Does anybody really know what time it is?

Gardeners know that plants open and close their flowers at set times during the day... In “Philosophia Botanica” (1751), the great taxonomist Carl Linnaeus proposed that it should be possible to plant a floral clock. He noted that two species of daisy, the hawk’s-beard and the hawkbit, opened and closed at their respective times within about a half-hour each day. He suggested planting these daisies along with St. John’s Wort, marigolds, water-lilies and other species in a circle. The rhythmic opening and closing of the plants would be the effective hands of this clock.



Via. Bearded iris - from our garden.

Addendum: here's a diagram of a floral clock, from the cover of The Girl’s Own Annual, 1896-1897, via The Fin de Siecle --