Floriography, by Gina Margolies — flowers

If one were in search of a tool to ascertain the time, flowers likely would not come to mind. Clocks, watches, and smartphones are obvious, but flowers? Yes, flowers, thanks to Carl Linnaeus. Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist. He is generally known for formalizing the modern system of naming organisms, called binomial nomenclature. In his spare time, Linnaeus compiled a list of flowers that open and close their petals at a particular hour of the day. It is by this list that we may reckon the hours in flower time, using the aptly named Flora's Clock.

When it comes to nature deities, Flora holds the number one spot on our list. You may know Flora as the Roman goddess of flowering plants, sister of Fauna, the goddess of animals and wildlife. It likely won’t come as a surprise that Spring is Flora’s season and her divine attributes are fertility, sexuality, and blossoming.   Flora’s name comes from the Latin floris meaning, naturally enough, flower. She had two temples in Rome, one near the Circus Maximus and another on the slopes of Quirinale, one of the famous seven hills of Rome. The temple on the Circus Maximus...

"The earth laughs in flowers."   - Ralph Waldo Emerson

 The Gift of Flowers   Flowers often accompany significant life events. Anniversaries, birthdays, and funerals all bring flowers to mind. A wedding is one of life’s most important moments associated with flowers. Not surprisingly, flowers played an important part in my wedding. More important than I anticipated they would. Like many women, I longed to put touches on my wedding which would make it special and unique, be perceived as creative or different. Of the many details, I really struggled with the guest favors. Flipping through wedding catalogs (this was before wedding web sites abounded) all of the favors seemed...