What Do Your Flowers Say On Mother’s Day?

The custom of celebrating mothers goes as far back as the 1600s when in England there was a holiday called Mothering Sunday, celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent. In America, the celebration of Mother’s Day was created in 1872 by Julia Ward Howe the woman who wrote the lyrics to the “Battle Hymn of the Republic”; but the idea didn’t catch on widely until 1907. That year, Anna Jarvis began a campaign to establish Mother’s Day as an official holiday. By 1914 President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day a national holiday.

Carnations are the most popular flowers for Mother’s Day. The custom of giving carnations to mothers began in 1907 and 1908 when churches across America gave carnations to mothers on Mother’s Day. The carnation is believed to represent sweetness, purity and endurance, all valued qualities of a good mother. The color of the carnation has significance on Mother’s Day. You wear a red carnation if your mother is still living or you wear a white carnation if you mother has died.

In Europe Mother’s Day is called Mothering Day. Native Americans honor mothers by describing women as “the life of the nation.” In India there is a ten-day festival known as Durga Puja honoring the “Divine Mother in October.

Explore some of Mother’s Day’s most popular flowers and their meanings.

Aster – Charming variety

Chrysanthemum (Red) – I love you

Daisy – Innocence and the sharing of sentiment; reciprocation of love

Stock- Lasting beauty

Myrtle – Love

Orchid – Refinement, luxurious beauty

Roses (Red & White together) – Warmth of heart

Snapdragons – Trust, hope, conviction

Tulips (Red) – A declaration of love

Lilly (White) – Sweetness

Zinnia (Magenta) – Thoughts of love for those not present

By: Diana Cochran

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