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Fleurs des Champs  ...

Le soleil est merveilleux,

 La pluie rafraîchissante,

 Le vent fortifiant,

 La neige vivifiante,

Il n’existe pas de mauvais temps, juste différentes sortes de beau temps ...

                                                                                                                                                                                                                   (John (Georges Ruskin)

Le muguet, porte bonheur du mois de mai ...

 

Avec le mois de mai, revient le muguet et cette belle tradition de l’offrir à quelqu’un en signe de chance. Mais d’où vient cette tradition, sur quoi se fonde-t-elle ? Voici  quelques explications pour cette plante porte-bonheur d'actualité.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Le muguet du 1^er mai :

Traditionnellement, c’est au premier mai qu’apparaissent les bouquets de muguet et les petits revendeurs de brins de muguet. Ce jour-là et pas un autre, étrange, non ?   En fait, le muguet est une des premières fleurs de printemps qui tapisse le sol des forêts humides, il apparaît quasiment avec les premiers feuillages des arbres, en général fin avril – début mai.

Pourquoi alors le met-on en valeur  le 1^er mai ? La raison ne tient pas au brin de muguet lui-même mais seulement à une coïncidence : le premier mai est le jour de la fête du travail, jour férié où tous les services de l’Etat sont sensés fêter également le travail… en ne travaillant pas ! Conséquence, peu ou pas de contrôles des services administratifs, police et gendarmerie sur les ventes à la sauvette, notamment par les enfants.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        D’où cette tradition de se faire un peu d’argent de poche sans risque d’être inquiété le jour du premier mai en vendant ce qu’il y a à vendre et qu’il est facile de se procurer pour peu qu’on puisse aller en forêt : le brin de muguet.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Malheureusement, sa généralisation  depuis 1976 a provoqué une culture et une commercialisation de masse du muguet.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Le muguet que vous trouvez à acheter chez les fleuristes, pour offrir ou pour une livraison de fleurs à domicile, n’est évidemment pas issu des sous-bois.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Le Le muguet pousse dans les sous-bois !

 

Le muguet, symbole du printemps :

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Mais alors pourquoi devient-il une plante porte bonheur ?  D’abord par ce qu’il symbolise le renouveau, la vie, le printemps qui vient.  Signe de vie, il est signe d’avenir. Première plante qui a bravé l’hiver et qui étale ses fleurs en formes de  clochettes tout le long d’un brin de muguet, fleur en apparence fragile et chétive et pourtant d’une belle blancheur et campée sur un brin et des feuilles solides.  Il en faut de l’énergie pour jaillir ainsi dans les sous-bois dès la fin des primats de l’hiver. De l’énergie ou de la chance : encore une année qui commence, le printemps revient !

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     A propos de chance, si vous êtes déjà allé courir la forêt à la recherche de muguet, vous savez déjà qu’il en faut de la chance pour trouver  l’endroit où il s’épanouit et pour qu’il soit réellement en fleurs. Car le muguet est parfois capricieux en fonction de ce que la météo lui a fait subir et il ne donne pas des fleurs tous les ans.

 

La fleur de muguet, symbole de renaissance :

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Revenons à la fête du 1^er mai.   L’origine de cette fête remonte à bien plus loin que la fête du travail.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      En France, elle prend une importance particulière à la Renaissance, après que le roi Charles IX en ait offert autour de lui comme porte bonheur.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       On raconte que cela fait suite à l’hommage rendu par un chevalier  qui  fait cadeau d’un brin de muguet au roi, et que celui-ci  prit l’habitude d’en offrir chaque année aux dames de la cour , assorti d’un vœu de longue vie  formulé ainsi : pratique d'offrir chaque printemps un brin de muguet à chacune des dames de la cour en disant « Qu'il en soit fait ainsi chaque année ».                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Une autre version raconte que ce fut l’hommage d’un émissaire en mission secrète en Italie qui rendit compte de la réussite de sa mission en offrant un brin de muguet au roi. Les deux histoires ne sont pas incompatibles. Toujours est-il que l’usage se répandit en France de faire comme à la cour et d’offrir du muguet le 1^er mai.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Evidemment, la symbolique du muguet et celle du 1^ermai s’entrecroisent et finissent par se confondre. Le muguet symbolise le bonheur, la santé, la réussite. Le 1^er mai est le jour choisi pour marquer la renaissance, le renouveau, depuis l’antiquité. Chez les Celtes, c’est le début du premier semestre de l’année, c’est la date à partir de laquelle les navigateurs reprenaient la mer après la période de tempête, c’est le moment où on s’active dans les champs et plantations.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Le lys de mai :

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Le muguet est parfois appelé le  lys des vallées ou encore le lys de mai. Appellation qui rappelle que le muguet a une odeur envoûtante comme celle de la fleur de lys. En fait,  cette fleur porte bonheur a pris le nom de muguet.  Son nom latin, Convallaria majalis,  indique seulement qu’il s’agit d’une fleur qui pousse au mois de mai...  Le mot muguet pour désigner notre plantes à clochettes n’apparaît qu’au Moyen Âge et semble désigner l’odeur du musc, de la muscade, ce qui aurait donné le nom « muguet ».

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Cette odeur caractéristique, ses vertus médicinales mais aussi sa haute toxicité si on se consomme sans précaution, font que cette plante toute belle et fragile qu’elle paraisse, est connue et citée dans de nombreux rituels de chance, envoûtements ou élixirs.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Mais laissons-lui son mystère. Elle apparaît comme un miracle à chaque printemps et voilà la promesse de bonheur qui surgit. La mythologie romaine en avait fait  le symbole de la douceur.  C’est le dieu Apollon, lui-même qui l’aurait créée  pour tapisser le mont Parnasse afin que les Muses qui l’entourent ne s’abîment pas les pieds.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Et voilà ! Pensez en ce que vous voulez mais si le muguet est  voulu pour les dieux pour nous apporter douceur et fraîcheur, comment voulez-vous que ce ne soit pas une plante qui porte bonheur ?

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Le Parc de Bagatelle, en plein cœur du Bois de Boulogne, fait partie du Jardin Botanique  de Paris.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Il Il est reconnu comme étant un des plus prestigieux de la capitale : On y découvre des grottes, des étendues fleuries, des beaux bâtiments et des arbres gigantesques…                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                On y trouve forcément un coin à notre goût pour un pique-nique romantique.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Le Parc de Bagatelle est né en 1777 à la suite d’un pari entre Marie-Antoinette et son beau-frère le Comte D’Artois (frère de Louis XVI et futur roi Charles X).

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Ce dernier avait acquis cet ancien terrain de chasse des rois deux ans plus tôt. Taquine, la Reine l’a mis au défi de le rénover alors qu’elle partait en voyage pour deux mois.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Le Comte l’a prise au mot et l’histoire devient alors étourdissante.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Pour la « Bagatelle » de quelques millions de livres, le Parc est entièrement reconstruit en 64 jours !

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Les plans ont été conçus par François-Joseph Bélanger en une nuit et ce sont quelques 900 ouvriers qui ont travaillé sans relâche sur le chantier.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Le style, qui a un peu changé depuis, est inspiré des jardins anglais et chinois, ce qui était très tendance à l’époque.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               On y trouve d’ailleurs une sublime pagode chinoise du XIXème siècle.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Aujourd’hui, sur ses 24 hectares, le parc comporte plusieurs bâtiments dont l’Orangerie et les Écuries.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Il est organisé autour de divers jardins :

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          On passe de la nature brute avec des grottes et des cascades à des petits ponts, des fontaines et des jardins plantés selon des thèmes comme le jardin d’Iris ou le potager.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Mais, la partie qui vaut certainement  le plus le détour est la Roseraie. Réputée dans le monde entier, elle comporte près de 10 000 plants de 1 200 espèces.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Tous les ans, depuis 1907, le concours international de Rose attire les curieux.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Follement romantique et charmant, Bagatelle a l’avantage de ne pas être surpeuplé, et ce, même en plein été.  Il y a de fortes chances que l’on rencontre des paons !

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Ce majestueux animal se balade en liberté et agrémente nos discussions de son cri si reconnaissable : « Léon ».

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Chaque été, de nombreuses animations sont prévues et la part belle est faite aux expositions et aux concerts.