Summer’s Flowers
Flowers for the summer months
July – Larkspurs
C
lose relative to delphiniums, larkspurs are the flower for July and are closely related to delphiniums. Larkspurs are beautiful blue flowers that grow wild and tall in broad pastures. They are wonderfully useful to go along with their winsome beauty and had many ways of being helpful to people. In Early Europe larkspur was recognized as being extremely poisonous but was dried and used in a powdered form as an insecticide. In popular folk medicine it was also used against eye-diseases and healing stings from poisonous insects. This lovely flower also had its practical gifts to endow and was used by coastal Native American communities to make a beautiful blue dyes and later, settlers in the New World used it to make ink. As an antidote to more esoteric dangers, larkspur was used as a sacred herb that would ward of lightning. In Transylvania it was used to protect the community from witches and other unholy creatures. Larkspur symbolizes lightness and swiftness of foot; happiness, the joy of laughter and purity of heart.
August – Gladiolus
The glorious gladiolus graces the month of August in a rainbow of colors. In ancient times the gladiolus was known as xiphium, from the Greek word xiphos, meaning sword. The Latin word for the flower gladiolus also refers to weaponry. The Roman sword was a gladius and a smaller sword was a gladiolus. These words themselves also refer to the Roman cult of the gladiator. This stunningly beautiful flower originates in South Africa and grows best when it is bathed in full sunlight. Apart from their loveliness; some parts of gladiolus plant are poisonous if ingested, and handling some species may cause skin irritation or allergic reactions. Gladioli also have important medicinal uses that include curing common colds, diarrhea, painful menstruation, and constipation. The gladiolus flower’s stem base is called the corm and has been used effectively as a poultice and for drawing out thorns and splinters. Colic was soothed drinking a mixture of powdered corms with goat’s milk. As a symbol of human emotion and nature, the gladiolus signifies remembrance, strength of character, sincerity and generosity, imagination and love. But in its historical relationship to the sword and the gladiator it can also symbolize the qualities of a warrior and the experience of the soul after death such as: strength and power, the Eternal Sleep, and the sword-piercing pain of misplaced or unrequited love.
September – Aster
The wonderful star-like flower of September bears the Latin name aster, meaning star. The aster is the star blossom of this last month of the ancient Celtic summer cycle of life. Asters are sometimes called the Michaelmas daisy because their blooms coincide with the feast of the Archangel Michael. There is a beautiful Greek legend surrounding the lovely aster. During the golden times, before humans became conscious of good and evil and then became interested in negotiating the experience of both, gods and goddesses walked the Earth with them. As humans became more and more corrupt, Astraea, the Goddess of Innocence, left Earth to dwell in the heavens taking the starry form of the constellation Virgo. Eventually, even the paramount Creator god, Zeus himself gave up on humankind and flooded Earth with a view to starting over. Deucalian and Pyrrha were the only humans to survive the flood on top of Mount Parnassus and after the flood were seen wandering lonely, lost, and terribly forlorn. Compassionate and loving Astraea taking pity on them, created starlight to guide their way and as she wept piteous tears they landed on Earth forming the star-like flower, the aster. Thus this delicate and fragile flower signifies love, compassion, affection, and the spreading of living beauty among the residues of life’s sadder events and personal experiences of wipe-out.