Floriography, by Gina Margolies

Why do people like flowers so much? Here at Floriography, we often ponder thisquestion. Previous posts have explored various reasons: reminder of the renewal of life,innate desire for beauty, natural attraction to floral scents. We even analyzed themathematics of flowers in an effort to understand the appeal. (Believe it or not, that postis our most popular to date.) Another possible explanation for the perennial appeal offlowers is color. The word color has multiple meanings. In the natural world, color is the property ofproducing different sensations on the eye as a result of the way the object reflects oremits light. Science...

February’s Birthday Blossom is the elegant Violet. This Birthday Blossom is regal, loyal, and unique.  There is a reason violet is a traditional color of royalty and the aristocracy.  Violets carry an air of regal beauty and kings and nobles are often pictured in violet garb.  The unique beauty of this birth month flower sets it apart from other flowers. In China, violets are thought to represent the harmony of the universe because they are a combination of red and blue, the yin and the yang. Throughout history, violets have also signified loyalty. Give a violet to someone to let them...

Have you ever found an object that was odd or funny or unusual which, for no obvious or practical reason, you liked? It could be something like a doorknob that doesn’t fit any of your doors or an old hand fan that you just like to hold. For me, these objects are often books. Odd, funny, unusual little books that fascinate me for no particular reason other than that they do. One such book is The Flowers Personified, the English translation of a French book entitled Les Fleurs Animees (Why does everything sound better in French?) published in 1847. This...

January's Birthday Blossom is the beautiful Carnation. This Birthday Blossom is loving, proud, and distinct. Familiar to many as the traditional flower for boutonnieres, carnations are usually white, pink, red or stripes of those colors. The scientific name for carnation, dianthus caryophyllus, comes from the Greek words for divine flower and it’s easy to see why. Carnations are a traditional first wedding anniversary gift as well as commonly given on Mother’s Day, or maybe you buy them for yourself, just because. Whatever the reason, lovely carnations always bring a distinct beauty to your day. PICK YOURS TODAY!

The desire to adorn ourselves with plants and flowers is well-documented in the historical record. We read in accounts as far back as the ancient world that victors, both military and athletic, were crowned with laurel wreaths. Marie Antoinette often adorned her towering coiffures with fresh flowers. I read once that she and other ladies of the French court would hide vials of water in their hair to keep the blooms fresh, displaying a true dedication to beautifying themselves. Over a hundred years later, Frida Kahlo put her own spin on this idea, often adorning her black braids with flowers. I love...