Two (2) Flowers I Love and What They Mean
By: Fox Marks Atx
Tags: Home And Garden Products, Memories, Flowers, Gardening, Best Flowers For Garden

Two (2) Flowers I Love and What They Mean

Echinacea

Echinacea (scientifically known as Echinacea purpurea) or what most people call Coneflower was not on my favorite flowers list, at one time. Garden lovers enjoy the coneflower because it attracts the 3 Bs ~ birds, bees and butterflies. Since I did not have a gardener’s perspective, to me, they were so ordinary and common. But then I learned about the medicinal value of this flower.

Echinacea symbolizes strength and health.

But there are so many flowers that are symbolic of that. However, this flower has a legend. The Native Americans believed that when an elk was wounded, the animal would search for this flower as medicine. The Native Americans (specifically the tribes who inhabited the Great Plains and Midwest) called this flower Elk Root and used it as a painkiller and treatment for a variety of ailments such as snake bites, toothaches, and even the common cold. Many today who believe in holistic medicine and herbal remedies use these flowers. They can be made into a tea for boosting the immune system. It’s a perennial herb and in the daisy family. NOW I now realize this purple coneflower should not be discounted.

Edelweiss

Edelweiss flowers (scientific name: Leontopodium alpinum). Anybody who has watched the movie “The Sound of Music” would have to love this flower because of the song Edelweiss. In fact, the person who wrote the song lyrics for “My Favorite Things”, another song from the movie, should have included a line referencing this flower. Ah well! The movie is golden cinematic history now and those beloved songs can not be rewritten because they are already etched in the minds of too many people.

Edelweiss is a mountain flower.

Like the echinacea or coneflower, edelweiss is also in the daisy family. The flower is often associated with the Swiss Alps, but scientists say they are native to the Himalayas and Siberia and somehow they moved from Asia to the Alpine mountain region during the Ice Age. Believe it or not! The fact is that both the locals and visiting travelers link these flowers to Switzerland. The word “edelweiss” is actually German and translates into English as “noble white”.

Edelweiss has several different names which describe its unusual beauty:

* étoile du glacier or “star of the glacier” ;

* étoile d’argent or “silver star”;

* Klein Löwenfuss or “small lion’s foot’”;

* Wollblume or “wool flower”;

* immortelle des Alpes or “everlasting flower of the Alps”; and

* “Queen of flowers”.

Which name do you like best? I like “silver star”.

Edelweiss symbolizes deep love and devotion.

There are myths and legends surrounding the flower and supposedly whenever a man presents an edelweiss or an edelweiss bouquet to a woman he is professing his undying love for her.

Edelweiss is used in sunscreen and anti-aging cosmetics. Evidently something in this flower is very resistant to the sun’s UV rays. It was or is also used to cure dysentery and diarrhea and some say it is a natural remedy for breast cancer. However, mainly edelweiss is touted for its skincare benefits.

Have you learned something about these 2 flowers that you did not know?

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