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Spring Flowers
by Danielle French South Pond Home
I sense a change of season. Here, in this part of the world, Spring is eagerly awaited after months of cold, snow, mud and ice.
I do love winter and have a fond memory of driving
one of the girls home late at night in the cold and depth of winter. Watching the brightest full moon I had ever seen rising over the farm reflecting the snow, giving the impression of daylight. I thought to myself; this is why we live here. It is to experience a raw energy that the earth gives us that we found here on this magical land, complete with its broken and falling down parts. Then slowly and sputtering, the sunshine is here. The days are longer, the earth warms up and green sprigs emerge. The Farm Our family loved all that filtered into our lives - the animals, the fields, the change in seasons and, each new challenge we encountered we loved all the more. Together we put in a garden and planted vegetables, flowers and herbs so that we could connect directly with the food we prepared in our kitchen. making delicious and simple meals. Hidden Messages Flowers, herbs and of course birds are the first signal of spring. Chives, daffodils and tulips shoot up. I think after a long bout of winter, we are hungry for the beauty of fresh blooms on the table. I gravitate to old fashioned, English garden varieties and heritage flowers. In my days at the farm, I looked for seeds all winter to start in the greenhouse. I learned that flowers have meaning and in Victorian times, flowers were used to convey hidden messages to one another. When I made up bouquets for weddings at the farm I thought about this in my creations. In former times, flowers conveyed love and specific meaning when the display of love was awkward or not permitted. For example purple lilac represents the first signs of love, roses symbolize love, sweet pea means delicate pleasure and the herb sage I always use in my bouquets symbolizes long life and health, good luck and protection against evil, baby’s breath represents innocence. 32
A Gift It is truly a sign of the season when we can pick a few blooms from the side of the road, field or garden and appreciate their simple beauty. Now living in town, I don’t feel as surrounded by nature as I did at the farm, but I watch for the moon and feel grateful to be connected with the earth, even without my flower garden. I go out of my way to have fresh flowers in the kitchen and am reminded by what is growing. Think about the meaning of flowers when you pick your next bouquet, maybe send a secret message to your loved one or just to yourself.
