Microseason: Lotus Flowers Pop
SUMMER
SMALL HEAT
LOTUS FLOWERS POP
12 - 16 July
This time of year, admirers can be found searching for lotus flowers in parks and temples at dawn. The flower’s significance lies in its lifecycle. Emerging from the history that is muddy, marshy waters, the handsome lotus stands tall, and flashes open its striking flower that lasts a mere four days. In the wee hours of early morning, the blossoms make a popping sound as they open into their full glory.
Lotus root is used in home remedies, leveraging its rich supply of heat-resistant vitamin C, fibers, mucin, tannins, and B vitamins. The canals that make their way down each renkon node are said to mimic the throat. Freshly grated renkon diluted with hot water is recommended to relieve coughs. It is advised to retain the skin when grating, as that is where the highest medicinal properties reside. Tea brewed from lotus leaves is taken to alleviate symptoms associated to tonsillitis or mouth ulcers.
Byobu folding screens have long been canvases for lotus imagery, often painted atop gold leaf, representing purity, strength, and beauty, rising from the adversity that is the murky waters below. Traditional fusuma sliding doors partitions feature lotus flowers using mineral inks, and gold and silver leaf. And weavers produce lotus flower motifs in kimono and noren room partitions using silk and hemp thread dyed in botanicals.
Lotus’s role is in part community-based ecological stewardship. Renkon cultivation supports structured wetland ecosystems that host amphibians, insects, and birds. The plant’s rhizomes stabilize sediment, its foliage moderates water temperature, and the annual cycle of growth and harvest replenishes soil. Maintaining these systems requires skillful water management, soil maintenance, and invasive species control. And parks and temples alike, give ode to the lotus this time of year but caring for the plant out of view during off season, to showcase the popping open of the flowers come mid-Summer.
Photo credit: Momoko Nakamura