The power of flowers
The joy, the meaning and the memories they bring.
Leading up to writing this piece I had so many ideas floating in my head about what to write next and then it suddenly all clicked. The connection was flowers in its many iterations and ideas. It seemed slightly remiss of me that I had not yet written about flowers since I had called my Substack Bloom and Grow.
As soon as Flowers became my anchor word the piece I wanted to write made sense. I realised that the theme of flowers followed me a lot last year and it also connected me to my past. So I decided to explore it further in my latest piece of writing.
“There are always flowers for those who want to see them.”
Henri Matisse
At the start of last year a song stuck to me like glue and really represented how I felt at the time. Although I have written about it previously I wanted to circle back to it because it was so ingrained in me at the time.
Flowers by Miley Cyrus was played on repeat both on the radio and by me in 2023 and I found myself really resonating with the words. Strangely enough as I was writing this the song came on the radio, talk about a sign! I still feel the same about the song as I did when I wrote these words back in May, so I’ve included a little extract as the sentiment still rings true today.
I interpreted her lyrics to my situation ( which I believe a great song can allow you to do) and it made me realise that I needed to be there for myself first. To allow myself to love and care about me before I could be present, support and allow love from those around me.
I can buy myself flowers
Write my name in the sand
Talk to myself for hours
Say things you don't understand
I can take myself dancing
And I can hold my own hand
Yeah, I can love me better than you can…
I always believe that a song appears just when you need it. Flowers still means a lot to me today and even now I seek it out to play in the kitchen and dance when I need it. My sense of love and care for myself has grown exponentially over the past year and this song definitely played a part in its expansion.
There is a wonderful moment in the film Funny Face (one of my favourites) where Audrey Hepburn as Jo is being photographed at a flower market in Paris by Fred Astaire. It’s one of a series of set ups where he photographs her in various beautiful Givenchy outfits throughout the city.
In this particular scene she holds a huge bunch of flowers surrounded by a sea of flowers of all colours and varieties. It’s dreamy and it’s something that I’ve always wanted to recreate. It’s such a bright, light and sweet scene and it has stayed with me ever since I watched the film as an impressionable teenager. I’ve longed to go to a flower market in a couture dress and pose among the blooms. Maybe one day it will happen… (a girl can dream).
I think my love of flowers (although I have scant actual knowledge about them and more then often google things) comes from my genes. My grandparents both worked on a nursery, which was in my grandad’s family. Their love story actually began there - which I still find beautiful to this day. I wish I had taken in the story more but when you are young you don’t realise what is important to remember. Now with them both gone it’s down to reminiscing with family members, with different plants and flowers serving as gatekeepers to special moments and memories.
My Nanny (not an actual Nanny btw but my other grandmother) was another green fingered individual. She loved plants, her garden and visiting flower shows across the country. We have one of her Camellia’s in our garden and if we are outside and drinking tea we often address it as if we are speaking to her and offer it a bit of tea from our cups as we feel so strongly that it is connected to her (she loved tea).
My fondness of flowers and the appreciation of them definitely stems from them. It’s deeply rooted in me and seems to be even more evident now as I am older and can truly understand the joy that flowers bring.
Flowers can also represent the beauty and fragility of life. This seemed especially true at an exhibition I attended at the National Gallery of Victoria in December. I encountered a fascinating exhibit which was a part of a much larger collection of over 100 artists work. One stood out to me particularly, Block Flowers by Azuma Makoto. It was both a haunting and beautiful piece of art work. The piece stayed with me and I still think about it today as it questions the many layers and complexities of life.
Makoto’s Block flowers suspend biological specimens in time. Pausing the lifecycle of the flowers at the peak of their visual splendour, Block flowers allows us to appreciate the beauty of each species and contemplate the competing values of immortality and temporality.1
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about an orchid that mirrored my own experience and how it felt like a metaphor for my life. It’s still going strong and I’m amazed at how it keeps flowering. It’s gone absolutely wild and every time I see it new buds are forming and flowers are opening. It’s so reassuring to see it going from strength to strength, as I feel like it’s still reflecting my journey.
Daydream by the Wallace Collection is song that appears in my mind if I’ve enjoyed time outside with flora and fauna around me. Particularly in the summer or spring I like to seek out a garden to visit to admire the beautiful blooms.
“Daydream, I fell asleep amid the flowers
For a couple of hours on a beautiful day
Daydream, come share a dream amid the flowers
For a couple of hours on a beautiful day.”
Flowers are present at all of the stages of our lives. A bouquet can be given as a gesture of love, empathy, grief and celebration. To brighten a day and to say I’m sorry. They symbolise so much and have significant meanings. Flowers can bring a lot of joy and hold memories.
My favourite flowers are tulips, they symbolise renewal and rebirth, representing the start of a new cycle. Which feels very prescient right now.
Do you have a favourite flower? Is there a specific flower that you feel you have a connection to? I would love to know :)
“Every flower blooms in its own time.” ― Ken Petti
www.ngv.vic.gov.au/triennial/artists-designers/azuma-makoto/
Ok thank you I’ll try all of that. Ours is in the bathroom so maybe the steam will help that too!
I’ve loved reading this, many a true word thank you. Do you have any tips for orchids - my plant is very much alive but has no buds or flowers. I’ve resorted to displaying silk orchid flowers with the leaves which is quite effective but quite not the same as the real thing!