Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary over many a curious volume of forgotten garden lore.  While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, as if someone gently rapping, rapping at my patio door.  T’was only acorns falling gently, rapping, tapping on the floor, only this and nothing more.  As I woke from almost slumber, came to me this brilliant thunder of ideas that put us under, the spell of long forgotten floral lore. From this offer, to your coffer, take these wits as nothing more than classic folklore, take them, take them, evermore.

Folklore, Folklore, fact or fiction, offered here for your prediction are they fact or are they fiction….?

1. Coreopsis, a native North American flower introduced to Europe in 1699, gets its  nickname (tickseed) from the shape of its seeds, which look like ticks.

2. Marigolds were used in World War I and the Civil War to treat and dress wounds on the battlefield.

3. There are two Greco-Roman myths about asters.  First, the constellation Virgo sowed the earth with stardust which bloomed into asters.  Second, the goddess Astraea wept; where her tears fell, asters bloomed.

4. Autumn crocus has been used medicinally to treat gout.

5. The chrysanthemum is a national symbol in Japan.  It is embossed on many official documents such as passports and the Imperial crest.