Pollen Nation

Wild Plum – The Daily Flower for 15 June

You got five petals for a welcome
There's bloodstain for your pain
…
They tried to tame you
Looks like they'll try again

Wild plums never lose it
Wild plums never chose this way
Wild plums never close your eyes
Wild plums always shine

If Duran Duran had signed to Innocent Drinks* (yum yum) instead of Capitol Records, pop music might not have been a very different thing after all. The 80s hit single ‘Wild Boys’ (misquoted so cruelly above) works just as well when it’s about wild plums.

Of course Prunus domestica ‘never chose this way’; we ‘tried to tame’ them (looks like we’ll try again), but we’re doomed to failure since they’re ciphers for ‘independence’ in floriography. And there’ll certainly be ‘bloodstain’ for your pain if you eat one of these messy deep purple fruits.

(L-R) Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor… sorry, wrong picture… Plum tree blossoming by Fir0002

* Actually, Innocent don't seem to do a plum smoothie, but they do have a fruit called a durian durian. OK, OK, it's just a durian. But you'll never eat just one.

Good for giving to: Liberated lasses and feral lads.

Great wild plums in literature:

They are unholy who are born
To love wild plum at night,
Who once have passed it on a road
Glimmering and white.

From 'Wild Plum' by Orrick Glenday Johns

Tags: flowers, wild plum, Prunus domestica, floriography

Potato Blossom – The Daily Flower for 13 June

Beauty’s only skin deep, is it? You clearly don’t know your potatoes.

Above ground, a gorgeously exotic blossom in luscious lilac with golden stamens, below, a hideous but nutritious tuber.

Potato flowers by Keith Weller.

So be wary of mashing your words when passing judgements about King Edward, Charlotte, Nicola and other Solanum tuberosum lovelies. You’d be better off following the lead of the good people of Fort Fairfield, Maine, who hold the four-day Potato Blossom Festival. (Those less in thrall of starch might find the floriographic connotation of 'benevolence' to suffice.)

Good for giving to: Jersey royals.

Great potato blossoms in literature:

I ask you for white blossoms.
I offer you memories and people.
I offer you a fire zigzag over the green and marching vines.
I bring a concertina after supper under the home-like apple trees.
I make up songs about things to look at:
    potato blossoms in summer night mist filling the garden with white spots;
    a cavalryman’s yellow silk handkerchief stuck in a flannel pocket over the left side of the shirt, over the ventricles of blood, over the pumps of the heart.

From 'Potato Blossom Songs and Jigs' by Carl Sandburg

Tags: flowers, potato blossom, Solanum tuberosum, floriography

Crown of Roses – The Daily Flower for 30 June

There’s a bit of a chicken and egg problem with the meaning of today’s flowers: are the floral coronets a popular choice for brides because they connote ‘reward for chastity’, or did they acquire that meaning because they’re the headdress of choice for ladies in white?

Actually, today’s floral emblem also has strong associations with a lady in blue: the Virgin Mary. Rosary prayer beads, with which the Lady Madonna is linked, derive their name from the Latin word for a crown of roses.

Don’t be fooled into thinking it's the exclusive preserve of the fairer sex, though. Roman soldiers were often festooned with these floral garlands before they went into battle. Which might explain why the rose-rich circlets are also said to symbolise superior merit.

Good for giving to: brides, maidens, ladies of the cloth, competitors and champions. Oh yes, and barflies – there’s a cocktail called a crown of roses.

Tags: flowers, roses, crown of roses, cocktail, floriography

Gloire de Dijon – The Daily Flower for 29 June

Well, it must be a pretty fine specimen seeing as it was the not-so-secret passion of the first president of the National Rose Society. Although, considering the society was founded in 1876, and the Gloire de Dijon was bred in 1853, perhaps the Rev. Dean Hole was just a bit of a fashionista (trends moved a little more slowly in those days, remember).

The Gloire de Dijon certainly has a lot going for it, though: a deliciously brazen perfume reminiscent of fruity tea, masses of double petals, and subtle hues ranging from orangey pink to bisque. It also means gladness, so there’s little risk of creating any amorous impressions if that’s not your intention.

Good for giving to: Men of the cloth, avuncular acquaintances and fanciers of slightly risqué poetry. Gloire de Dijon is very much not a soppy pinky, but its densely packed petals give it a rather fussy appearance, so keep it away from minimalists.

Go and ogle at this rose’s magnificence, or find out more about The Daily Flower series and floriography.

Tags: flowers, roses, Gloire de Dijon, tea roses, floriography

Maiden’s Blush Rose – The Daily Flower for 28 June

This quaint beauty, as its name suggests, alludes coyly (but with very little insight) to that great French institution of l’amour: ‘If you love me, you will find it out’. There’s no surprise as to the colour, either: usually a pale pinkish white. As for the petals, there are plenty of them, doubled, dense, and intensely fragrant, making Maiden’s Blush one of the finest amongst the Alba roses. Very popular with cottagers.

Good for giving to: Grandmothers, aunts, nieces, and anyone with a love of the simple, country life (a real love, Paris Hilton types would probably find the Maiden's Blush too frilly, and any irony may probably escape them).

Find out more about The Daily Flower series and floriography.

Tags: flowers, roses, maiden's blush, alba, floriography