Did you know that each flower has a meaning? I wonder who was the first person to assign meanings to flowers? (And…..Google here we go!) According to Smithsonian Gardens:
Flowers had powerful meanings in the Victorian Era and were often given as a way to express emotions. However, meanings and traditions change throughout time and culture.
The earliest reference I could find is the 1800s. Before that, who knows? Do you know? Please do message me or comment below and enlighten us all with your knowledge!
It is no secret to anyone who knows me, what flower is my favourite. It’s the Daisy.
What you might not know, is the reason why I fell in love with this simple flower? So here’s the story:
Yes, the common tale from an English womanl is that as a little girl in the Summertime, she would sit cross-legged on the grass and pick daisies. Then she would make daisy chains.
Do you remember making daisy chains? You pick a daisy, holding the stem as close to the ground as possible to make sure you don’t just take the head. With a fingernail, you pierce the stem to make a little hole and the take another daisy and feed the stem through the hole. And repeat the process until you have yourself a daisy chain bracelet!
Or perhaps you might have heard the old story of the swooning teenager, plucking petals saying “he loves me,” “he loves me not” Or hey…I’m pretty sure a certain Disney Princess did that with a flower…
Credit: Screencap from Walt Disney’s The Little Mermaid courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures
But no! Not I! For one thing, I have suffered with anxiety since I was about five years old, and what came with that was seriously short fingernails, thanks to my nail-biting habit. So I actually have memories of frustration and irritation at being totally incapable of piercing a small hole into the stem of a daisy.
I also remember plucking the petals on a flower and almost always ending with “He loves me not” and a bald daisy head.
Don’t get me wrong. I really liked the look of daisies. They are sweet and innocent looking for sure, and it was only recently I learnt that their current meaning includes: Innocence and Purity. For more in-depth reading on the meanings and symbolism of daisies, you might want to click here.
It was a Hollywood movie, that had me falling for daisies. Can you guess which movie it might be?
I’ll give you a clue, it stars Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks set in New York and is possibly my all-time favourite movie.
In fact, I love this movie so much, that when I met my then husband-to-be, we would write emails to each other and send a text to notify each other using the sweet movie title.
Got it yet?
“You’ve Got Mail.”
If you haven’t watched it, I HIGHLY recommend you do. Especially with Christmas around the corner, it’s a great movie to watch during the holidays!
Take another look at the movie poster – see the flowers? Daisies! Yeah baby! There is a memorable (to me) scene where Kathleen (Meg Ryan) has a cold and Joe (Tom Hanks) brings her flowers. They then have this dialogue:
Kathleen Kelly: I love daisies.
Joe Fox: You told me.
Kathleen Kelly: They’re so friendly. Don’t you think daisies are the friendliest flower?
There’s something about Meg’s sing-song, innocent voice that just really hit it home to me and make me think, “Oh my goodness, YES! Daisies ARE the friendliest flower!!”
And I’ve loved Daisies ever since.
So now you know. 🙂
And why did I name my puppy Daisy? Because she’s the friendliest dog, of course!
Laura
XOXO
No way. I love that scene too!😁I didn’t realise that’s why you like them. Lovely😊