The Language of Flowers: Symbols and Myths

""Say it with Flowers,"" is a florist's clich , but few realize how much flowers can convey. Marina Heilmeyer's The Language of Flowers: Symbols and Myths provides an engaging translation of their significance across centuries and cultures. Writing with journalist Susan Weiss, Heilmeyer, a botanist and art historian, explains the meanings and rituals surrounding 35 different flowers. Readers will learn that for Christians, ever since the Middle Ages, the daffodil has symbolized Christ's resurrection. Violets have an even longer-standing connection to the hereafter, dating back to the myth of Persephone, who was strolling through a meadow of violets when Hades kidnapped her. Rosemary, a symbol of love, was in ancient times burned at altars to appease or thank volatile gods. Contains over 100 elegant color illus., including drawings from 18th- and 19th-century botanical journals, and reproductions from painters like Jan Breughel and William Morris. ( July)