Apr 20, 2020
Image: Daisies and sweet peas - clipartpanda.com
By April, spring’s in full swing, and these birth month flowers are ready to express its happy plans and intrigues.
The April birth flowers are the daisy and the sweet pea.
The Daisy
The daisy conveys innocence, loyal love, and purity. Yet, it is also a flower given between friends to keep a secret; the daisy means “I’ll never tell.”
By the time April arrives, spring is in full bloom in most parts of the country. The birthday flower for April is the cheerful, colorful daisy. Daisies symbolize childhood innocence, simplicity and joy, which makes them a wonderful choice to give in a spring bouquet or to grow in your garden.
Daises are close cousins to sunflowers and the three most popular varieties are the Shasta daisy, African daisy and gerbera daisy. Shastas have snowy white petals with bright yellow centers and make great cut flowers. African daisies grow closer to the ground and have white, orange, yellow or apricot flowers.
Gerbera daisies (or gerberas) are the most popular daisies and their large blooms can be found in a rainbow of bright colors, including pink, white, yellow, orange, cream, red and violet. The center of the flower can be almost any color and often a single flower will have petals of many different colors.
Daisies in History
The gerbera daisy (gerbera jamesonii ) was discovered in 1884 near Barberton, South Africa, by Scotsman Robert Jameson. Breeding programs that began in England in 1890 perfected the flower’s quality and colors, making them a favorite among both gardeners and givers of bouquets. The gerbera is still the fifth most popular flower in the world behind the rose, carnation, chrysanthemum, and tulip.
It is believed that the name “daisy” is a variation of “day’s eye” because the whole flower head closes up at night and opens up again in the morning light.
Colors and Symbolism
There are many meanings assigned to the gentle daisy—from innocence, simplicity and joy to happiness, good luck and new beginnings. In Victorian times, daisies stood for loyalty and trust. There is also a story in Roman mythology of a nymph named Belides who transformed herself into a daisy to escape unwanted attention from one of the gods. This story gives daisies the added meanings of modesty and innocence.
White
White daisy flower is a symbol of purity and innocence. This flower also represents spirituality and therefore is a perfect gift for everyone who is looking for a perfect gift for newborn or parents of a newborn.
Yellow
Yellow symbolizes happiness, joy and friendship. You can always give this flower to someone who is dear to you and a true friend. The yellow daisies are going to be a perfect eye-catcher in your home and it is going to bring you a lot of positive energy.
Pink
Color pink is a symbol of love, romance and gentleness. This flower color can be gifted to someone who is your crush or any other person in whom you have a romantic interest. Color pink is also a symbol of feminine energy, therefore it can be a great gift for every female in your life.
Red
Red is the color of love, romance and passion. This flower color can be gifted to your partner or crush. The red Daisy flower is going to tell your partner that you care and that you are devoted to him or her 100%. When you want to surprise your partner and express tour love, the Daisy flower is going to be perfect for passing on that message.
Fun Facts about Daisies
• It is believed that the name Daisy came from the phrase "day's eye" because of how the flower opens when the sun comes up and closes at night when the sun is down. Daisy's do not disappear during mowing which makes many people consider them a weed and treat them as such with weed killers.
• Daisies are often depicted in meadows (“flowery meads”) in medieval paintings.
• Daisies are believed to be more than 4,000 years old.
• Hairpins decorated with daisies were found during the excavation of the Minoan Palace on the Island of Crete.
• Egyptian ceramics decorated with daisies date back to ancient times.
• Some people believed that daisies kept away lightening, which is why they were often grown indoors.
• Daisies are also known in England as “bruisewort” because their crushed leaves can sooth bruised or chapped skin.
• Daisy leaves can be eaten and made a delicious addition to salads.
• April showers might bring May flowers, but happily for everyone born in April, they also bring us the delightful daisy.
The Daisy whose botanic name is Bellis perennis, is the most common Daisy and is a native of western, eastern and central Europe. Like the Primrose it is also referred to as the Common Daisy or English Daisy. In Latin "Daisy" means pretty.
The Daisy is actually an herb which symbolizes innocence, stability, sympathy and cheerfulness. The most common Daisy's are white but they can also be found in red, yellow, and purple, along with various shades in between. A daisy is generally 2-3cm in diameter from petal to petal and stands 2-10cm high. Rarely you can find them as tall as 15cm.
During the days of knighthood, suitors would wear a Daisy and the women would include a Daisy as part of their mementos to signify availability. After a proposal a ring of Daisies would be worn around the head to signify the woman's response.
The Sweet Pea
Here is the history and meaning behind your birth flower, the sweet pea from auntyflo.com.
The other April flower is the sweet pea. While sweet peas signify blissful pleasure, on the other hand they are also used to say good-bye.
Perhaps Shakespeare had sweet peas in mind when he wrote the immortal words: “Parting is such sweet sorrow.”
Then too, there are the good-byes we’re glad of, such as saying so long to flies; these insects find the sweet pea’s fragrance offensive and will leave its environs in a hurry.
The Sweet Pea with the botanic name of Lathyrus odoratus is a native flower plant of the eastern Mediterranean region from Sicily to Crete. It is a climbing plant which can grow up to 2 meters when there is support available, like a wall or fence. The original wild plant is purple in color, where as many cultivators have created other colors.
Hence their name, Sweet Pea's have a sweet fragrance and is used by many gardeners just for the scent it gives off in their garden. Sweet Pea's generally are in bloom from March till November, and do best in cool damp climates.
Fun and interesting fact: In the 1980's, in a small town in England called Wem, the Sweet Pea Society of Wem started an annual festival celebrating this flower. Many of the street signs now carry a picture of the Sweet Pea, and a small area of town is referred to Eckford Park after the nurseryman Henry Eckford who cross-bred and developed the Sweet Pea plant.
Sweetpea.
The scientific name of sweetpea flower is Lathyrus Odoratus.
It was derived from the Geek word “lathyros” which means pulse or pea. “Odoratus” on the other hand is a Latin word that means fragrant. When it comes to floral language, the sweetpea flower is associated with delicate pleasure, blissful pleasure, departure, goodbye, thank you for the lovely time and adieu. It’s also well known that it is the birth flower of April.
The poet Keats was believed to be the first person to use the name sweetpea. During his time (1795-1821), the sweetpeas were popularly used and was even used as the floral emblem of the Edawardian England. The flower was cultivated because of its sweet smell and was also an important part of their floral arrangements. No grand wedding or dinner party would be complete at that time without the sweetpea. It became famous during the Victorian era because of the delicate perfume scent and the lovely colors of the flower.
As for English gardeners, they fondly call the sweetpea as the “Queen of Annuals”.
Name: Sweetpea
Color: White, blue and purple, striped petals, red and pink
Shape: Butterfly shape
Fact: Not all species of the sweetpea flowers have fragrance but for those with sweet smelling fragrance makes up for the lack of other species.
Poisonous: Yes, especially if the seeds is ingested in large quantity.
Number of Petals: Five
Victorian Interpretation: During the Victorian times, giving out sweetpea means “thank you for the lovely time”. It can also mean blissful pleasure, departure or goodbye.
Blossom Time: It blooms from late spring up to early summer.
Superstitions: It is said that the swetpea grows rapidly if it is planted on Good Friday.
In France, it’s a superstition where the sweetpea is believed to be a good omen for the brides. The sweetpea will cause everyone around her to tell her the truth and give her persistence for purpose. This will carry a pure woman past all temptations and evil and give her strength to do what is needed regardless if other people will talk about her and regardless of pain.
The Shape: If you look at the swetpea closely, you will notice that the ruffled blooms looks like a resting butterfly. So mostly when asked what its shape is, most just say it’s butterfly shaped.
Petals: Most species of the sweetpea has 5 petals with one banner petal, two wings or horizontal petals and another two smaller petals that forms a keel.
Numerology: The sweetpea has a numerical expression of 5. This number under numerology is often associated with people who likes taking risk and thinks that almost nothing is impossible.
It’s also under the planet Mercury. Those who are represented by the number 5 are usually quick when thinking of new ideas and have special powers of attraction. Generally, a person under the numerology 5 is also looking for constant changes and easily gets bored.
Color: There are a lot of colors for the sweetpea because a lot of variety had been developed throughout the years. But each color would have different meaning specially when mixed with other types of flowers in a bouquet.
Herbalism and Medicine: The sweetpea have great contributions in the field of medicine specifically in the study of genetics. Gregor Mendel used this flower to conduct an extensive study in genetics because of the special characteristic of the flower.
It has the ability to self-pollinate and the other characteristics of the plant are easily tracked like the height, petal form and color. Because of the work that he had done with the sweetpea, Gregor Mendel earned his distinction as the Father of Modern Genetics.
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