February Flower - The Violet

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I've always been a fan of The Language of Flowers from Victorian Times, and recently I discovered that each birth month is represented by a particular flower.

For the month of February, it's the sweet VIOLET that takes center stage.



*The pansies are a large group of hybrid plants cultivated as garden flowers. Pansies are derived from Viola species Viola tricolor hybridized with other viola species, and pansy and violet belong to the same genus and family.

A Good Luck Gift to a Woman
Modesty and Simplicity
I return your love

Violet symbolizes faithfulness, humility, and chastity

~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~

Flower Language:

Pansy (Victorian): “to think,” particularly of love.

If a maiden found a honeyflower and a pansy left for her by an admirer, it would mean "I am thinking of our forbidden love" in symbol rather than in writing.

However, it is considered a bad-luck gift to man.

Violet (Victorian): “modesty” hence the term "shrinking violet." However, based on color:

Blue: I'll always be true, faithfulness, watchfulness

White: Let's take a chance

~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~

Mythology/ Folklore



The three colors of the original pansy-- purple, white and yellow-- were thought to symbolize memories, loving thoughts, and souvenirs-- all things that ease the hearts of separated lovers.

According to German and Scottish folktales, pansies were called stepmother: the large lower petal is the mother, the the two large petals to either side of her are the well-dressed daughters, and the two small upper petals are poor stepdaughters.

In another German story, the pansy at one time had a wonderfully strong, sweet scent. People would travel from miles around to smell this scent. In doing so, however, they would trample down the grasses surrounding the pansy. Because this ruined the feed for cattle, the pansy prayed to God for help. God gave the plant great beauty but took away the scent.

According to the doctrine of signatures, pansy leaves, which are heart shaped, were used to cure a broken heart.

Pansies were fortune tellers for King Arthur's Knights of the Round table. Plucking a pansy petal, the knights would look for secret signs. If the petal had four lines, this meant hope. If the lines were thick and leaned toward the left, this meant a life of trouble. Lines leaning toward the right signified prosperity until the end. Seven lines meant constancy in love (and if the center streak were the longest, Sunday would be the wedding day). Eight streaks meant fickleness, nine meant a changing of heart, and eleven signified disappointment in love and an early grave.

~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~

History/ Modern Use


The Celts made a tea from the dried leaves and used it as love potion.

Pansy has dozens of common names, such as Johnny-jump-up, and the faces created by the patterns on the petals give rise to names like monkey faces, peeping Tom, and three faces in a hood.

Its supposed magical powers in the ways of love resulted in names such as cull-me—to-you, tickle-my-fancy, love-in-idleness, kiss-her-in-the-pantry, and heartease.

The Ancient Greeks considered the Violet a symbol of fertility and love, they used it in love potions.

Pliny recommended that a garland of violets be worn above the head to ward off headaches and dizzy spells.

~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~

Literature/Arts

In William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream, the juice of a pansy blossom ("before, milk-white, now purple with love's wound, and maidens call it love-in-idleness") is a love potion: "the juice of it, on sleeping eyelids laid, will make a man or woman madly dote (fall in love) upon the next live creature that it sees." (Act II, Scene I)

*Legend says that at one time all pansies were white, and it was not until they were pierced by cupid's arrow that they gained the purple and yellow colors. With the colors, however, came the magic power to be used in love potions.

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Love Quote of the Day:



I love that one. It's so cute.