What is the flowering and fading period of the plum blossom as one of the Four Gentlemen, and what is its symbolic meaning?
The plum originated in southern China and has a cultivation history of more than three thousand years. The plum blossom ranks first among China's top ten famous flowers, is listed together with the orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum as the “Four Gentlemen”, and is known together with pine and bamboo as the “Three Friends of Winter”. So when and in what season does the plum blossom bloom and when does it fade? The specific details are as follows:
When does the plum blossom bloom?
The plum blossom mostly blooms first in early spring, in January to February, before the leaves emerge, but the blooming time varies according to the climate of each region: in the southwest region of China it blooms from December to January of the following year, in the central China region from February to March, and in the north China region from March to April. From the first flowers to full bloom takes 4 to 7 days, and until the final flowers fade takes 15 to 20 days. The flowers are solitary or sometimes 2 borne together in 1 bud, usually 2 to 2.5 cm in diameter, strongly fragrant, with a pedicel about 1 to 3 mm long, and petals white to pink, obovate.
When does the plum blossom fade?
The flowering period varies considerably from year to year in its timing, and when the temperature reaches 10°C it can bloom early.
So the fading of the plum blossom also differs with temperature and region, but it is usually in March of the following year in the Yangtze River basin.
Growth habits
The plum likes a warm climate, is not strongly cold-resistant, is relatively drought-tolerant, is not tolerant of waterlogging, and has a long lifespan that can reach a thousand years; its flowering period is especially sensitive to climate change. The plum likes relatively high air humidity, but during the flowering period it should avoid heavy rain.
Morphological characteristics
A small tree, rarely a shrub, 4-10 m tall; bark light gray or tinged green, smooth; branchlets green, smooth and hairless. Leaves ovate or elliptic, 4-8 cm long, 2.5-5 cm wide, apex caudate-acuminate, base broadly cuneate to rounded, leaf margin usually with small sharp serrations, grayish green, both surfaces covered with short pubescence when young, gradually falling off as they grow, or only with short pubescence in the vein axils beneath; petiole 1-2 cm long, hairy when young, falling off when old, often with glands.
Flowers solitary or sometimes 2 borne together in 1 bud, 2-2.5 cm in diameter, strongly fragrant, opening before the leaves; pedicel short, about 1-3 mm long, usually hairless; calyx usually reddish brown, but the calyx of some cultivars is green or green-purple; calyx tube broadly campanulate, hairless or sometimes with short pubescence; sepals ovate or nearly circular, apex rounded and blunt; petals obovate, white to pink; stamens short or slightly longer than the petals; ovary densely covered with pubescence, style short or slightly longer than the stamens.
Fruit nearly spherical, 2-3 cm in diameter, yellow or greenish white, covered with pubescence, sour in taste; flesh adhering to the stone; stone elliptic, apex rounded with a small pointed tip, base gradually narrowed into a wedge shape, slightly flattened on both sides, ventral edge slightly blunt, with obvious longitudinal grooves on both the ventral surface and the dorsal edge, surface with honeycomb-like pits.
Symbolic meaning of the plum blossom
Perseverance, because there is a saying: the sharpness of a treasured sword comes from grinding, and the fragrance of the plum blossom comes from the bitter cold. With its noble, strong and modest character, the plum inspires people to resolve and strive. In the severe cold, the plum blooms before all other flowers, bringing spring to the world alone, and so the plum is also often used among the common people as an auspicious symbol of heralding spring and announcing good news. Legends and stories about the plum and its beautiful meanings have spread far and wide in our country and are extremely widely used. For all things beautiful, the plum blossom is one of the Three Friends of Winter, and since ancient times people have praised its spirit of defying the snow and its solitary, noble beauty in not competing with the hundred flowers for spring. Therefore, it should symbolize a noble and strong person.
The lofty recluse, with sparse shadows slanting across the clear shallow water, and a faint fragrance floating in the dusk of the moon
The beauty of frost, the beauty of snow, the cold beauty who lives by the bend of the cold stream, the plum blossom mingles with the warm spring, learning to adorn itself like a little girl, gathering laughter and parting red lips.
A person of noble character and integrity, whose natural root and nature are different, and whom all things find hard to match. Since ancient times it has carried spring early, and in the harsh winter it battles the snow to bloom.