Mexico is a gardener’s delight. It is a land filled with wide vistas of wild flowers, with roads bordered by flowering trees, with mountain areas offering dazzling displays of orchids and with large colonial homes facing onto their formal gardens.

Flowers and plants have always held an incredibly important role in the lives of the Mexicans. The Spanish conqueror, Cortes, was astounded at the magnificent gardens of the Aztecs. Their great gardens incorporated terraces, pools and fountains, orchards and herb gardens. Not only the plants but also their caretakers were brought from faraway places to tend the plants in their new homes. Today, however, the only visible legacy of the mighty Aztec gardens is seen in the “Floating Gardens” of Xochimilco, south of Mexico City. Here one can take a ride in flat bottom boats decked out with myriad flowers as they meander through the canals. The Aztecs made islands in the middle of their lakes by constructing rafts from woven roots of aquatic plants intertwined with twigs which were used to support soil brought up from the lake bottom. Eventually these rafts became fixed land and the lake formed canals around them. Today the canals are lined with willow trees which were originally planted to serve as anchors for the floating rafts. Flowers and vegetables for the Mexico City market are still cultivated in these gardens.

The importance of flowers in the lives of the Aztecs cannot be overstated. They were used in religious ceremonies and were given names which reflected this high regard, for example “Noble Lord Flower” and “Agreeable Little Plant”. One species, the native magnolia tree (Talauma mexicana), was reserved for royalty. A single blossom from the tree was sufficient to give perfume to an entire palace!

Plants were also valued for their healing properties. Many of the 3000 plants used as medicine by the Aztecs are still used today. Research continues into the usefulness of plants in homeopathic medicine. The New World also introduced the following plant foods: bean, corn, sweet potato, squash, chilis, chayote, avocado, tobacco, cocoa, vanilla, mamaey, zapote, cherimoya, guava and wild cherry! A list of native Mexican flowers include: Acacia, heart flowers (of the magnolia family), fuchsia, lantana, Mexican trumpet vine, cut leaf philodendron, cup of gold, dahlia excelsa, cosmos, shrimp plant, Mexican tiger lily, and poinsettia

The legacy of the Aztecs has been passed down through the centuries. Visitors to Mexico are delighted at the flower stalls that line the open air markets and none can resist buying an armful of fragrant flowers whose cheerful colors bring joy to the soul. And in the countryside even the humblest of homes will sport a tin can or two tacked to the adobe wall brimming with flowers or herbs.

One flower that is especially appealing to me is the Angel’s trumpet (Datura Candida). While technically not a native of Mexico, originating in Peru and Chile, it is such a common site throughout Mexico that is should be given “permanent resident” status. This flowering shrub so captivated the Viceroy Don Francisco de Toledo that he sent specimens back to Spain as a gift to King Philip to plant in the Royal gardens. This was the highest honor a plant could achieve!

The Datura Candida is a member of the nightshade family and is known in Mexico as “Floripundio”. It grows up to sixteen feet in height and is thus either a large bush or small tree. The leaves are 6 to 12 inches long, dark green above and a lighter green below with marked veins. The large bell shaped flowers look like upside down trumpets from which the English name derives. The flowers come in a variety of soft colors…pure white, a pale buttery yellow, and a translucent pink. The aromatic flowers give off their fragrance at night and into the early morning hours. Angel’s Trumpets are planted around houses to ward off mosquitoes since the strong odor seems to be a natural repellent to them. On a warm evening then, it is quite pleasant to open one’s windows and enjoy a house filled with this lovely fragrance and no mosquitoes.
Angel’s Trumpet also has medicinal properties. The leaves are cooked and used as poultices on sores to relieve pain and speed healing. Part of a fresh root may be ground up and applied directly to a wound to stop bleeding. But my favorite cure is the one for insomnia wherein the advice is to place a few fresh flowers under one’s pillow and sleep will follow. Sweet dreams!