As we welcome the season of spring and the flowers begin to bloom, the J-Staff shares their favorite flowers. Many of them picked their favorite based on the flower’s appearance, few even knowing the meaning of each. 

   Roses were the most common favorite flower across the staff. No surprise, it’s a classic. Roses are often known as the symbol of love as they are a Valentines Day staple. Three of the five staff members who chose roses as their favorite flower specified their favorite as the red rose, which represents love, but the other two’s favorite are white roses. Its meaning is innocence, heavenly, and worthiness of you. 

   Other traditional flowers members chose as their favorites were lilies, tulips, and daises. Just like roses, each color lily and tulip have a different meaning. The white lilies represent virginity and purity; yellow lilies represent happiness; and orange lilies represent hatred. Red tulips symbolize passion, and yellow tulips man sunshine in your smile. Daisies, like white roses, mean innocence, but they also represent loyal love. 

   The rest of the staff had more unique, uncommon favorite flowers which included green carnation, lavender, allium, lily of the valley, peony, hepatica, miss natalie, and middlemist red camellia. 

   The green carnation was popularized by Oscar Wilde as he would wear them on the left lapel. He wore them as a symbol of gay identity. He even asked his friends to wear them on their lapels to his play Lady Windermere’s Fan in 1892. 

   Two members of the J-Staff said lavender was their favorite flower. Its meaning is purity, silence, devotion, grace and calmness. As purple represents royalty and has a sense of elegance, this makes sense. 

   Allium was another favorite flower amongst the staff. The word allium is Latin for garlic and means a flowering plant which belongs to the onion genus. However, it represents patience, good fortune, prosperity and unity. 

   The lily of the valley is the most popular flower as a perennial garden plant. It is becoming more popular as it is common in bridal bouquets. The flower shares the same traditional meaning as the common lily: purity, humility and virtue. 

   Peony is a shared favorite of two J-Staff members. They are large, glossy single and double flowers in various colors. Colors include white, pink and rose. Yet, all colors of peonies symbolize bashfulness, shame, yet a happy life. 

   In the language of flowers, hepatica means confidence. Hepaticas are a small evergreen herb found in rich woodlands from Minnesota to Maine to Northern Florida west to Alabama. They are mostly blue or lavender, yet in some southern areas there are white forms. 

   “It reminds me of a cool person,” said senior Rhys Stephens. 

   The miss nathalie dahlia is an exotic looking soft-pink and white flower with dark flecks and are in bloom from June to November. They are pretty compact, as they are only 15-25 cm. The flowers meaning has yet to be defined. 

   Lastly, the middlemist red camellia is the rarest flower. It is believed there are only two of them in the world today. One is located in the United Kingdom, and the other is in New Zealand. It is similar to a rose but it is much bigger. Despite its name, the flower is not red; it is a deep pink color.  

   “The middlemist red camellia is perfection in a flower”, stated Zacarrah Nicholas, senior. 

   After learning the meaning of each flower, has your favorite flower changed?