 pentads, people choose the one that blooms the most accurately as a representative, and call it the Flower Calendar of the 24 pentads. The calendar begins with plum blossom and ends up with chinaberry. After 24 rounds of Flower Calendar, the summer season begins with the Summer Begins.
The first pentad of Flower Calendar in Slight Cold is the plum blossom, plum is China's top ten flowers, and was listed with orchids, bamboo, chrysanthemums as the "Four Righteous Men", and was known as the "Three Friends in Cold Weather" with pine and bamboo. In the cold, plum is the first to blossom in a group of flowers, becoming a symbol of the beginning of spring. Plum blossoms open singly, with nearly round flowers, and the leaves grow only after the flowers.
The second pentad of Flower Calendar in Slight Cold is camellia, which is ranked eighth among the top ten traditional flowers in China, and has been a very famous woody flower since ancient times. Camellias "defy frost and snow, are evergreen in all seasons, bloom one by one, and their flowering period lasts for two to three months". Camellia trees are graceful, with bright green leaves and colorful flowers. There are flower varieties in varying degrees of red, purple, white and yellow.
The third pentad of Flower Calendar in Slight Cold is Narcissus. Narcissus, also known as Chinese daffodil, is a variant of the French multi-flowered daffodil. Its petals are mostly 6 pieces, and the end of the petals is goose-yellow. It has been cultivated for more than a thousand years and ranks the tenth among the ten most famous flowers in China.
The first pentad of Flower Calendar in Great Cold is daphne. Daphne is distributed in the provinces and regions of southern part of the Yangtze River Basin, and also in Japan. Although its flowers are small, but bloom in clusters, its fragrance is fresh and elegant, and has long-lasting aroma. It has a high ornamental value and is the best of the potted ornamental plants.
The second pentad of Flower Calendar in Great Cold is orchid, which has a light color and a fresh but not muddy aroma. It has the temperament of simplicity, quietness, elegance and purity, and "Plum, Orchid, Bamboo and Chrysanthemum" are collectively known as the "Four Righteous Men". It has been cultivated in China for more than a thousand years.
The third pentad of Flower Calendar in Great Cold is symplocos caudata, mostly grown in the mountains of zhejiang. Huang Tingjian's poem Symplocos Caudata Two’s preface wrote: "in the fields of jiangnan there is a kind of small white flower, its aroma is strong, mountain people called "zheng flower", Wang Anshi once wanted to cultivate, but in the composition of poems he forgot its name, so Huang Tingjian suggested the name of symplocos caudata. "The reason is that people don't borrow alum stone, but use it to dye their clothes yellow, so it gets its name." The symplocos caudata "has leaves like holly and does not wither in the harsh winter."
The first pentad of Flower Calendar in Spring Begins is winter jasmine, the flowers bloom individually on the branches of last year's growth, open before the growth of leaves, have a fresh smell, golden yellow, the flowering period is from February to April. It is named for its earliest bloom among all the flowers, and after the blossom, it ushers in the spring when all the flowers bloom. Spring flowers, together with plum blossoms, daffodils and camellias, are known as the "Four Friends in the Snow". Winter jasmine have the characteristics of defying the cold and being highly adaptable.
The second pentad of Flower Calendar in Spring Begins is cherry flower, cherry belongs to the Rosaceae deciduous trees, born on the sunny slopes of the mountain or the side of the gutter, often cultivated by people. Cherry tree is 2-6 meters high, the bark is gray-white, twigs are gray-brown, shoots are green. Cherry flowers are corymbose or subumbrella-shaped, with 3-6 blooms that open before growing leaves. It flowers in March-April and fruits in May-June.
The third pentad of Flower Calendar in Spring Begins is magnolia biondii, a deciduous shrub or small tree, native to the central region of China, now widely cultivated throughout the country. magnolia biondii bloom in March-April, the flowers are large and showy, the outside of the petals are purple, inside is white or pink. The tree is highly adaptable, and can be planted in both the courtyard and the mountainous plains.
The first pentad of Flower Calendar in Rain Water is cole flower, refers to the rape flower, belongs to cruciferous and brassica genus, is annual herbaceous plants. Rape piece is round or ovate, with yellow flower and 4 petals. In March and April, rape stems slightly flowering. When all the rape flowers bloom, the golden yellow makes the spring field more colorful.
The second pentad of Flower Calendar in Rain Water is apricot blossom. Apricot blossom belongs to the Rosaceae family, grows alone, has five petals, the petals are white or light red, is a famous ornamental tree in China. The apricot blossom blooms from March to April, and its flower shape is similar to that of peach blossoms and plum blossoms. It is pure red when it is in bud, and the color gradually fades after it blooms, and becomes pure white when the flower falls. In Chinese tradition, the apricot is the February flower of the twelve goddesses of flowers.
The third pentad of Flower Calendar in Rain Water is prunus. Prunus is a small deciduous tree of the genus Li of the family Rosaceae, also known as jade plum, the ancient name of Jiaqingzi. Prunusr, that is, the flower of the plum tree, flowering period is March in the south, April-May in the northern part of Qinling Huai River. Prunus flowers are white, small but luxuriant, flower fragrance is elegant and fresh. It is loved for its whiteness, simplicity, purity and fragrance.
The first pentad of Flower Calendar in Insects Awaken is the peach blossom, which is the blooming flower of the peach tree and belongs to the Rosaceae family. Peach blossoms are native to central and northern China, and are now widely planted in temperate countries and regions of the world. It opens singly, with slightly pointed petals, and grows leaves while blooming.
The second pentad of Flower Calendar in Insects Awaken is kerria, which is a deciduous shrub with soft green branches and golden flowers blooming all over the tree branches, with a unique style. It can be used to make flower hedges and flower paths, and is planted in groups before evergreen bushes or next to old trees. It is particularly elegant with artificial lawns.
The third pentad of Flower Calendar in Insects Awaken is rose, which is a deciduous small shrub wild rose flowers, also known as white residual flowers, Asclepiadaceae, Maixiao, since ancient times is a famous flower. Roses like to grow in the roadside, field or hilly bushes, distributed in East China, Central and South China and other places. Roses have many flower colors, including white, light red, deep peach, yellow and so on.
The first pentad of Flower Calendar in Vernal Equinox is Chinese flowering crabapple, it likes sunshine, intolerance of shade and humidity, it is well adapted to cold and arid climates. Chinese flowering crabapple is known as the "national flower" and is a unique plant in China.
The second pentad of Flower Calendar in Vernal Equinox is pear blossom, pear tree belongs to the Rosaceae family, deciduous trees. Pear tree blossoms in the spring, the flower color is white, like snowflakes, with a strong fragrance. However, because the pear is white, and "pear" and "away" homophonic, so the ancients did not plant the pear tree in front of the house and conspicuous position.
The third pentad of Flower Calendar in Vernal Equinox is magnolia, it is a deciduous small tree, native to China's central mountain forests, mainly planted in Fujian, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Anhui. When magnolias bloom in early spring, the trees are full of purple-red flowers with a unique flavor.
The first pentad of Flower Calendar in Qingming Festival is tung flower. The blossoms of the tung tree in spring is purple and white, which are the "festival" flowers of Qingming, and cultural practices such as going out to walk in the spring during the Qingming Festival and paying homage to ancestors form the connotation of the tung tree flower. The spring scenery is in full bloom during the Qingming Festival, but at the same time, it can also go from strength to wither, making the flower the bearer of two opposing interests.
The second pentad of Flower Calendar in Qingming Festival is the wheat flower, when winter wheat plants bloom. "The heavy shade of the acacia tree covers the sunlight outside the house all day long, and the wheat blossoms waft their fragrance in the breeze." This is exactly the scene of this time of year. Wheat flowers are monoecious and can be self-pollinated as well as cross-pollinated. The wheat flower grows so small that it is almost overlooked; and it blooms for a very short time, fading after only 5-30 minutes.
The third pentad of Flower Calendar in Qingming Festival is willow flower. Willow flower is the flower of willow tree, the flowering period is March-April. The flowers are unisexual and dioecious; they generally open before the leaves grow or at the same time as the leaves.
The first pentad of Flower Calendar in Grain Rain is peony, "the only one that can truly represent the national flower, and whenever the peony blossoms it will startle the whole city of Beijing." Peonies are colorful and come in many varieties, with yellow, green, flesh red, deep red and silver red being the finest varieties, and yellow and green are especially expensive. Peonies have large and fragrant flowers, and are known as "national colors and heavenly fragrance". In the late Qing Dynasty, peony was regarded as the national flower of China. Peony flower has the meaning of perfection, strong love, richness and gracefulness.
The second pentad of Flower Calendar in Grain Rain is roseleaf raspberry. Roseleaf raspberry branch tips are dense, the flowers are abundant and fragrant, is the last blooming flower in spring, when it opens it means the end of spring. When the roseleaf raspberry withers, spring is over. The blossoming of the roseleaf raspberry represents the passing of a woman's youth and signifies the end of a relationship, making it a sentimental flower.
The Flower Mirror says: "There are twenty-four flowers in Jiangnan, with the plum blossom as the first and the chinaberry as the last." Chinaberry is the flower of neem plant, neem or bitter neem, the flowering period is in the lunar calendar at the end of spring and summer, is the last flower of the twenty-four flowers calendar, neem flowers withered, flower calendar is over, and after that is the colorful summer.