Floriography, by Gina Margolies

December’s Birthday Blossom is the beautiful Narcissus. This Birthday Blossom is promising, youthful and joyful. The narcissus flower, whose scientific and common names are the same, is frequently linked to the Greek myth of Narcissus who became so obsessed with his own reflection in the water that he leaned over too far and drowned. Legend says that the narcissus plant sprang up where he died. No one really knows if this is where the name came from, but we do know that the narcissus represents youth and joy. On a cold, gray winter day, what better way to give the...

Mother Nature produces tremendous beauty. Every day the natural world presents us with its gifts. Flowers are just one of those gifts and they bring so much joy into our lives. Many factors come together to produce a thing of beauty like a flower, including mathematics. Most people think of numbers when they hear the word mathematics. But math is actually a language, a vocabulary of symbols and words used to express mathematical concepts. Flowers also speak a  type of language. Officially called floriography, the language of flowers refers to the idea that each flower holds a meaning or message...

Birthday Blossoms took a field trip!  In honor of November babies, we visited a chrysanthemum exhibition at the fabulous New York Botanical Garden @NYBG. The chrysanthemum is November’s Birthday Blossom.  It also happens to be the national flower of Japan.  The Japanese celebrate the arrangement of the chrysanthemum’s petals and the beauty it creates.  They love the chrysanthemum, kiku in Japanese, so much that they dedicate an annual festival to the lovely flower.  Luckily, those of us who can’t visit Japan can celebrate and enjoy these beautiful flowers in the Kiku: The Art of the Japanese Garden exhibit at New...

The Language of Flowers Flora Illustrata:  Great Works from the LuEsther T. Mertz Library of The New York Botanical Garden edited by Susan M. Fraser and Vanessa Bezemer Sellers                Si hortum in bibliotheca habes, deerit nihil.                (If you have a garden in a library, nothing will be lacking).                                                                            ...

Why are flowers important to us? We know that we love to look at and possess flowers. They are beautiful, many of them smell lovely, and they change any room they are in. According to a National Retail Federation survey, Americans spend about $2.4 billion per year on flowers for Mother’s Day alone. Clearly, many of us like flowers, particularly when we receive them as a gift. But do those flowers have any particular significance or meaning to us beyond their beauty? Many people would say yes and probably many would shrug. The Victorians would have vehemently disagreed with that...