How To Speak Through Flowers

Anemone is originally derived from the Greek word "anemos", meaning, wind, hence the nickname, windflower.

Greek mythology linked the red anemone, to the death of Adonis.
Adonis was a handsome young man loved by both Persephone, queen of the underworld, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love. One day, while hunting alone, he wounded a fierce boar, which stabbed him with it's tusks. Aphrodite heard her lover's cries and came to his side, only to see him bleeding to death upon a bed of white anemones, his blood turned them a brilliant red.

Christians later adopted the red anemone as a symbol of the blood shed by Jesus Christ on the cross. Anemones sometimes appear in paintings of the Crucifixion.

In folklore, the anemone was thought to bring luck and protection against evil. It could predict rain by closing its petals at night, and fairies slept under the petals after they closed at sunset.

"Anemone, so well
Named of the wind,
to which thou art all free."

- George MacDonald

The Iris is named for the Greek goddess of the rainbow.
She was the messenger of the gods and acted as the link between heaven and earth. She would ride on the rainbow to and from earth in her colorful robes.

The word Iris means "eye of heaven".

Purple Irises were planted over the graves of women by Greek men, to summon Iris to guide the dead in their journey to the afterlife.

During the Middle Ages, Irises became linked to the French monarchy, and the Fleur-de-lis eventually became the national symbol of France.

The Iris has come to mean faith, hope, and wisdom.

In some parts of the world, the dark blue or purple iris can denote royalty, whereas the yellow iris can be a symbol of passion. Irises may also express courage and admiration.

According to an old wives tale, it was believed that if you bit into the iris' root, you would stammer for the rest of your days.

"Flowers may beckon toward us,
but they speak toward heaven and God."

- Henry Ward Beeche

The Chinese name for the peony is "sho yu'"; meaning, most beautiful.

In ancient folklore, the peony was linked to the moon, and believed to have been created by the moon goddess, to reflect the moon's beams during the night.

During the Middle Ages, "lunatics" were covered with peony leaves and petals, to cure them.
It was also believed that keeping peony seeds under your pillow, could prevent nightmares.

It is considered unlucky to uproot the peony, and it's seeds and dried root were once worn as a protective amulet against evil spirits.

The peony, was named after the Greek god of healing, Paeon.
~ The myth, says that Paeon was a student of Asclepius, the god of medicine and healing. Paeon was instructed by Leto (Apollo's mother and the goddess of fertility) to obtain a magical root growing on Mount Olympus that would soothe the pain of women in childbirth. Asclepius became jealous and threatened to kill his pupil. Zeus saved Paeon from Asclepius's wrath, by turning him into the peony flower.

The Rose symbolizes love, beauty, hope, unfailing love, it is a common symbol of eternal life and resurrection.

For the ancient Romans, and Greeks, the rose was a symbol of beauty, and the flower of the goddess Venus (Aphrodite). The first red roses are said to have grown from the blood of Adonis for the love of Aphrodite (Venus); thus, they have become symbolic of love, and often eternal life.

In one Greek myth, the rose was created by the goddess of flowers, Chloris.
One day, Chloris found the lifeless body of a nymph in the woods and she turned her into a flower. She called upon Aphrodite, goddess of love, and Dionysus, the god of wine. Aphrodite gave the flower beauty as her gift and Dionysus added nectar to give it a sweet fragrance. Zephyrus, god of the West Wind, blew the clouds away so Apollo, the sun god, could shine and make the flower bloom. That is how the rose was created and crowned the "Queen of Flowers".

The Romans saw roses as symbolic of death and rebirth, and often planted them on graves.

Christians later used the rose as a symbol of the Virgin Mary, the "rose without thorns." She was also sometimes called the "Mystic or Holy Rose".

~ A red rose symbolizes martyrdom and a white rose symbolizes purity and virginity.

According to one Christian legend; roses originally had no thorns. But after Adam and Eve sinned and were cast out of the Garden of Eden; the rose grew thorns as a reminder of a "perfect world lost".

There is a Talmudic legend, that tells how the rose became red.

"At midnight before the vernal equinox, when Cain and Abel were to make their offerings to the Lord, their mother, Eve had a vision. She saw a little lamb bleeding its life away on Abel's altar, and the white roses he had planted about it were suddenly full blown and red. Voices cried about her, as in despair, but they died away and only a wonderful music was heard instead. Then, as the shadows lifted from her eyes, a vast plain unfolded, more beautiful than the paradise she had left, and grazing there were flocks watched by a shepherd whose robe of white was so fine and shining that the eye was dazzled by it. He wore a wreath of roses which Eve recognized as having lately grown about the altar, and he struck the strings of a lute, waking entrancing harmony. Day broke, and, dismissing the vision as an idle dream, Eve watched her sons as they went forth to make sacrifice to the deity. She heard the cries of the little creatures of the flocks as they were put to death, and was glad that her children were willing to do this thing in the belief that suffering was agreeable to the author of life and love. At evening her sons were still afield, and as darkness came she went to seek them. Her dream returned to her, and she was disturbed. The fires on the two altars had burned out, and the bodies of the lambs were charred and broken. From a cave hard by sounded roarings of despair: she knew the voice for Cain's. And before his younger brother's altar lay the most pitiful sacrifice of all: the body of Abel, cold and rigid; and his blood had bespattered all the roses he had planted. Eve sank upon the body of her son, and again the vision of the night returned: she saw the shining one again, and it was Abel who shepherded in the new paradise. He wore the roses, but they were beautiful and fragrant, and, striking the harp in a triumphant measure, he sang, "Look up and see the stars shining promise through your tears. Those cars of light shall carry us to fields more blooming than Eden. There sighs and moans change to hymns of rapture, and there the rose that has been stained with innocent blood blooms in splendor."

- Source- angelfire.com

Rose is the flower of the month of June.

"What's in a name? that which we call a rose; By any other name would smell as sweet." ~ Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

During ancient times, violets were believed to provide protection from evil spirits.

The violet, appeared in an ancient Eastern myth similar to that of the Greek and Roman myth of Venus and Adonis.
Legend has it that the great mother goddess Cybele loved Attis, who was killed while hunting a wild boar. Where his blood fell on the ground, the violets bloomed.

Later, in Christian symbolism, the violet stood for the virtue of humility, or humble modesty, and several legends tell of violets springing up on the graves of virgins and saints.

To dream of violets signifies advancement in life. A garland of violets worn about the head prevents dizziness. They are considered a good luck gift to any woman in any season, but where violets bloom in autumn, epidemics will follow within the year.

Romans would decorate banquet tables with violets, in the belief that the flowers could prevent drunkenness. Violet wreaths were used by the Romans to relieve hangovers. They drank a wine made from violet blossoms. They also placed violets on the graves of small children.

According to one legend, it was Venus who made the violet blue.
Venus had been arguing with her son Cupid, as to which was more beautiful... herself or a nearby group of girls, and Cupid, with no fear of his mother, declared for the girls. This sent Venus into such a rage that she beat her rivals till they turned blue and became violets.

Violet is the flower of the month of February.

"The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks." ~Tennessee Williams