Types of Flowers – suggestions for flower messages, weddings and your garden

Types of Flowers - Part One

Like people, all flowers are beautiful – beauty after all is in the eye of the beholder - so when discussing various flowers, first consideration must be given to the flower’s assignment.

Is the flower to be part of a garden, a wedding or in-home bouquet? Are you looking for the most popular? Are you more concerned about colour, shape or scent? Do you want the flower to serve as a messenger?

Types of Flowers to Serve as a Messenger

According to Wikipedia. back when Queen Victoria ruled the British Empire, various types of flowers were used to send coded messages, allowing individuals to express feelings which otherwise could not be spoken in public.

• Red Roses – imply passionate, romatic love.
• Pink Roses - a lesser affection.
• White roses still suggest virtue and chasity.
• Yellow roses still tand for friendship and devotion
• Bridal Rose – Happy Love
• Coral Rose - desire
• Sunflowers – respect.
• Gernera Daisy – innocence or purity – One floral source reports this is a big favourite with modern woman.
• A string of Ivy – fidelity.
• Daffodil – regard.
• Yellow Acacia – secret love.
• White Lilly – purity.
• Gardenia - ecstasy – often sent to secret loves.
• Forget-Me-Nots -obvious -true love.
• Red Carnation – according to the flower society if you “receive ared carnation bouquet , it means, "My heart aches for you" and when you receive white carnations the sender is saying: "I am still available."
• Blue Violet – faithfulness.
• Sweet Violet – Modesty
• Water Lilly – purity of heart

Types of Flowers to Serve as a Messenger – Part Two

How unhappy that which basil, or yellow rose reveals, while ivy is the most faithful of all.”

The article then lists a long list of an assortment of flower types and their meanings – some not so cheerful:

• White Rose (dried) – death preferable to loss of innocence.
• Wortleberry – treason.
• Creeping Willow – Love Forsaken.
• Water Willow – Freedom
• Weeping Willow – mourning.
• Yew – Sorrow.
• Zephyr Flower – Expectation.
• Zinnia – Thoughts of absent friends.

Most popular types of Flowers for weddings

The following list was compiled via internet research and Florist surveys:

Calla Lily - Casablanca Lilly - Gardenia - Hydrangea - Lilac - Lily of the Valley - Orchids - Rose/Garden Rose - Stephanotis - Tulip.

Popular Types of Flowers for the Garden

This list is not in any “popular” order – it is however, taken from suggestions by neighbourhood gardeners – I then “Googled” to learn more about the individual types.

Cosmos - from the Greek word for harmony or ordered universe – easy to maintain - produces "showy flowers" in an "orderly arrangement of cosmic proportions"

They are easy to grow and Yellow Cosmos top the list with John Thomas of Wildseed Farms rating this cosmos with an 80 percent planting success.

The next suggestion is a personal one – Lilacs – My family once lived in the Canadian "City of Lilacs" - Cornwall Ontario they have a great Lilac rivalry with Rochester, NY

But it takes time and dedication to realize the full beauty of Lilacs that, unfortunately bloom only a few weeks in the spring – however, gardening professionals suggest you grow a variety including, early, mid and late varieties – that could give you their wonderful aroma and blooms for over a month.

Be patient, it can take up to three years for the first bloom – but it’s well worth the wait if your collection of Lilacs is the centerpiece of your garden.

Another Family Favourite - from my daughter - check out types of flowers for a butterfly Garden

Types of Flowers – The color Blue:

Blue flowers are some of the most striking plants around and can add a rich splash of color to any garden. Plant them in a cluster of all blue or mix them in with other flowers for a rainbow of color.

Types of flowers for the colour blue – a few suggestions:

• Polemonuim, Blue Pearl - A compact plant with deep sky blue flowers that grows to 10". It blooms in late spring to early summer. Plant in partial shade and in well drained soil.

• Blue Sea Holly - This dramatic plant has a lavender blue cone like flower with long spiked petals. It grows to 30" and is a favorite for dried flower arrangements. Plant in full sun - blooms in mid to late summer.

• Delphinium, Butterfly Blue - Bright blue delicate flowers adorn this plant that blooms in early to mid summer. It reaches 10" tall and prefers a sunny location with rich moist soil.

• Other types of flowers for the colour blue include the Campanula, Blue Carpet –Bright blue to lilac colored flowers bloom for weeks in the middle of summer. This low growing perennial grows to 4" and prefers full sun with well drained soil.

• Penstemon, Blue Buckle - This plant has tubular shaped blooms in blue to purple and flowers in mid summer to early fall. It grows to 15" and likes well drained soil with full or partial sun.

• Hydrangea, Nikko Blue - Gigantic clumps of blue flowers adorn this shrub for most of the summer. In the fall, the flowers turn a golden color. This plant is a new variety that prefers rich soil but will grow in shade, partial sun or full sun.

• Vinca - Medium blue flowers and glossy green leaves form a carpet that grows to about 6" tall and blooms in mid spring. This plant will grow in most soil conditions, in the shade or sun.

• Ajuga, Bronze Beauty - This short bushy plant has spikes of blue flowers that grows quickly. Great as a ground cover or in raised beds. It blooms in spring and prefers a shady area.

• Scabiosa, Butterfly Blue - A bushy perennial with lavender blue flowers that bloom from June to October. This plant likes full sun and attracts butterflies and hummingbirds.

• Verbena, Babylon Blue - Blue purple flowers petals adorn this plant that blooms in early spring. Great for window boxes and planters.

This page is an ongoing project – please check back - and remember – your love of flowers and gardening can become a positive, productive and profitable retirement job - return to the Home Page to learn how others have built a creative, money making, at-home business.

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