| Flowers have been greatly esteemed since the dawn | | | | marriage with an ambitious man, who will arrive at |
| of civilization. Ancient Egyptians painted them on their | | | | great station, but die early. |
| temple walls and the withered remains of flowers | | | | Forget-Me-Not: According to a German tale full of |
| have been found in ancient tombs around the world. | | | | melancholy and romance, a young couple was walking |
| The colorful and fragile beauty of flowers has given | | | | along the banks of the Danube on the eve of being |
| rise to countless culturally symbolic meanings, and | | | | united. They saw a cluster of Forget-Me-Nots floating |
| folktales about flowers have abounded from the | | | | on the stream which was bearing it away. The |
| earliest times although not in the Western World until | | | | bride-to-be admired the beauty of the flower and |
| the end of the Middle Ages. Floral representations | | | | lamented its fatal destiny. Her lover plunged into the |
| have been added to all forms and materials of artistic | | | | water to secure the flowers. No sooner had he |
| effort - paintings, metal ware, furniture, fabric and so | | | | caught them than he found himself sinking. Making a |
| on. Floral names have even graced our daughters. | | | | last effort, he threw the bouquet onto the bank at |
| Although less common now, names such as Rose, | | | | the feet of his betrothed and, at that moment of |
| Daisy, Myrtle, Pansy, and even Honey, were once | | | | disappearing forever, exclaimed, "Vergiss mein nicht!" |
| quite popular. | | | | (Forget me not!) |
| In Europe, correspondence through flowers began in | | | | Lily of the Valley: Lilies of the Valley, also called |
| the 1700's, when Charles II of Sweden introduced | | | | "Virgin's Tears," have blossoms that were thought |
| the Persian custom referred to as the "Language of | | | | (during the mid-1500's) to possess a perfume highly |
| Flowers." The advent of the Industrial Revolution and | | | | medicinal against "nervous affections." The water |
| the reign of Queen Victoria (of England) combined to | | | | distilled from them was in such great repute that it |
| spread the idea of sentimentality with floral motifs. | | | | was kept only in vessels of gold and silver. There is |
| Victorian homes were elaborately decorated with | | | | also a legend that in the forest of St. Leonard, where |
| florals on the walls, furniture, paintings, utensils, and | | | | the hermit-saint once dwelt, fierce encounters took |
| trinkets. A gift of flowers held much significance; | | | | place between him and a dragon. The holy man finally |
| each blossom conveying a message. An entire | | | | succeeded in driving the dragon away, and the |
| conversation could be expressed through the | | | | scenes of their battles were revealed afresh each |
| exchange of flowers! | | | | year, when beds of fragrant Lilies of the Valley |
| The many legends attached to flowers might be | | | | appeared wherever the earth had been sprinkled by |
| divided into three classes: the mythological, the | | | | the blood of the warrior saint. |
| ecclesiastical/ historical, and the poetical. The | | | | Daisy: The Daisy has been called the "poet's darling." |
| mythological legends often relate to "creation" stories | | | | Shakespeare and Wordsworth, and many poets in |
| as well as the transformation by the gods of luckless | | | | between, have used the Daisy to represent the |
| nymphs and youths into flowers and trees, which | | | | quality of pure innocence. The ancient English name |
| have since kept their names. Many stories describe | | | | of this flower was Day's Eye, from which came its |
| the origin of the color of blossoms. For example, | | | | present name. Chaucer called it the "ee of the daie," |
| white flowers are represented as having originated | | | | probably from its habit of closing its petals at night |
| from fallen tears, and pink or red flowers from | | | | and during rainy weather. There once was a popular |
| blushes or blood. The ecclesiastic/historical legends | | | | superstition that if you failed to put your foot upon |
| are generally due to the reverent imaginings of | | | | the first Daisy of spring, Daisies would grow over |
| Catholic monks. While tending their flowers in the | | | | you before the year was out. Another tale was that |
| quiet and seclusion of monastery gardens, they may | | | | Spring had not arrived until you could put your foot |
| have associated a certain flower with a memory of | | | | upon twelve Daisies. Today, we enact the popular |
| some favorite saint or martyr, and allowed their | | | | tradition. "He loves me, he loves me not." It is |
| fancy to weave a fiction to perpetuate the memory | | | | considered lucky to dream of Daisies in Spring or |
| of that saint. Many historical legends pertain to | | | | Summer. |
| favorite sons and daughters of the Church. The | | | | Clover: The common Clover has a rich symbolic |
| poetical legends include the numerous fairy tales in | | | | folklore--not just about its leaves, but also its |
| which flowers and plants play an important part, and | | | | blossoms. It was used in festivals of the ancient |
| which may include elves, trolls and witches. In more | | | | Greeks. Hope was depicted as a little child standing |
| recent history (the Victorian era), flowers came to | | | | on tiptoe, holding a Clover blossom in his hand. The |
| be a language of symbolic content. | | | | Druids also used clover in their ceremonies. More |
| The following represents a brief summary of just a | | | | recently, to dream of seeing a field of Clover |
| few of the many tales about the blossoms that | | | | indicated health, prosperity, and much happiness. A |
| came to hold so much meaning during the Victorian | | | | fairy tale from Cornwall goes like this: One evening a |
| period: | | | | maiden set out to milk the cows later than usual, and |
| Grape: Grapes, one of the oldest cultivated fruits, | | | | the stars had begun to shine before she completed |
| have appeared as a decorative motif throughout | | | | her task. An enchanted cow was the last to be |
| time I nearly every culture. In some countries, the | | | | milked, and the pail was so full that the milk-maid |
| grape was believed to have been the forbidden fruit | | | | could hardly lift it to her head. So she gathered some |
| of the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. | | | | handfuls of grass and Clover, spreading it upon her |
| They have been said to signify fertility, sacrifice, | | | | head, in order to carry the milk-pail more easily. But, |
| hospitality, and charity. To dream of Grapes foretells | | | | no sooner had the Clover touched her head, then |
| to the maiden that her husband will be cheerful and a | | | | suddenly hundreds of little people appeared |
| great songster. If the dreamer is in love, the grapes | | | | surrounding the cow, dipping their tiny hands into the |
| foretell a speedy union, and denote much happiness | | | | milk and gathering it with Clover flowers. When the |
| in the marriage and success in trade. According to | | | | astonished milk-maid reached home, she recounted |
| another authority, to dream that you see clusters of | | | | this wonderful experience to her mistress who at |
| Grapes hanging round about you, predicts future | | | | once cried out, "Ah! You put a four-leafed clover on |
| advancement and honor. To the maid it implies | | | | your head. |