In a poem "when April is gone, peach blossoms begin to bloom" in mountain temples. It says that it is only in April when the temperature is slightly lower that it begins to blossom on the mountain. What month does peach blossom in general? Let's get to know.
According to the data of peach family, peach blossom in Guangzhou in February, in Nanjing in March, Beijing in April, and in plain areas in March.
Because peach blossom is pink and romantic, it has many elegant names in ancient times.
From January to march is spring, and peach blossom season, so it is named peach blossom spring. The ancients went on a spring outing in March. At this time, the poets and ladies opened their hearts and told each other their hearts.
Peach blossom from April to June, when peach trees bear fruit, is called peach blossom fan. In ancient operas, Kong Shangren's peach blossom fan is about this kind of peach blossom.
From July to September is the golden autumn. It is called the peach blossom sword.
October to December is the winter, which is the time of hiding and the time for ancient people to enjoy themselves. It can't help drinking and having fun, so it's called peach blossom wine.
China is the hometown of peach trees. Around the 10th century B.C., there was a sentence in the book of Songs: there are peaches in the garden, which is actually confusing. "Wei Feng" refers to today's north of the Yellow River and the vast area of Shanxi Province. Peach planting in the garden is naturally artificially cultivated. Planting peach as a garden shows that there has been a certain scale of cultivation. Other ancient books such as Guanzi, Shangshu, Hanfeizi, Shanhaijing, LvShiChunQiu all have records about peach trees, which shows that peach trees were planted all over the Yellow River Basin in ancient times. It is also said in the book of rites that peach had been listed as one of the five fruits (plum, plum, apricot and jujube) for sacrificing gods at that time.
In the Neolithic site of Hemudu, Zhejiang Province, modern Chinese archaeologists discovered wild peach stones about 6000 or 7000 years ago. A large number of wild peach stones were also found in the Erligang site of the new era in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. In particular, two peach kernels and six peach kernels were found in the Shang Dynasty site of Taixi village, Gaocheng County, Hebei Province. The peach kernels are oval in shape and 1.6-times; 1 and 2-times; 1.2 cm in length and width. They are dark brown, hard wood, with wrinkles and grooves on the surface, longitudinal groove edges on both sides, sharp tips on the top, flat and round base, and scars on the center after the fruit stalk fell off. Peach kernel is gray white, elliptic or long ovate, usually 10-15 mm, 8-12 mm wide, with thin edges on both sides, blunt tip, and flat elliptic cross section. The seed coat is thin and yellow white kernel appears after being broken. After identification, it is exactly the same as the peach cultivated today. The unearthed cultural relics confirm the records of ancient books and confirm that China is the origin of peach trees. People have used and planted peach trees for a long time.
After the second century B.C., peach trees cultivated by the Chinese people spread westward along the Silk Road from Gansu and Xinjiang to Persia via central Asia, and from there they were introduced to Greece, Rome, Mediterranean countries, and then gradually to France, Germany, Spain, and Portugal. But it was not until the 9th century that more and more peach trees were planted in Europe. After the 15th century, Chinese peach trees were introduced to England.
Indian peach trees are also introduced from China. In 630 A.D., Tang Monk Xuanzang wrote the legend about the introduction of peach trees into India: in the first century A.D., when the well-known king gyazseka of siqite was in power, merchants from the tribes around Gansu often went to India, bringing exquisite silk products and various valuable fruits, including peach. King kasseka gave the guests a grand reception. The Chinese planted peach stones and other nuts there, and a few years later, the peach trees grew abundantly in India and were praised by the Indian people. The place where the Chinese lived was named 'zhinapudi', which means' Chinese land '. Peach was named' zhinaguo ', which means' Chinese fruit'. The story is still widely circulated in India.
After Columbus discovered the new world, peach trees came to America with European immigrants. However, because the peach varieties did not adapt to the local climate, the peach trees had more flowers and less fruit, so their development was greatly restricted. It was not until the early 19th century that horticulturists introduced a new walnut variety called 'Alberta' from Europe that peach trees spread in North and South America.
At the beginning of the 20th century, American horticulturists introduced more than 450 excellent peach varieties from China. In a short period of more than ten years, American horticulturists selected and bred varieties adapted to the subtropical climate, making the United States one of the largest peach producing countries in the world.