Floriography, by Gina Margolies

July’s Birthday Blossom is the playful Larkspur. This Birthday Blossom is light, colorful and complex. Larkspur flowers come in a variety of colors including spikes of red, pink, violet and white which symbolize carefree summer days, feeling lighthearted, and having fun. The scientific name is delphinium, a form of the Latin word for dolphin, possibly due to the shape of the larkspur. Larkspurs were a popular gift in Victorian times when they were associated with a strong feeling of romance. In modern times, white blossoms signify a happy-go-lucky nature while purple represents first love. Even butterflies love larkspur and the...

Today is my last chance to squeeze in one more paean to June’s lovely Birthday Blossom before I turn to my own Birthday Blossom in July.  On a recent Birthday Blossoms field trip to France, I had the privilege of visiting Musee Rodin in Paris.  Opened in 1919 the museum is dedicated to French sculptor Auguste Rodin.  It is housed in the building that served as Rodin’s workshop and was donated to the French State at his death, along with his entire collection.  The museum exhibits many of Rodin’s most significant sculptures, including The Thinker and The Kiss. The museum...

      In honor of June’s Birthday Blossom, I have been busy perusing books about roses. One of my new finds is the aptly titled Roses. The photographs are by Fabio Petroni and the text by Natalia Fedeli. Clearly meant to be a coffee table book, Roses is actually both visually stunning and a fascinating read.       The fruits of this crossbreeding are stunning. If you think that pictures of roses would be boring I can assure you that these are not.  The variety of style, the rainbow of hues, and the juxtaposition of each color-saturated rose...

Every spring the fairies come out to play. After the long barrenness of winter, our enchanting friends revel in the new warmth with exuberant joy.  Many tales and stories reveal how the magical realm welcomes spring. The fairy mothers in “The Legend of the Fairy Tulips” rock their springtime babies in newly-blossomed flower cradles. The fairies in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream celebrate the arrival of springtime with dancing and merrymaking. The flowing green Spring Sprite from Fantasia 2000 soars over the barren earth to call forth new life. These stories and so many others capture the gush of magic...

March’s Birthday Blossom is the sunny daffodil. Because of when it blooms, the daffodil is one of the quintessential symbols of spring, so much so that daffodils seem to bring the very warmth of spring sunshine with them.   The daffodil is the national flower of Wales. The Welsh wear it on March 1 to celebrate their patron, Saint David, heralding the soon to arrive spring. In England the daffodil is referred to as the Lenten lily. In Germany, the word for daffodil, osterblocke, actually means Easter bell. In China it is a popular symbol of the New Year In the...