 |
| Hosta 'Halcyon' 24 July 2026 |
halcyon(adj.)
"calm,
quiet, peaceful," 1540s, in halcyon dayes (translating Latin alcyonei
dies, Greek alkyonides hemerai), 14 days of calm weather at the winter
solstice, when a mythical bird (also identified with the kingfisher) was said
to breed in a nest floating on calm seas. The name of this fabulous bird is
attested in Middle English as alcioun (late 14c.).
The name is from Latin halcyon, alcyon, from Greek halkyon, variant (perhaps a misspelling) of alkyon "kingfisher," a word of unknown origin.
The explanation that this is from hals "sea; salt" (see halo-) + kyon "conceiving," present participle of kyein "to conceive," literally "to swell" (see cumulus) probably is ancient folk-etymology to explain a loan-word from a non-Indo-European language. Identified in mythology with Halcyone, daughter of Aeolus, who when widowed threw herself into the sea and became a kingfisher.
The myth of the Halcyon days is unexplained. The above statements have no zoological significance ; the Kingfisher neither breeds at four months old, nor lays five eggs (but rather six or seven), nor nests in the winter season, nor on the sea. I conjecture that the story originally referred to some astronomical phenomenon, probably in connexion with the Pleiades, of which constellation Alcyone is the principal star. [D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson, "A Glossary of Greek Birds," 1895] Etymology on Line.
When people
ask me what my favourite rose is I usually answer, “It depends on the week.”
When the question is about my hostas it is always Hosta ‘Halcyon’. It is an
elegant plant with bluish leaves and in July it has beautiful
flowers. My blog about the origin of this hosta is this one:
Halcyon the Essence of Blueness
Hostas do not love shade. The proper nomenclature for
them is “shade tolerant’. Mine gets mostly shade and it remains blue past
August.
Because the expression “halcyon days” is a well-known
one for me it is about my days with my Rosemary in our very large corner garden
in Kerrisdale. They were definitely the good old days as our granddaughters
visited us and I photographed them in our garden.
In my garden there is another comparable plant to my
Halcyon and my other hostas. This is my now 5 year old (Rosemary never got to
see it) Rosa ‘Emily Carr’. Besides being a lovely red rose it shares with my
hostas to do well in all the Canadian provinces down to a Zone 3.
I am a gardener thanks to Rosemary’s prodding. But I
can assert that anybody, no matter the colour of their thumb, can grow hostas.
