In order to help make this Valentine’s special for you and yours, we’ve provided a look at a few flowers perfectly suited for the holiday.

Roses

Roses are, by far, the most popular option for Valentine’s Day flower gift-giving. They represent a classic choice that acts as a clear symbol of love. Even though they’re the most traditional Valentine’s flower you can still make them unique. Try picking your rose bouquet from colours other than the common red tones and explore other beautiful options like yellow, lavender or peach.

Lilies

Although roses are one of the most popular choices, lilies come in a close second. Lilies possess a wonderful smell and are elegant in appearance. Just like roses, lilies are available in a wide variety of colours and styles. Whether you’re looking for fragrant Stargazers or beautiful Asiatics, lilies are always a smart choice for Valentine’s Day. Another great plus is that lilies, because they’re a slow blooming flower, last for a long time after they’re given as a gift.

Orchids

After roses and lilies, orchids are another great choice for a Valentine’s Day gift. Orchids can also be purchased in a number of different styles depending on taste and give off a pleasing fragrance regardless of style. Whether you’re interested in long stems or fuller arrangements, orchids represent a fantastic option.

Make your Valentine’s Day arrangement with roses, lilies or orchids to properly express love and romance this holiday season. Take the time to work with your florist to create a personalized arrangement for an extra touch and be sure to deliver the flowers along with a note to complete the gift.

Now we’ll see how a beloved holiday flower came to be associated with Valentine’s as the celebration grew to become the event we recognize today.

Valentine’s Day Symbols

As St. Valentine’s Day became an increasingly popular holiday throughout Europe and the New World, commercial opportunities began to arise. Starting in the late 18th century and hitting its stride in the 19th, Valentine’s cards, flowers and candy became common holiday gifts.

One of the largest markets was in greeting cards. The greeting card industry became one of the most profitable sectors of Valentine’s related business and, its use of roses as a central image involved with love became intimiately connected with common holiday symbols. The poetry that was often made a central aspect of these cards was largely responsible for how modern thoughts regarding the holiday came about and, in this, we can see how heavily involved roses have always been.

Roses and Love

As we described before, roses have always been associated with the emotion of love in many Western cultural traditions. This type of symbolism continued forward as Valentine’s became a profitable holiday that embedded itself in annual celebrations. As far back as Edmund Spenser’s epic poem The Faerie Queene (published in 1590), roses have been mentioned in connection with the burgeoning holiday.

A 1784 collection of nursery rhymes (Gammer Gurton’s Garland) contained the archetypal Valentine’s Day love poem (one that should sound familiar to many readers) and uses the rose as a central image:

The rose is red, the violet’s blue
The honey’s sweet, and so are you
Thou are my love and I am thine
I drew thee to my Valentine
The lot was cast and then I drew
And Fortune said it shou’d be you.

This poem encapsulates the intimate connection between roses, Valentine’s Day and love — a connection that continues to exist today.

The Birth of Valentine’s Day

To understand how the rose became so important it’s necessary to first look at the birth of Valentine’s Day.

Saint Valentine’s Day came about in remembrance of two Christian saints (Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni) and of religious martyrs in general (as they were commonly named Valentine). In the 14th century, romantic connotations started to become associated with the traditional February 14th celebration of Saint Valentine’s Day, the Catholic church removed the official recognition of Valentine’s Feast Day and the religious aspect of the holiday was lost entirely in favour of a focus on the universal emotion of love.

The Rose Reemerges as the Symbol of Love

As more time passed St. Valentine was romanticized and, in many ways, condensed into a single figure. The new legend that was attributed to him was that he was a saint, executed after refusing the Roman Emperor Claudius II’s decree that young men remain single (in order to become better soldiers). This version of St. Valentine would secretly marry lovers and, in an unverified (but popular) version of the tale, also wrote the first “Valentine card” to his sweetheart on the night before his death sentence.

This growing mythology would eventually create an entire industry centred on a version of a version of a version of various Christian martyrs, leading to what has now become a secular holiday focused on the celebration of love.

In our last look at the history of roses and Valentine’s Day we’ll trace the final part of the story, showing how the myth of St. Valentine grew into the modern holiday we celebrate today — and why roses are such an important part of it.

Now we’ll see how this culturally significant blossom began to take on the place of the holiday flower that most commonly represents love at Valentine’s Day.

Roses in Early Christianity

Early Christians saw a mirror of the five wounds of Christ suffered before his execution in the five petals of the rose but their leaders were afraid to take the rose as a symbol because it was of such importance to the Roman culture that persecuted them. Nonetheless, early Christian martyrs began to be symbolized by the rose — its red colour matching their blood. Throughout this period of time roses also began to be associated with the Virgin Mary and, ultimately, an unofficial symbol of the Christian faith for many worshippers.

Roses Across Europe

Even after the fall of the Roman Empire the importance of roses continued to resonant across Europe. England’s (and, later, the United States’) national flower is the rose, rose windows (made up of five segments to echo a rose) formed the basis of many Gothic Era building designs and the red rose came to be a symbol of socialism (and social democracy) throughout almost every nation in Europe following the Second World War. Echoing its roots in Christian tradition, the celebration of St. George’s Day in Catalonia sees people exchanging red roses as gifts that symbolize friendship or love.

Although they were always guaranteed a place in popular culture due to their importance to Christianity and Classical Greek and Roman traditions, roses really began to rise in popularity throughout the 1800s. The British Empire’s presence in China gave Western Europe access to perpetually blooming roses hybridized and enjoyed in the East.

Their growing commercial success in 19th century Europe will show how roses came to be so closely related to Valentine’s Day when we continue in the following part.

Read on to learn about the symbolism attached to roses and their early importance to the Western cultures that invented Valentine’s Day.

Roses and Symbolism

Throughout human history the rose has had a powerful meaning to different cultures and nationalities. Many languages (Greek, Spanish, Italian, Polish and others) even use the equivalent of the word “rose” to mean red or pink — typical rose colours. Ancient cultures like the Egyptians considered the rose to be a sacred flower to Isis and was given a high degree of reverence because of this.

In tracing their connection to Valentine’s Day, however, we have to go back to the Western cultures that gave birth to the holiday itself, seeing how roses eventually became such an important symbol of love.

Roses in Western Culture

In the ancient Western tradition roses have always been of immense importance, signifying love and beauty to so many cultures that the flower itself became an important part of religion and myth. Roses were considered sacred to the Greeks and early Romans. Aphrodite and Venus held the rose as a blessed flower and, as they was the Grecian goddesses of love, its connection to the most intimate human emotion can be seen as existing for quite a long time. The Romans also saw the rose as an emotionally resonant blossom. When secret or confidential issues were being discussed in a building a rose would be placed outside the door to show others that the matter at hand was serious and not to be disturbed.

As the West began to adopt Christianity, the rose continued to be an important object. Folk traditions and Classical interpretations of the rose would maintain relevance to the Romans and the lands that they touched as their empire expanded. Next time we’ll see how this happened.

By looking at the history of the rose, from the flower beloved by gardeners to the symbol of love and affection it holds today, we hope

What is a Rose?

The rose is a perennial plant that can be one of any 100-plus species that belong to the Rosa genus (and Rosaceae family). Roses grow in stiff shrubs with prickly stems that are often covered in sharp thorns. They can also be found in climbing or trailing plants that grow over manmade or natural objects.

The petals of a rose are usually large and can be found in a wide array of colours that include shades of red, yellow, white and more. They grow in many different shapes and sizes — some roses have compact flowers and a small size but others grow tall and large. Roses are well known for the pleasing shape of their flowers and the wonderful fragnance that they give off.

Where do Roses Grow?

The majority of rose species are native to Asia but roses can be found flowering in North America, areas of Europe and northwest Africa as well. Throughout human history, florists and gardeners have grown roses and used them as central aspects of their arrangements and designs. Adding to this, many rose species are easy to hybridize and, thus, a great choice for horticulturists that wish to alter the appearance of flowers for their uses.

All of these factors have added up to make the rose a plant that is frequently hybridized and imported throughout the world. Although roses are only indigenous to certain areas of the world, they can now be found in the gardens of growers in almost every nation or region on the planet.

Next time we’ll start to look at the symbolic value that roses have had for humans and how they came to be the symbol of love and Valentine’s Day.

Now we’ll see just how mistletoe came to be the Christmas symbol we know it as today.

Mistletoe in Pre-Christian Europe

Many cultures in Europe, before the spread of Christian influence, saw mistletoe as a potent symbol that represented a “divine male essence”. This made it, by association, a plant that had powers related to fertility, vitality and romance. The Celts of the ancient British Isles provide one example in their use of mistletoe as an antidote to poison and as a treatment for curing barrenness in animals.

Mistletoe, the Christmas Flower

It’s not surprising that mistletoe, being so important to so many ancient cultures, carried on through centuries of tradition to ultimately find itself attached to one of the Christianity’s most essential holidays, Christmas.

Beginning in the 18th century, descriptions of mistletoe being used as a Christmas decoration began to appear in art, literature and other contemporary historical accounts. Across Europe and into North America, mistletoe became more than just another holiday plant. Special meanings were attached to the plant in the English-speaking world, including one that saw a new custom come about wherein, after being cut, mistletoe was not to touch the ground before being removed last amoung the Christmas greens used during Candlemas. Superstition made this practice important: it was said that if the mistletoe touched the ground during this period of time, lightning or fire could hit the home. This lead to mistletoe often being hung throughout an entire year, only being removed when it was replaced at the next Christmas Eve.

The most famous tradition related to mistletoe — two people meeting underneath it being made to kiss — started appearing around this time as well (and may have roots in Scandinavian customs). Each time someone kissed underneath the mistltoe, one of its berries was plucked. When the berries were all removed, kissing underneath it was no longer required.

Mistletoe in Ancient Cultures

Mistletoe has always been an important part of several ancient cultures with European mistletoe making an appearance in Greek and Norse mythology (amoung others). Some cultures believed that the plant carried medicinal properties and this is echoed in the modern world with many holistic health traditions using mistletoe as a remedy for respiratory and circulatory ailments. Herbalists across the world continue to use the plant’s twigs and leaves for various treatments and some German naturopaths prescribe mistletoe extract as an anti-cancer agent.

Mistletoe in Folklore

The prevalence of mistletoe in ancient cultures naturally lead to its appearance in many folktales and religious traditions. As mentioned above, the ancient Norse ascribed mistletoe a prominent spot in their culture and the ancient Greeks believed that it was the real-world inspiration for the Golden Bough of Aeneas.

The famous Nordic work, Prose Edda (c. 13th century), describes Loki tricking the blind god Höðr into killing his brother Baldr with a mistletoe “projectile”. Baldr had previously attempted to avert his fate by making all living things swear an oath not to harm him but mistletoe was excepted because it “seemed too young.” Other versions of the myth see Baldr being killed by a sword called Mistilteinn (which is Old Norse for “mistletoe”). Swords similar to Mistilteinn also appear in other contemporary Norse myths.

Mistletoe wasn’t isolated in its importance to Greeks and Nordic cultures either. In our final edition of the history of mistletoe we’ll see how the holiday plant spread from folkloric object to one of the primary symbols of Christmas by tracing its presence in pre-Christian tradition and seeing how this combined with Norse and Greek mythology to make the plant into the holiday symbol that it is today.

In part one of our look at the history of mistletoe, we’ll describe the basic facts of this “holiday flower” before moving on to see how it came to symbolize the many meanings it holds today.

What is Mistletoe?

Mistletoe is a fairly common plant that grows on the branches of trees and shrubs. European and North American mistletoe (the kind that most of us commonly associate with Christmas celebrations and decorations) is characterized by its oval-shaped, smooth evergreen leaves and clusters of berries.

There are several different varieties of mistletoe but the species we think of when we think of the holidays is European Mistletoe (also called Viscum album or Santalaceae) or Eastern Mistletoe (Phoradendron serotinum).

Mistletoe in Nature

Mistletoe, despite its beautiful appearance, is actually a hemi-parasitic species of plant. It grows on many host trees, often reducing their growth but sometimes, if infestation is heavy, actually killing them outright. It’s a prevalent plant species because it can chose a host from over 200 species of tree and shrub. Mistletoe reproduces mainly through birds carrying its seeds and, although it has a nasty reputation as a harmful parasite, has actually been found to play a vital role in the ecosystems it’s native to as a keystone species. Many animals rely on mistletoe as a food source or as a nesting place. Some studies have also found that mistletoe, because it attracts berry-eating birds, can help to spread the growth of juniper (through eaten and excreted juniper seeds).

Next time we’ll begin to look into the roots of mistletoe’s cultural history, exploring just how a simple, fairly plain-looking plant came to exist in the company of other, popular holiday flowers (and, of course, where modern traditions involving kissing under the mistletoe stemmed from).

In this, our last entry in our series regarding the history of the poinsettia, we’ll see how this flower came to be such an important part of the holidays across the modern world.

From Mexico and Spain to the Rest of the World

The blood-red colour of the petals representing Jesus’ sacrifice, the flower’s star shape symbolizing the Star of Bethlehem and the legendary miracle involving a young girl in Mexico made the poinsettia into a larger-than-life symbol for Mexican and Spanish Catholics.

This symbol began to spread over time, translating north across cultural boundaries and leading to American border regions embracing the poinsettia as a Christmas flower as well. Big Spring, Texas is renowned for its beautiful lighted poinsettia celebrations and the Comanche Trail Festival of Lights regularly features poinsettia-shaped symbols as part of its annual events. As others saw the beauty of the poinsettia it started to gain popularity further north, spreading across the continent.

Americans began to grow poinsettia, marking their embrace of the flower and demonstrating its commercial potential and growing importance to other nations. California’s Ecke family enjoyed almost a complete monopoly due to a technique they founded that created fuller, more appealing poinsettias. The Ecke family was largely responsible for the adoption of poinsettia across the world. Albert Ecke, after moving to Los Angeles from Germany in 1900, began selling plants with his son Paul, sending free flowers to regular TV shows (between Thanksgiving and Christmas) and Christmas specials in order to increase promotion.

The commercial success of the Ecke family lead to poinsettias being adopted into Christmas traditions in the Western world, eventually becoming a cherished part of the holidays that spread across the entire world.