Birth Flower: June's Rose.

Roses are a fascinating flower. They have lots of lore. Lots of history. Since roses come in a  variety of colors, each color represents something different! They are symbolic of deep love, clear concentration, intelligence, whole balance, and of course... passion! They have a long history of seen as a flower that sends messages. Messages for healing, revitalization, rejuvenation, and courage. Roses bear the mark of honor, bravery, and intense commitment on many levels!  The beauty of the flower part of the rose expresses promise, new beginnings, hope. This beauty is contrasted with its thorns which represents defense, physicality, loss, thoughtlessness.

So they say only to give roses when you're serious about your intentions!

Back to messages! In ancient times, people associated a lot of numerology when it came to the rose. For example, in art of the renaissance, a rose with eight petals is a message of rebirth and renewal. In alchemical texts and art, a rose with seven petals is a symbol of inclusion, universal understanding and order. Presumably, because in Pythagorean numerology the number seven is iconic of the perfection in the specific unfolding the universe as well as human understanding.

•     A single rose of any color depicts utmost devotion, and gratitude.
•     Two roses entwined together communicate "Marry me!"
•     Six Roses signify a need to be loved or cherished!
•     Eleven roses assure the recipient they are truly and deeply loved!
•     Thirteen roses indicate a secret admirer! Oooo!
• Thorn-less Rose: "Love at first sight"

TO THE MYTHS!

Of course the rose would be associated with Aphrodite (Greek) goddess of love who was often depicted adorned with roses around her head, feet and or neck. The true association of 'where roses came from'.. was from Aphrodite paying tribute to her fallen lover, Adonis. Adonis, who was said to have unparalelled beauty was slain. His beauty lives on even today as Aphrodite conjured roses with him as his forever memorial.  We can interpret the symbolism here several ways. The most common interpretation is that the rose symbolizes an immortal love or a union that will never fade - even through time or death.
A rose bush was said to have grown at the site of Christ’s death. His blood serving is often associated with a red rose, combined with its thorns is thus symbolized the ultimate sacrifice. Another way of interpreting that we've for ages associated Roses with 'forever.'
Some fun lore from Celtic lore is that roses attract fae, and that stolen roses grow better!

In addition to being a symbol of love, the rose is also symbolic carrier of secrets or tacit understanding. Some history of roses came from Rome. The term “sub rosa” means under the rose and comes from the practice of Romans hanging roses above meeting tables. Here it was understood that anything said at this table, beneath the hanging roses, was forbidden to be repeated elsewhere.
Seeking symbolic meaning of the rose from an esoteric perspective, we can look at the Tarot, in which the rose is considered a symbol of balance. Here the beauty of the rose expresses promise, new beginnings, hope. This beauty is contrasted with its thorns which represents defense, physicality, loss, thoughtlessness. The rose is seen in the major arcana as: Magician, Strength, Death and Fool cards. All of these cards hold strong meanings of balance and equilibrium.

TO THE COLORS! Lots of fun here! 

Peach Rose: Appreciation, Closing the deal, Let's get together, Sincerity, Gratitude

Pale Peach Rose: Modesty

Yellow Rose: Joy, Protection, Mature love, Gladness, Friendship, Delight, Promise of a new beginning, Welcome Back, Remember Me.

Yellow with Red Tipped Rose: Friendship, Falling in Love

Orange Rose: Enthusiasm, Desire, Fascination,

Lavender Rose: Enchantment, Love at First Sight,

Coral Rose: Desire

White Rose: Purity, Sanctity, Secret admirer, Mysticism, Purity, Sanctity, Secret admirer, Mysticism, Purity, Innocence, Silence, Secrecy, Reverence, Humility, Youthfulness, "I am worthy of you", Heavenly, Bridal

White Rosebud: Girlhood! Of Young woman.

Red and White Roses Given together:  Unity

Red Rose: Immortal love, Health, Memorial, Passion, Beauty, Courage and Respect, Romantic Love, Congratulations, "I Love You", "Job Well Done", Sincere Love, Respect, Courage & Passion    

Dark Red Rose: Unconscious beauty

Deep Burgundy Rose: Unconscious Beauty

Red Rosebud: Purity and Loveliness

Red and Yellow  Roses given together: Happy Feelings

Pink Rose: First love, Innocence, Healing, Appreciation, "Thank you", Grace, Perfect Happiness, Admiration, Gentleness, Honesty

Dark Pink Rose: Appreciation, Gratitude, "Thank You"

Light Pink Rose: Admiration, Sympathy, Gentleness, Grace, Gladness, Joy, Sweetness

Blue Rose: The Unattainable, Impossible. (Great for someone achieving the impossible!)

Black Rose: Farewell

Happy Birthday to our Geminis and Cancerians! This could come in handy for Valentine's day next year!  Include a few of these trivia bits with your bouquet. Select specific colors to convey your feelings. Have fun with rose meaning and symbolism. Share the beauty and rich historical symbolism of this timeless flower today!







xx Lisa

Birth Flower: May's Lily of the Valley.

White bud! that in meek beauty dost lean

Thy cloistered cheek as pale as moonlight snow,

Thou seem’st, beneath thy huge, high leaf of green,

An Eremite beneath his mountain’s brow.

George Croly—The Lily of the Valley.

Return of happiness, purity of heart, sweetness, the flower of May! If you were to include the flower in a bouquet and give it to someone it would convey the message that your happiness has returned because of him or her. This delicate bloom is known for a sweet perfume and bright a white or a soft pink colour. The Lily of the Valley begins to bloom in early spring.

According to legend, the Lily of the Valley sprang from the tears of Eve after she was ejected out of the Garden of Eden. This early spring bloom is also known as the "ladder to heaven", due to the bell shaped flowers cascading down the stem.

A native flower to Europe, the Lily of the Valley is used to celebrate european/celtic holiday of May Day otherwise known as Beltane, especially in France. This wonderful bloom of spring is used in many celebrations.

In the Bible, lily of the valley is mentioned 15 times, most often in the Song of Solomon. Since the flower blooms so early in springtime, in Christianity it represents the Second Coming of Christ.

Lily of the valley is supposed to protect gardens from evil spirits . It is also considered the flower of fairies, its tiny bells used as cups from which to drink. Some European countries believe lily of the valley prompts visions of heaven, aiding man to see a brighter future. In Germany and Scandinavia, the flower is a springtime symbol of good luck. In England, when St. Leonard of Sussex fought his grievous great battle with a dragon during the sixth century, as a commemoration to his efforts, the flowers are believed to have sprung from the ground where his blood spilled. It is also believed that the flower is in honor of Maia, the daughter of the mythological Atlas.

On May 1, 1561, King Charles IX received lily of the valley as a gift of luck and continued the tradition every first of May by giving the women of his court this fragrant flower. Today, every year in France, bunches of lily of the valley are sold on streets. In some cities, on May Day, folks wear a sprig in their clothing.

The Finnish girl's name Kielo means lily of the valley. Cute name! It is also Finland's national flower.

Convallaria magalis means "that which belongs to May," making lily of the valley the recognized flower of the month of May, and thus, May birthdays.

According to legend, its strong fragrance lures the nightingale to find his mate.

As a symbol of chastity, purity, modesty and happiness, lily of the valley has been a popular wedding flower since the Middle Ages. For some brides, the flower is the fifth item carried during a wedding, along with something old, new, borrowed and blue. In Holland, the flower is planted in a newlywed couple's garden as a symbol of the renewal of love.

This bloom is also known to enhance mental powers, mental clarity, and happiness.

Such a cute flower. Happy birthday to all our Taurus and Geminis! Happy May Day!





April's Daisy.

 When daisies pied and violets blue
And lady-smocks all silver-white
And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue
Do paint the meadows with delight
"Love's Labour's Lost" by William Shakespeare

     Daisies are love flowers! They're associated as being sacred to Venus/Aphrodite in ancient time. Venus being the goddess of love! Wearing Daisies brings love. Daisies were popular in Medieval times, when knights at tournaments wore the flower, while their ladies wore Daisy wreaths as crowns. Whoever picks the first daisy of the season is overwhelmed with spirit of flirtation. ;)

     In Celtic myth, It is lucky to step on the first flowers in the spring but extremely unlucky to uproot them.

     In Scotland it is the "Bairnwort", testifying to the joy of children in gathering it for daisy-chains. Daisies are associated with protecting new born babies! Awww!

     Daisies aromatherapy is said to increase awareness, creavitiy, lower anxiety, and build a strength from within.

     Daisies are also used in medicine!
     Daisy is an expectorant and is used for coughs, catarrh, and bronchitis. Renowned Homepathy doctor Eileen Nauman has done test studies regarding using Daisy for treatment of shock. It has reputed value for treating liver and kidney disorders, and it is also useful treating arthritis and rheumatism. Due to its astringency its used to treat diarrhea. The same astringency makes Daisy useful in the treatment of inflammation and wounds.
     American colonists treated cuts and bruises with a Daisy lotion, and Daisy tea was used for whooping cough, asthma, and as an anti-spasmodic, as a diuretic, and as a tonic. Elizabethans cured joint pain with Daisies, and Yugoslavians drank Daisy juice for their upset stomachs.  New England Puritans used Daisies to cure deafness.

That is a seriously powerful little flower!

Come stop in at the Ford Flower Shop and pick up a pretty pom pom daisy! They come in a lot of colors!

Interview with Brenda Harris!

Hey Bloggers! Thanks for clicking in!

Brenda's Favorite Flower

Brenda is new like me! She's been only working at the Ford Flower Shop for six months. I got to sit down with the amazingly talented Brenda Harris. She is one of our floral designers here at the Ford Flower Shop. We'll be posting some of her work soon!

Lisa: Hey Brenda! Thank you for sitting down with me!
Brenda: Oh, I don't mind!

Lisa: So Lets get started.. Brenda, what are some of your favorite products  here at the Ford Flower Shop?
Brenda: Oh, what don't I like! Everything!
(Brenda chuckles, then looks at me and smiles.)
Brenda: I really love the flowers, but upfront.. I adore the teapots. I really enjoy them, they're really creative.
Lisa: Yes! My Mom loves them too! Do you have a favorite Yankee Candle?
Brenda: I love anything with Apple... Oh, and I love the Sunflower.
Lisa: The Apple kinds are yummy.

Lisa: What're some of your favorite things to do at work?
Brenda: I love fancying arrangements, giving things movement and feng shui.
Lisa: Oh nice. I seen some of your bundles, arrangements and stuff. They're gorgeous. You're really talented. How long have you been doing this?
Brenda: Thank you! I've only been doing this professionally for six months. That's when I started here! Yet, I have been doing for arrangements for friends, family, and myself for about thirty years.
Lisa: That's awesome!

Lisa: What do you love to do when you're not working? Do you have any hobbies?
Brenda: (With much enthusiasm) Gardening! I love to garden. I also love to go on bike rides and for walks.
Lisa: I love that too. Nature is my thing! Do you have a favorite place to go?
Brenda: I liked Battery Park in Delaware. Its right by my daughter's school.

Lisa: Do you have a favorite flower?
Brenda: (She chuckles.)
Lisa: I know, hard decision.
Brenda: I would have to say the Stargazer. It has a strong scent to it, and I love flowers with sweet powerful scents.
Lisa: I'm tempted now to go smell one....
Brenda: You should! You won't be disappointed.

Lisa: What is something that people would not know about you? Any secrets?
Brenda: (She chuckles.) I'm shy. ... Maybe even painfully shy!
Lisa: Awww...

Lisa: So tell me about your family.
Brenda: Well I've been married to my husband for thirty-one years...
Lisa: Wait! Wow, good for you!
Brenda: Thankyou! I  also have four children. Two boys, and two girls.
Lisa: What're their names?
Brenda: My oldest is Melody, then there is Budd, Jacob, and my youngest is Nancie.
Lisa: I love the name Melody. Very pretty. Do you have any pets?
Brenda: I have a cockatiel.
Lisa: Male or female.
Brenda: He's a boy.
Lisa: Oh, so he's all kinds of spoiled and handsome then!
Brenda: Oh yes!
Lisa: Whats his name?
Brenda: (She laughs!) Oh my goodness, now.. this is NOT my fault. My daughter named him!... His name is Byrd.
Lisa: I think that's adorable!

Lisa: Brenda, what makes Ford Flower Shop different from other places you worked?
Brenda: Its a family. Its really nice to be excited to come to work with an amazing family that have nothing but love for one another. Its refreshing. That's hard to come by nowadays.
Lisa: It really is. I totally agree.

Lisa: Oh, when is your birthday, Brenda?
Brenda: October 4th.
Lisa: Aww, Your a Libra. You see the beauty in whats all around you!
Brenda: (Laughs.) Is that what that means? Nice!

Lisa: Thank you again for spending some time with me for this interview.
Brenda: Oh your welcome! Anytime.
Lisa: We'll have to post some of your work online.
Brenda: I would love that!

In Conclusion: Brenda Harris is very talented. I watch her make her arrangements and tackle assignments every Wednesday. She's so sweet, she could cause cavities, seriously. Amazing woman. Stop in to see her arrangements!

March's Daffodil.

Spring is here! The strong Daffodil prevails and blooms even after the harshest of winters.

In ancient herbalism and medicine the Daffodil was used in a type of Aromatherapy. It's a natural intoxicant. So for those with overactive minds, anxiety, stress... the scent of this yellow treasure was said to mellow out minds.

The color yellow itself is enough to center yourself. When you think of yellow, you think of joy, vitality, energy, the sun! It has a lot of life-giving attributes.

This little trumpet shaped blossom meanings are: Honesty, truth, forgiveness. Give daffodils to someone when as a token of forgiveness or a token of appreciation for their honesty.

Check back next month for your Birth Month Flower!

Happy Birthday to later Pisces and early Aries!

Lisa: My First Flower Show!

Aloha!! I had a great opportunity that happened over the weekend. I got to attend the world's largest international flower show! The Philadelphia Flower Show, which was Hawaiian themed! I just wanted to share my experience with all of you. On the way to the show, I was shaking with anticipation. I kept looking over at my boyfriend that courted me to show, and telling him. "I am so siked for this, are you!?".. "I'm so pumped up!" Walking into the building the energy changed. I immediately was taken back by the surreal scent of the Hawaiian blooms. It was so relaxing. Its like I could feel all the life in the room. I've never seen so many exotic plants in my life.

This was one of the first things that caught my eye. This is called a King Protea, it grew in Maui before being transported into Philadelphia. Beautiful isn't it? The man that was selling these gave his woven necklace to my boyfriend. It was made out of tea leaves!

You can see the necklace in this picture! Me and my boyfriend appreciate the world's unique trees. So when we seen that their was drift wood available we were pretty excited. Kenneth picked out this piece that was lacquered. It was from the Kona beach. Pretty neat!

Walking into the convention room was awesome. They had this amazing protective wave ceiling. It made you feel like you were underwater. Very neat. I didn't get any pictures of it sadly. I seen this beautiful canopy and wandered toward it.

It was beautiful, I almost feel like I was wandering through a tropical rainforest.

Then when I seen this, I knew I was! It was a waterfall! It was pretty awe inspiring.

After this, I roamed through a jungle of different floral displays. I loved them. I took a ton of pictures of them.

This was pretty, I loved the blue lights.

Loved This.

Its too bad you weren't able to sit in these displays, because I totally seen me in these chairs reading a book. I wish parks looked like this.

Surfs up! Oh.. wait. That's volcanic! Eep! That's one brave starfish.

Shut up! This is beautiful! Its like you would see this kind of stuff in a magazine. Seating in the oasis.

Now this was Hawaii inspired but Celtic themed. Since I was born in Ireland, this touched me! I loved it.

I'm also a cosmetologist. So, I was really really inspired with these headdresses.

This one was my favorite.

This was Ken's favorite!

Isn't this amazing?! I never thought of doing this. Flower petal art! From a distance, this looks like a painting. What a surprise when I got up close.

Completely constructed with flowers. Super pretty.

I thought this was pretty creative!

This gave me ideas. I love window ledge gardens.

I left my favorite display for last. This honestly took my breath away!

Aloha in Hawaii is used to say Hello and Goodbye. So its like the islander's never say goodbye. Which I think is beautiful.

So Aloha, until next time.

~Lisa xx

P.S. Afterward we went to The Vegan Tree on South St. I totally recommend it. Amazing food.

Polly Ford's Weekly Post

Polly here...

Ok, so I took on the challenge of "Not Taking Flowers for Granted." (I've grown up around flowers and in the past few years I haven't really stopped to smell the roses, if you get my meaning.)

This past week I took home a vase of beautiful yellow gerbera.

Flowers at Home being enjoyed by our cat Strider.

In looking up the meaning of the gerbera flower, the most consistent meaning was "cheerfulness."

So did I feel cheerful? Yes! Gerbera daisies have always been a favorite of mine because I love the variety of colors they come in and I love when we get a new color I have not seen. I have helped lots of brides choose them for their wedding and I have this awesome chart with the available varieties in the cut flower market. I get lost in the chart looking at the colors and the cool variety names for the gerbera.

WEEK TWO...

For week two in my "Not Taking Flowers for Granted" challenge, I am choosing a new green plant to bring home. I am currently embarrassed to reveal I only have one plant in my house. Over the past 5 or so years I have not replaced plants as they have passed over to that great plant heaven in the sky. To keep things simple I'm choosing a Pathos plant. It is easy to care for and will be a great way to dip my toe back in to caring for houseplants on a regular basis. I'll let you know how it goes...

NOW ON TO WHAT I DID LAST WEEKEND, SOMETHING I HAVE NOT DONE IN OVER 20 YEARS...

I went to the Philadelphia Flower Show!!! I keep trying to remember when it was that I last went. I can't quite remember, but I vaguely remember wandering around with my brothers. My mother tells a story about my father making a floral design presentation at the Flower Show. The story goes, my dad was so busy talking that while adding water to a container he missed and was actually watering the table. If you know my dad, that is classic Ben Ford behavior.

So last Sunday, I woke my daughter Kitty up bright and early and coaxed her in to going to the Philadelphia Flower Show. We live so close to Philly, only 20 minutes when the traffic cooperates, and we never go. She enjoyed the show, but I think she actually enjoyed the quick visit we made to the Philadelphia Reading Terminal Market. (I'll keep working on making her a florist.)

Miss Kitty Hunter enjoying the orchids.

The theme at the flower show was Hawaii. My favorite display was a large waterfall, with masses of orchids and foliage surrounding the base. Here is one section of the display with eye popping  colors....

I had to stop and enjoy the striking yet simplicity of these red anthurium en masse...

Check out this cool display of birds of paradise in a cool sea turtle container.

Kitty and I both liked this ivy topiary surfer.

That's it for this week. Be sure to check out the blog post from Lisa to get her unique perspective of the Flower Show.