The language of flowers

Alma looked around the small, dismal backyard and sighed deeply.

How on earth were they going to fix this place?

It would be a nice project to start together as a family, but where would they start?

The little backyard looked like it would need a lot of fixing before one could see its true potential.

Her children, Heather and Angus weren’t as discouraged as their mother.

"Don’t worry Mom, this garden is going to be the prettiest we’ve ever had!" Exclaimed Heather, putting her small hand into her mother’s.

To be fair, this was the only "garden" they’d ever had, as far as one could call this place full of dirt and dust a garden.

They always used to live in narrow apartments, and the small family just moved into this quaint little house near a lovely mountain village.

They’ve spent the past days cleaning and ordering the pretty house, now it would be time to start with the garden.

In the beginning, Alma was quite motivated, planning, buying flower seeds, and choosing a place where she could plant her vegetables.

There were endless possibilities on how they could create their little garden.

Now, Alma realized that this would take way more time and effort than she actually anticipated.

Angus however wasn’t one for idle standing around.

Being quite handy for his nine years, he grabbed a shovel and immediately made himself useful.

He started to dig holes for the flower seeds they wanted to plant near the wall of the house.

Following her little brother’s good example, twelve-year-old Heather walked up to a little basket, and chose a bag of flower seeds she thought the prettiest.

Alma smiled, her worries fading away like petals falling from a spent bloom.

If her children were motivated enough to start working on this garden, then so would she be.

Trying to wrap this up into a valuable lesson for her children, she said: "Did you know that every flower carries its own unique meaning or symbolizes a specific trait? This is known as the language of flowers.

As we plant the different seeds, I’ll tell you more about their meaning, and what a profound knowledge each and everyone holds."

Angus and Heather were excited to learn more about this language, it sounded interesting.

Heather found the seeds she’d been looking for in no time, and held up a small bag with the inscription: "Geranium"

"A good choice!" Her mother exclaimed, and as they planted a few seeds, she told them about the meaning of this beautiful flower.

"The most common meaning for the Geranium must be true friendship. It reflects very important qualities such as kindness and trust. We’re going to be reminded of them whenever we see these flowers in our garden."

Angus brought the next bag which contained seeds of his favourite plant, and asked his mother: "What do Sunflowers have for a meaning?"

Alma had an answer for that too.

"Sunflowers represent loyalty. A valuable trait that we should always strive to show. I am sure that once they grow high enough, we’re able to see them from our kitchen window children!"

Heather clasped her hands and looked at the flower bed as if she could already see all the magnificent, meaningful flowers in full bloom.

"Every time I enter the garden, I’ll see so many good virtues and traits to remember, it will be a lovely flower bed full of good lessons to learn."

It was a beautiful idea to think that each time one looked at a flower, one would be reminded of the good virtue it embodied, and would take that as a gentle warning to keep these important traits dear to our hearts.

Alma hugged her children, and they all continued to dig and rake, to plant and water with a merrier demeanour than before.

They learned about the rose, embodying pure love, about the tulip’s meaning of forgiveness, and the importance of peace, that lavender represented.

In the garden of life, all these lovely flowers teach us that beauty grows where kindness is sown.

Before long they transformed this little patch of soil and roots into a pretty, blossoming place.

As the seasons changed, and the flowers shot up from the ground, growing bigger and bigger, they adorned the sweet little garden with all their bloom.

Every time they entered this magnificent refuge, they were reminded of all the valuable traits and qualities that are important, and they were sure to follow this example and apply them to their own lives.

The flowers Alma and her children planted may fade, but the lessons they hold about love, loyalty, and kindness remain forever in full bloom.