• Wheat is the most widely grown plant in the world. It has been cultivated for more than 7,000 years in every continent except Antarctica.
  
  
• The Daisy got its name because the yellow center resembled the sun. It was commonly known as the "day's eye" and over time, was eventually called the daisy.
  
  
• The world's largest flower, Rafflesia, can measure up to three feet across.
  
  
• The world's oldest living rose is thought to be 1000 years old. Today it continues to flourish on the wall of the Hildesheim Cathedral of Germany.
  
  
• According to Greek Mythology, it was Aphrodite who gave the rose its name.
  
  
• While the rose may bear no fruit, the rose hips (the part left on the plant after a rose is done blooming) contain more Vitamin C than almost any other fruit or vegetable.
  
  
• Eighty percent of the world's rose species come from Asia.
  
  
• The city of Mt. Vernon, Washington grows more tulips than the entire country of Holland.
  
  
• The existence of many flowers depends on bees. If there were no bees, 100,000 plant species would cease to exist.
  
  
• The oldest living thing on earth is a flowering shrub called the creosote bush, found in the Mojave Desert. It is 50 feet in diameter, and it's estimated that it started from a seed nearly 12,000 years ago.
  
  
• The ginkgo tree is among the oldest living species of trees in the world today. This species survived the Hiroshima atomic blast of WWII.
  
  
• Catnip, for whatever reason, is the tonic that excites cats, much like an ice cream cone to a human on a hot sunny day. Cats have been known to destroy an entire plant because they learn with each leaf they destroy, more oil is released.
  
  
• Rosemary, sage, oregano, thyme and marjoram all belong to the mint plant family.
  
• The onion is a lily, botanically. Asparagus is also a member of the lily family. The name "asparagus" comes from a Greek word meaning "sprout".
  
  
• Cool as a cucumber? It's true ... the inside of a cucumber on the vine measures as much as 20 degrees cooler than the outside air on a warm day.
  
  
• The biggest tomato on record weighed in at a hefty 7 pounds 12 ounces. It was grown by Gordon Graham of Oklahoma.
  
  
• There are more than 1,000 varieties of tomatoes currently being grown in the U.S.
  
  
• The average American eats 13 pounds of tomatoes a year - plus 20 pounds a year in the form of ketchup, salsa, soup, and BBQ sauce.
  
  
• Pumpkins were once recommended for removing freckles and curing snake bites.
  
  
• The Pilgrims invented the first pumpkin pie. They baked the mashed pumpkin in its shell and topped it with honey and maple syrup.
  
  
• The Monarch Butterfly will only lay its eggs on the milkweed plant, and the milkweed is the only plant the caterpillars will feed on.
  
  
• A Humming bird is the only bird known that can fly backwards.
  
  
• A hummingbird will feed at over 1,500 flowers in an average day.
  
  
• A dragonfly has a life span of 24 hours.
  
  
• Only female mosquitoes bite and drink blood. Male mosquitoes do not bite; they are vegetarians, and feed on the nectar of flowers.
  
  
• Wood Frogs freeze during the winter and thaw again in the spring to begin breeding.
  
  
• If Narcissus are forced to bloom in the begining of January (New year), those who follow Feng Shui believe that it will bring good luck for the next twelve months.
  
  
• Artificial Christmas trees have outsold real ones every year since 1991.
  
  
• Every plant in Tomorrowland at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, is edible.
  
  

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