Flowers have been highly prized since the dawn of civilization. The ancient Egyptians painted them on the walls of their temples and withered remains of the flowers have been found in ancient tombs around the world. The colorful and fragile beauty of flowers has given rise to innumerable cultural symbolic meanings, and folktales about flowers have abounded from the earliest times, though not in the Western world, until the late Middle Ages. Floral representations have been added to all forms and materials of the artistic endeavor: paintings, metalware, furniture, fabrics, etc. Floral names have even honored our daughters. Although less common now, names like Rose, Daisy, Myrtle, Pansy, and even Honey were once quite popular.

In Europe, correspondence through flowers began in the 1700s, when Charles II of Sweden introduced the Persian custom known as the “Language of Flowers.” The advent of the Industrial Revolution and the reign of Queen Victoria (of England) combined to spread the idea of ​​sentimentality with floral motifs. Victorian houses were elaborately decorated with flowers on the walls, furniture, paintings, utensils, and trinkets. A gift of flowers had a lot of meaning; each flower conveys a message. An entire conversation could be expressed through the exchange of flowers!

The many legends associated with flowers can be divided into three classes: mythological, ecclesiastical/historical, and poetic. Mythological legends are often connected with stories of “creation”, as well as with the transformation by the gods of nymphs and unfortunate youths into flowers and trees, which have since retained their names. Many stories describe the origin of the color of the flowers. For example, white flowers are represented as originating from fallen tears and pink or red flowers from blushes or blood. Ecclesiastical/historical legends are generally due to the reverent imaginations of Catholic monks. While tending their flowers in the quiet and seclusion of the monastery gardens, they may have associated a certain flower with the memory of some favorite saint or martyr, and allowed their fancy to weave a fiction to perpetuate the memory of that saint. Many historical legends belong to the favorite sons and daughters of the Church. Poetic legends include the many fairy tales in which flowers and plants play an important role, and which may include goblins, trolls, and witches. In more recent history (the Victorian era), flowers became a language of symbolic content.

The following represents a brief summary of just a few of the many flower tales that came to have such significance during the Victorian period:

Grape: The grape, one of the oldest cultivated fruits, has appeared as a decorative motif over time in almost all cultures. In some countries it was believed that the grape was the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. It has been said that they signify fertility, sacrifice, hospitality and charity. To dream of grapes presages to the maiden that her husband will be happy and a great singer. If the dreamer is in love, the grapes herald an early union, and denote much happiness in marriage and success in business. According to another authority, to dream that you see bunches of grapes circling around you, portends future advancement and honor. For the maiden it implies marriage to an ambitious man, who will rise to great position, but will soon die.

Forget-me-not: According to a German tale full of melancholy and romance, a young couple strolled along the banks of the Danube on the eve of getting married. They saw a group of forget-me-nots floating in the current that was carrying it away. The future bride admired the beauty of the flower and lamented her fatal fate. Her lover plunged into the water to secure the flowers. As soon as she caught them, she found herself sinking. Making a last effort, she threw the bouquet on the shore at the feet of her fiancée and, at that moment of disappearing forever, she exclaimed: “Vergiss mein nicht!” (Do not forget me!)

Lily of the valley: Lilies of the valley, also called “Tears of the Virgin”, have flowers that were thought (in the mid-16th century) to have a highly medicinal perfume against “nervous affections”. The water that they distilled from them was so famous that it was only kept in gold and silver vessels. There is also a legend that in the forest of San Leonardo, where the holy hermit once lived, there were fierce encounters between him and a dragon. The holy man finally managed to drive the dragon away, and the scenes of their battles were revealed anew each year, as beds of fragrant lilies of the valley appeared wherever the ground had been sprinkled with the blood of the warrior saint.

Daisy: The Daisy has been called the “poet’s darling.” Shakespeare and Wordsworth, and many poets in between, have used the daisy to represent the quality of pure innocence. The old English name for this flower was Day’s Eye, from which its current name comes. Chaucer called it the “ee of the day”, probably from its habit of closing the petals at night and during rain. There was once a popular superstition that if you didn’t put your foot on the first daisy of spring, the daisies would grow on you before the year was out. Another tale was that spring had not come until you could put your foot on twelve daisies. Today, we decree the popular tradition. “He loves me, He Loves Me Not.” It is considered lucky to dream of Daisies in Spring or Summer.

Clover: The common clover has a rich symbolic folklore, not only for its leaves, but also for its flowers. It was used in festivals by the ancient Greeks. Hope was depicted as a little boy standing on tiptoe, holding a clover flower in her hand. Druids also used clover in their ceremonies. More recently, dreaming of seeing a field of clovers indicated health, prosperity, and much happiness. A Cornish fairy tale goes like this: One night a maiden went out to milk the cows later than usual and the stars had begun to shine before she had completed her task. An enchanted cow was the last to be milked, and her bucket was so full that the milkmaid could barely lift it to her head. So she gathered up a few handfuls of grass and clover, and scattered them over her head, to make it easier to carry the pail of milk. But, as soon as the Clover touched her head, suddenly hundreds of little people appeared surrounding the cow, dipping her tiny hands into the milk and collecting it with Clover flowers. When the astonished milkmaid arrived at her house, she related this wonderful experience to her mistress, who immediately cried out, “Ah! You put a four-leaf clover on your head!”