Flowers

Hua. Flower Flowers are a token of life.

For all the important moments in our life, we can hardly do without flowers. When we marry, when we die, when we are honored, when we honor others, when we console each other, we have flowers with us. When someone is ill in the hospital, we bring flowers. Isn’t it because we have some sense that flowers can bring cheer and encourage life?

Flowers are beautiful. They are fragrant. They are the first burst of laughter on the plum tree at winter’s end. They are the pure and seductive magnificence of the peony, opening in layer after layer of exquisiteness. They are the velvety loveliness of the rose, which protects itself with sharp thorns. They are the upright character of the chrysanthemum, which blooms even as winter approaches.

A flower. The dandy twirls one in his hand, the ascetic enters into stillness while gazing at the center of one, the gardener cultivates it with love and care, the painter will lavish years in painting it, the poet will strain to describe it. Flower. So delicate. So easy to crush. So short a life.

Flowers are ephemeral. They represent life’s cycles. By having them as part of our worship, we offer a part of life itself.

Deng Ming-Dao, Everyday Tao

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Flowers are a very important part of my life. As a gardener lucky enough to live in San Diego, I try to always have something in bloom. I’m fortunate that whatever the time of year, I can usually look around the garden and find a flower. When there are few, I find my spirits are lower, and a trip to the nursery often ensues, just to see if there is anything in bloom.

Outside my window right now, the delicate flowers of a basil plant are in bloom, with a small bee sipping their nectar. I can see the blue flowers of a chaste tree in bloom. I can turn to my kitchen, and see the calendar with sunflowers on it, and the pictures of sunflowers and poppies I have painted. I see the painting I did with the lotus blossoms and other small flowers. I see the silk sunflowers over my kitchen cabinets.

I still have a small frame with a picture of the first rose my husband gave to me. My wedding flowers where a mix with roses, which became a slight problem when I learned my sister in law was allergic to her bridesmaid’s bouquet! I remember picking out the flowers for my mother’s funeral. All the designs looked the same to me and I was so depressed anyway that nothing was special. Then I turned to the page with the tropical display. I remembered my mother’s love of Hawaii and the choice became suddenly easy and joyful.

I have a friend going through tough times, and took her a plate that was my mother’s with the peace rose design on it, becaue my friend was the one who convince dme that I could grow roses in my garden. She broke down and cried.

Do you have special stories about flowers in your life? Do you have anyone in your life who could use some flowers now?

My flowering plum is indeed one of the first things to break from winter’s sleep. Along with some daffodils and a few other flowers, they break winter’s spell. Alas, it is too warm here for peonies. Roses I have in abundance, and I love them. And the mums, which bloom in late spring and then again in the fall.

My favorite flower? I really couldn’t choose just one. Perhaps freesias, for their lovely scent of spring at the end of winter. Or roses, for their deep, rich, fragrance. Or lilies, for their stunning beauty and fragrance. My favorite perfume scents are pikake, lily, and jasmine. I love the scent of jasmine bringing in summer. I love the dayliliy, that lives only a day and that reminds us life is precious. What is your favorite flower, and what does it mean to you? Have you sent someone their favorite flowers lately?

Take time and admire and appreciate the flowers in your life, and watch your life become richer. Namaste.