The language of flowers

These flowers were nature’s gift to me thoughout the month of May … the peony and the iris have special meaning to me personally.

The next time you want to send a gift with a special message … “say it with flowers.” According to FactMonster.com, floriography is the language of flowers. Hundreds of flowers and trees have been given meanings and this site shares a small bouquet. For example, the iris below means “Power.”

I made another Google search and found on wikipedia.org that in floriography, peony means “Shame, bashfulness; Prosperity, honor (in China); and Masculinity, bravery (in Japan).

I have no clue what flower this is … It still grows unattended in one of my mom’s flowerbeds. (She moved into town. Good thing she only planted perennials, because I have a black thumb.)

Update: Thanks to blogger Sheila 365 for identifying this wildflower. It is evening primrose. (See comment below.)

I do know the pink is a peony because it is Indiana’s state flower, and for as long as I can remember it has been a favorite of my mother, grandmothers and great-grandmothers. I took this photo with my phone on Mother’s Day. (I don’t own a smart phone, so that’s the best I could do.) Personally, I prefer the meaning “Prosperity, honor (in China).”

And this is an iris, planted years ago by my mom. A large bouquet of these long-stemmed beauties would send a powerful message!

This is a wildflower I’m not sure about. So please feel free to I.D. it as well. If it is in the daisy chain, it means “We feel the same.”

Update: Blogger Deb Platt at TrekOhio.com also knows her wildflowers. This is daisy fleabane.

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Word on the Street: Remembrances

Today is the traditional Memorial Day, first observed in 1868. The first Indianapolis 500 took place on May 30, 1911. And my dad took his first breath on May 30 in 1932.

In 1968, when Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act moving the national Memorial Day observance to the last Monday in May, the long holiday weekend and “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” played host to our most celebrated family tradition! Grandma’s fried chicken, croquet, and double the cake and ice cream because my dad’s brother was born on May 31st.

I took this photo after Mom and I decorated Dad’s grave in Croy’s Creek Cemetery that overlooks the Putnam/Clay county line road. My dad’s mom was a member of  Croy’s Creek Church and many of my ancestors are buried in the church’s cemetery.

Mom and I also visited Clearview Cemetery to honor my stepdad, a World War II Navy veteran. This sculpture is about the height of a lectern and overlooks State Road 340 (a former alignment of U.S. Highway 40 – “The Road that Built a Nation” – now designated the Historic National Road) just west of  Brazil in Clay County.

In memory of “The World’s Greatest Dad,” my stepfather and other national heroes before and after him, I dedicate this post to them and share with you the Word of hope that Jesus taught us to pray: