Chinese Lanterns and Ladybugs

While walking the dogs in the park the other day I found some wild chinese lanterns growing, otherwise known as bladder cherries. At first I was just going to pick some for my dining room table and then I thought maybe I could get a couple with roots to plant in my garden. Afterall there were tons of these plant, a small pruning wouldn't hurt them. It turns out that I was right, see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physalis_alkekengi

for information about their propagating abilities. Borrowing my son's knife (he was horrified that I was getting the blade dirty) I easily dug out a few plants with roots and brought them all home, quickly transplanting them. That was two days ago, so far so good, keep your fingers crossed that they all survive!

I didn't find the information that I was looking for on these plants but I did find these two sites:

http://www.backyardgardener.com/annual/annual66.html

http://www.4to40.com/earth/geography/htm/flowersindex.asp?counter=33

So if anyone knows what these plants symbolize please let me know. Meanwhile I'll keep looking.

In an amazing coincidence I found chinese lanterns pictured in one of the children's literature books that I just bought. The title of the book is "The Loyal Cat", retold by Lensey Namioka, illustrated by Aki Sogabe.

Namioka, L. & Sogabe, A. (1995). The loyal cat. Brownbinder Press, Harcourt Brace & Company: San Diego.

This is a beautiful book about a cat in China who has magical powers and uses them to help the temple priest with whom he lives. The page that they're pictured on is near the end of the book, I highly recommend this book for it's wonderful imaginative appeal.

And finally- I've seen two ladybugs in two days, this after going almost all summer without seeing one! This morning's ladybug was on my mailbox and I saw it on my way into the house after walking the dog. Of course I looked up the meaning/symbolism of ladybugs and I found out that they're good luck. Since everything comes in threes for me I expect to see chinese lanterns and another ladybug soon. See the site below for more information:

http://www.birdsforever.com/ladybugs.html

Have an awesome day!