THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS by Libby Clay

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS

by Libby Clay

The Gallery's calendar shows that spring arrived officially on March 25, the day the Lockhart Gallery burst into flower with the show Art in Bloom.  Many of the works on view have spent long winters in storage and, thanks to Marie Via, who organized the show, they now have their season in the sun.  Many of the flowers in "Marie's garden" have wonderful histories and legends, reflecting the love affair mankind has had with flowers since time immemorial.

Anemones, found in Flowers by G. Alix, are among spring's first blooms.  Part of the buttercup family, they are also called windflowers, for the Greek god of the wind.  Ancient Greeks believed they would open their petals only when the wind blew.  Legend has it that when Venus was weeping in the forest for Adonis, anemones sprang up where her tears had fallen.

Carnations, found in Henry Keller's Old Fashioned Bouquet, were called Di-anthos, meaning Flower of Jove, by Athenians.  They used them to make wreaths and garlands for coronations, hence the name Carnation.  Cultivated for over 2000 years, they were sometimes added to wine to impart spiciness.

Daises, also seen in Keller's lithograph, mean "the eye of the day," for they open with the dawn and fold their petals at sundown.  Natives of China, these hardy flowers spread throughout Asia, North Africa and Europe.  There were no daises in America when the Puritans unpacked their goods in Massachusetts, but when they threw out the packing straw, they unknowingly planted this wildflower of summer.

Water lilies, seen in Agnes Jeffrey's watercolors, were associated with the Greek goddess of springs, Nymphe.  They were found growing where the nymphs were said to play.  These delicate flowers do not open until midday, and they retire in the early evening.

                      

The lily, among the flowers in Henry Keller's bouquet, is the symbol of purity and is one of the

oldest flowers in the world.  It was the personal flower of Hera, the moon goddess, and Christians associated with the Virgin.  A legend tells that it first sprang from the tears dropped by Eve when she left the Garden of Eden.  The lily and day lily developed at the dawn of history in China.  They were much prized for their medicinal qualities, and they were carried by caravans on the silk routes. Lilies were introduced to England by 1595 and were among the first plants brought to the American colonies.  Their hardiness and endurance were a promise of the future.

Irises appear in several of the works, including Elmer MacRae's Purple Iris, which was chosen for  the cover of Gallery Notes (and also the invitation to "Art in Bloom," the event.)  Iris was the messenger of the Greek gods, and she appeared to mortals as a rainbow, the arc being her flight as she winged her message across the sky.  Appropriately, irises are found in a rainbow of colors.  They became the emblem of the kings of France as the Fleur-de-Lis.  Also known as "flags," they were favorites of American colonists.  A letter from Thomas Jefferson to his sister requests that she send him some by mule from Monticello to his Lynchburg residence.

Finally, we come to the queen of flowers, the rose.  It blooms in many of the works in the Lockhart Gallery.  Species of Rosaceae have been in cultivation for more than 3000 years in the gardens of China, Persia, Egypt and the Greek Islands.  They have been used as food, medicine, decoration and perfume.  Queen Elizabeth I took the Tudor rose as her personal emblem, and the Empress Josephine had 250 varieties at Malmaison.  Ninety per cent of our cultivated roses are of foreign origin, and even the so-called wild roses are escaped immigrants from early gardens.

Remember to take time to smell the flowers!

Sources:  The Language of Flowers, Edited by Sheila Pickles, Harmony Books, NY; Historic Preservation, July-September, 1978; Gardner's Journal by Helen Foster, from a publication by the Landmark Society.