The Language of Flowers P

Subject: The Language of Flowers P Sat Nov 15, 2008 2:24 am

Palm........................ Victory

Pansy .......................Thoughts

(Pansy is just an English way of saying the French word 'pensee' which means thought, and people used to send these flowers for their nearest and dearest to remember them by. The small velvet plants we grow in our summer borders were first bred in Victorian times from the Wild Pansy which Shakespeare described as Love-in-idleness. This little flower with the smiling face was said to be a love potion, and was the cause of Titania falling in love with an ass in A Midsummer night's Dream.

Wild Pansy has always been a favourite with children and country folk who have given it many affectionate names. Two-faces-under-the-sun. Face-and-hood and Tickel-my-fancy. It has also been called Herb Trinity, because there are often three colours in the one flower, reminding us of the Holy Trinity. Perhaps the best known of all the names, however, is Heartsease, for it was believed that by carrying the flower about with you, you would ensure the love of your sweetheart.)

Parsley .....................Festivity

Pasque Flower .........You have no claims

Passion Flower........ Religious Superstition

Patience Dock.......... Patience

Pea, Everlasting ......An appointed meeting lasting pleasure.

Pea, sweet................. Departure

Peach ........................Your qualities like your charms are unequalled.

Peach Blossom.......... I am your captive

Pear ...........................Affection

Pear Tree................... Comfort

Pennyroyal ................Flee away

Peony......................... Shame, Bashfulness

(Mischievous nymphs were said to hide in the petals of the Peony thus causing this magnificent flower to be given the meaning of Shame of Bashfulness in the language of flowers. But it has not always been so scorned.

In its native China, where it has been grown since the eighth century, the Red Peony was considered the King of the Flowers and its rich, dark colour and bulbous shape became symbloic of abundance

It was named after Paeon, a physician to the Gods, who obtained the plant on Mount Olympus from the mother of Apollo. Once planted the Peony likes to be left alone and punishes those who try to move it by not flowering again for several years. Once established, however, it produces splendid blooms each year for decades.)( but it is my all time favorite Flower, I call it the Queen of the Garden)

Peppermint ...............Warmth of feeling

Periwinkle, Blue .......Early friendship

Periwinkle, White .....pleasures of memory

Persicaria ..................Restoration

Persimon ....................Bury me amid nature's beauties

Peruvian Heliotrope.. Devotion

Pheasant's Eye ...........Remembrance

Phlox ...........................Unanimity

(The message it most commonly conveys is one of Agreement. Perhaps more ardent suitors were intoxicated by its heady scent, which perfumes the whole garden in the early evening, and felt inspired to a proposal of love. It was named after the Greek word 'phlox' meaning flame, no doubt referring to their colour and shape. Beloved by cottagers for their fiery clusters of flowers, they are equally at home in the grandest herbaceous borders and are to be found in some of the finest gardens in the land.)

Pigeon Berry............... Indifference

Pimpernel Change...... Assignation

Pine ...............................Pity

Pine-apple ....................You are perfect

Pine, Pitch ....................Philosophy

Pine,Spruce.................. Hope in adversity

Pink ...............................Boldness

Pink, Carnation........... Womans love

Pink, Indian, Double.....Always lovely

Pink, Indian, Single.......Aversion

Pink, Mountain .............Aspiring

Pink, Red, Doluble........ Pure and ardent love

Pink, Single ....................Pure love

Pink Variegated ............Refusal

Pink, White ....................Ingeniousness. Talent

Plane Tree ......................Genius

Plum, Indian ...................Privation

Plum Tree .......................Fidelity

Plum, Wild ......................Independence

Polyanthus...................... Pride of riches

Polyanthus, Crimson..... The hearts mystery

Polyanthus, Lilac ............Confidence

Pomegranate ...................Foolishness

Pomegranate, Flower .....Mature elegance

Poplar, Black ..................Courage

Poplar, White .................Time

Poppy, Red ......................Consolation

Poppy, Scarlet .................Fantastic extravagance

Poppy White ............Sleep. My bane. My antidote

(the Scarlet Poppy means Fantastic Extravagance the White Opium Poppy from Asia means sleep. Some people think that its Latin name, Papaver came from 'pap' because the juice was given to babies in their food to make them sleepy

The Poppy is sometimes called the Red Rose of Ceres for the ancient Romans believed that the flower was raised by Ceres, the corn Goddess, who is always depicted carrying poppies and corn, and who offered them as a sacrifice to the gods.

One of the old country names of the Poppy was Cheesebowl for there is a little round bowl in the bottom of the flower head filled with seeds set in something which resembles cheese. In the North of England they call it Cock-rose, Cup Rose or Corn Rose, while some call them Soldiers because of the scarlet tunices once worn as army uniform. This is ironic because they will always be associated with the Great War, springing up to cover the corpses of those who fought bravely on the battlefields of Northern France.

Many children are afraid to pick poppies because they believe that the petals will fall (as they always do) and they will be struck by thunder. So they call them Thunder Flowers.

The other name which is given to poppies all over the country is Headaches, because it is said that the smell , or the vivid colour, is bound to induce a pain in the head.)

Potato ...............................Benevolence

Pickly Pear...................... Satire

Pride of China .................Dissension

Primrose.......................... Early youth

Primrose, Evening........... Inconstancy

Primrose, Red ..................Unpatronized merit

(There are few flowers whose coming is so eagerly awaited in the year as the Primrose and it is because it one of the early signs of spring that it received its name which means 'first rose'. It is not what we would call a rose today, but long ago the name was used more widely. In parts of western England the Primrose is still called the Butter-rose, because the colour of the flowers is so like that of the farmhosue butter which is made there.

Primroses became very fashionable in Victorian times and were Disraeli's favourite flower. Queen Victoria sent him many bunches from her gardens during her reign, and on his death she sent a large wreath of Primroses as a token of her affection and respect.)

Privet ................................Prohibition

Purple Clover................... Provident

Pyrus Japonica ................Fairies Fire

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