Happy “Flower Day” Goodness Is Blooming Everywhere!

#FlowerDay

Today is Flower Day! It is unknown why May 20 is the holiday’s date, although there is a Flower Day that takes place at the Eastern Market in Detroit on the Sunday after Mother’s Day each year, which is around May 20. Flowers are revered by people because of their beauty and smell. They are associated with romance, medicine, rituals, and religion, and are even used as a food source. They are often used at christenings, for funerals and sympathy, for weddings and parties, as corsages and boutonnieres at social functions and holidays, and as home decorations. They are also used to worship goddesses, being brought by Hindu worshippers to temples.

There are some flower vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, and artichoke, and some flowers used as spices such as crocus—which produces saffron—cloves, and capers. Hops are used in beer, and dandelion and elder are used in wine. Flowers can also be used to make herbal teas.

Some flowers are associated with certain meanings. For example, red roses are associated with love, poppies with consolation after death, iris and lilies with burial, and daisies with innocence. Flowers have also been featured by writers in poetry and by artists in paintings.

Many things can be done today to celebrate flowers:

• Send or give someone flowers.
• Plant a flower bed. Check to see when the best time to plant is and what the sun and soil needs of flowers are, as well as what zones they grow best in.
• Put potted flowers inside your home or at your place of work.
• Make something with edible flowers.
• Read some fun facts about flowers.
• Purchase lotions or soaps with flower extracts or make your own.
• Take a lavender bath or fill your home with the scents of rose and jasmine.
• Read poetry about flowers such as William Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” or William Blake’s “Ah! Sun Flower.”
• See famous artwork about flowers such as Van’ Gogh’s Sunflowers or Monet’s Water Lilies. After inspiration by those artists you could do your own flower art. Why not do so while sipping on some jasmine tea?
• Plan a trip to “Flower Day” in Detroit.