Hello English explorers!
Today, we have a fun post about flowers. That’s right those colorful plants that seem to brighten up a room and only seem to last for a week in that vase centerpiece.
More specifically, this post will be about the most popular flowers.
My father was a landscape architect and I had to plant many flowers at the houses’ of his clients. I am by no means an expert, but I do know a lot about flowers.
So without further adieu, let’s start this countdown off with the number 15 most popular flower.
15. Magnolia
This flower takes its name from the French botanist Pierre Magnol.
The Magnolia is a very old flower that was around before bees could pollinate them. It is thought that beetles would help with that process.
The flower symbolizes dignity and purity.
The Magnolia is the state flower of Louisiana and Mississippi and the National flower of North Korea.
The bark from the tree is used in Chinese medicine.
The flower can grow to be 35 centimeters in diameter.
Some species are at risk of becoming extinct.
14. Jasmine
No, I am not talking about Disney’s Aladdin princess. I am talking about the little white flower that grows in tropical climates.
In most cultures, this flower represents good luck. In China, they represent happiness.
The Jasmine flower is used in making tea.
These flowers are grown not so much because of their beauty, but because of their scent. Their fragrance is used for creams, shampoos and perfumes.
13. Daffodil
The Daffodil once represented chivalry. Today the Daffodil represents new beginnings and rebirth.
In England, the British call Daffodils “Lent Lilies”.
It is the national flower of Wales.
The Daffodil is the official tenth wedding anniversary flower.
The flower has poisonous sap, so keep your pets and other plants away from them.
The flower helps treat brain cancer, because they contain narciclasine.
12. Pansy
The pansy is planted in spring in many flowers in the United States.
The name of the flower comes from French pensée, meaning thought. It actually means love and admiration of another person.
In English, pansy is slang for a weak person.
You are a pansy. You can’t even break a piece of paper.
Potpourri often uses pansy petals.
The petals look like a little face.
11. Primrose
Yes, that is right. Primrose is from the Hunger Games.
The flowers and leaves are eatable.
The symbolism of the flower is gentleness, patience and kindness.
Shakespeare wrote about the flower with the phrase “the primrose path”.
Germans used to believe that the first woman to find a primrose on Easter Sunday would later marry that same year.
10. Carnations
Carnations are originally from the Mediterranean. They symbolize love, distinction and fascination.
The capital of Carnations is Bogota, Colombia.
9. Lilac
This flower is originally from the Balkans.
The Lilac represents love when they are purple. When they are white, they represent innocence.
The third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson loved Lilacs.
You can eat the flowers.
8. Sunflower
The sunflower has another name called Helianthus. Most sunflowers are originally from North America.
Sunflower seeds are popular with baseball players.
7. Gladioli
This flower has the name that seems similar to Gladiator, because it is from Latin of gladius meaning a sword. The flower looks like a sword. There are about two hundred and sixty species.
It was originally from South Africa.
The flower symbolizes strength.
This flower is the official flower of August.
The Gladioli was used for medical purposes. It was believed to help to take out thorns and splinters.
Many people think that they are bulbs, however they are not
6. Orchids
This flower belongs to one of two largest families of flowering plants. The orchid can be found on every continent except Antarctica.
The orchid represents beauty, fertility, charm and thoughtfulness.
One seedpod can contain over three million seeds on one orchid
5. Iris
The iris is a beautiful flower that takes the name of a part of the eye. The iris on your eye is the colored part of your eyes. The word iris is from the Greek language meaning “rainbow”.
The iris flower symbolizes wisdom, hope and faith. Purple irises symbolize wisdom. Blue irises symbolize hope.
The country of France has taken the iris (fleur-de-lis) as its symbol to mean divine right. This is often confused with the lily.
Vincent Van Gogh painted a very iconic painting in 1889 named “Irises”.
4. Tulips
Tulips grow from bulbs, which I used to dig up and sell when I was a kid. I honestly don’t remember ever making a sale, but I tried to sell this flower. Perhaps I should have tried selling a flower higher up on the list.
These flowers are originally from Turkey and Persia (present day Iran). Persia gave the tulip its name from “delband” meaning turband (the things that keeps your hair out of your face).
The tulip symbolizes different things depending on its color. The general symbol of the tulip is perfect love (most likely due to its shape).
The color purple symbolizes royalty (because purple was a very expensive color to make from nature, they had to kill snails to make the color).
Yellow tulips symbolize cheerful thoughts and the yellow tulip means that you love someone, but they don’t love you back. White tulips mean, “I am sorry.”
Tulips used to be more expensive than houses. In the 1600’s, the price of a tulip would have been around $300,000 in today’s currency.
So, if you build a time machine and you are looking to go back to meet Isaac Newton, bring some tulips! The reason for this is that they only bloom in the spring for about a week.
The tulip is used to make wine and its bulb can be used to replace onions in recipes. In fact, tulips are closely related to onions as well as garlic and asparagus. Tulips are part of the lily family.
If you are looking at a tulip, then it most likely came from the Netherlands. They export billions of tulip bulbs each year.
You can find tulips in almost any color except for blue.
3. Daisy
This flower is also called Asteraceae or Compositae. They make up a large percentage of the total flowers on the planet.
The origin of the name is actually pretty interesting. Daisy comes from Old English “daes eage” or “day’s eye” because they only open their pedals during the day. So their eye is open during the day.
This flower is actually made up of many much smaller flowers. In fact, it is two flowers in one.
What helps with this flowers popularity is that it can be found all around the world except is very cold places (sorry Antarctica).
The symbol of the daisy is innocence and purity.
The flower is used in medicine as a blood-clotting herb. And the leaves are rich in Vitamin C, so you can eat them (after washing them of course)!
The daisy has a unique way in getting bees to pollinate them. The flower resembles another bee, so bees try to mate with the flower. The pollen gets stuck to the bee, which will move to another flower.
2. Lily (wedding bouquets)
The lily comes in a close second on my list as most popular flowers. Lily is short for Lilith (who is a dangerous demon in the Bible). Most species of Lily bloom in July and August in northern hemispheres.
Lilies are the second most sold flower in the world bringing in just around seventy-seven million dollars per year. On average, 113 million of these beautiful flowers are sold each year.
The symbol of the lily takes on many forms. The white lily symbolizes innocence, virtue and chastity (which is also the symbol of the Greek goddess Hera).
The lily also represents wedding anniversaries (2nd and 30th). These flowers do not always represent happy events. You can find lilies at funerals since the flower represents the soul that has been remade innocent after death.
Claude Monet used a false type of lily in his Water lilies series. Most notably the Reflections of the Clouds on the Water – Lily Pond, located in New York City are a huge depiction of these lovely flowers.
The Calla Lily (also a false lily) and Lily of the Valley are the most sold at weddings.
We do not eat lilies since they are poisonous and have been know to kill cats, so don’t let them eat lilies.
Lilies are used as perfumes and were first used by the Egyptians.
If you are looking for a flower that will last a long time in the vase, then look no further than the lily.
1. Rose
There is no doubt that the Rose is the most popular and iconic flower in the world. Our fairytales all have Roses in them.
In Disney’s Beauty and the Best there is a rose that acts like an hourglass for the Beast. In Sleeping Beauty briar roses grow to protect Aurora when she falls asleep.
The German fairy tale Snow White and Rose-Red is about two girls that help a bear which later turns into a prince.
The cliché “As Red as a Rose” is used many times in literature.
This flower is sold by the millions on Valentine’s Day.
The rose is the ultimate symbol of love in our culture.
The rose is 35 million years old and has around one hundred and fifty species.
Mostly, the rose is used as a decoration. They are used in weddings and in bouquets, but they have other uses.
We use roses in perfume. Rose perfumes are made with rose oil. Roses have also made their way into our food and drink. The flower is usually put into jams and jellies. However, it is also put into soup as well as tea.
Roses also play an important part of our medicine. Roses have a lot of vitamin C. Herbal medicines use roses to help alleviate stomach pain.
While it is not the top selling flower (Daisy), it is the most popular flower of our culture.
Well, that is it for the most popular flowers. Do you agree? Let me know in the comments below!
