Floriography, by Gina Margolies

 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...

September's birth month flower is the aster. The name of the flower derives from the Greek word for star. Asters can be found in a number of colors, including pink, red, white, lilac, and mauve. Aster speaks of love and patience. Happy September!

Many know the birthstone and astrological sign associated with the month in which they were born, but did you know each month has its own flower too? This is often referred to as the birth month flower, and there is one for every month of the year. Like birthstones, birth month flowers have special characteristics which make them unique. A list of the birth month flowers includes the type of flower for each month and the meaning or symbolism associated with that flower.   The birth month flower is not a new concept. Flip through the Old Farmer’s Almanac and...

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...