The Language Of Flowers

Today was bright and sunny - a lovely Spring day. Several of the teddy bears were very excited to get out into their garden. The snowdrops and crocuses, which had been so pretty earlier in the year, had disappeared so the bears wanted to see if any other flowers had appeared to replace them. There didn't seem to be many flowers actually blooming, though the daffodils and tulips were covered in buds which looked like they might open any time soon.

As they looked round the garden, Elizabeth thought she could smell a beautiful perfume. She was certain it wasn't her as she hadn't put any perfume on today - and the only other bear nearby was Edward and she didn't think he ever wore perfume. So where was the lovely smell coming from?

Obviously, all she had to do was 'follow her nose'! Edward called over to her. "What are you sniffing at, Lizzie?" he asked. "You look like one of those police dogs on the scent of a crime!"

"No crime," she replied. "But I can smell something lovely and I'm trying to find out where it is coming from. Will you help me?"

Edward scampered over to her. "Oh, yes!" he exclaimed. "I can smell it now too! It certainly smells very nice!"

As they wandered back and forth, they discovered that the smell was stronger near one of their flower borders. As they got closer to the border edge, the scent was almost overpowering - but in a nice way!

"I think it's coming from these flowers," declared Lizzie, looking at a group of pretty blue flowers.

Edward came to join her. "Yes!" he said, "I think you're right! I wonder what they are? They certainly have a lovely scent - and it's very strong for you to have smelt it from way over there."

"Let's see if Bubbles has his Flower Book with him to look them up" said Elizabeth. When they asked Bubbles, he had to run back into the house to get his book which he very quickly found and brought outside with him.

"I'm looking up tall stemmed, scented blue flowers that look like little stars," he explained as he leafed through his book. "I think maybe it's these," he finally suggested, and he showed them a picture which seemed to match their flowers.

"I think you're right," said Lizzie. "What are they called?"

"They are hyacinths," replied Bubbles, saying the name rather slowly as it seemed quite a difficult word to pronounce for little bears. "It says here that they grow from bulbs under the ground and appear in March and April, and that they have a very strong scent."

"They are very lovely," said Edward. "And look over here, there are some more, but these are pink. And there is one over there that is white."

"There are a few over here which are almost purple," said Lizzie as she looked around. "They all smell really nice, and I think they actually have slightly different scents, depending on their colour!"

"Gosh! That's interesting!" replied Edward. "Fancy the same flower, but in a different colour, having a different scent! Is there anything else in your book about them, Bubbles?"

Bubbles opened a second book he had brought out with him. "There's something here saying what a hyacinth is a symbol of. And that is dependant on their colour too!" he told them.

"This book is called 'The Language Of Flowers' and it explains what all sorts of different flowers mean if you give them to somebody," he continued. "It's all very interesting."

"What does it say about hyacinths?" asked Edward, who was about to pick one to bring indoors and show the other bears.

"It says that blue ones mean 'consistency' (which I think means being reliable) and white ones mean 'loveliness', light blue ones mean 'peace and tranquility', pink means 'joy', and purple means 'elegance'. Let's take a light blue one inside and see if we bring peace and tranquility to the other bears," he laughingly suggested.

"Does it mention daisies in your Language Of Flowers book, Bubbles?" asked Elizabeth. "I'd like to know what they mean as we have so many of them in the garden in the Summer."

"Yes, and maybe white heather," added Edward. "We have lots of that growing on our rockery."

Bubbles consulted his book. "Daisy means innocence," he replied. "And white heather means protection."

"That's a great book," said Edward. "We should check up on the meaning of all the different flowers in the garden and then maybe make up little posies of appropriate flowers for each other for our birthdays."

"That's a great idea, Edward," said Bubbles and Lizzie together. "That will be great fun."

Perhaps you could check out what all the flowers in your garden or local park mean. Maybe pick some flowers from your garden and give them to someone and explain why you chose them. Click here to download a list of different flower meanings to help you.