We’re sowing the seeds of love
yellow-flowered cow parsley-type herb that’s said to cure smelly feet. Now there’s romance for you.
And don’t forget lad’s love (Artemisia absinthium), a vital ingredient of absinthe liqueur, once intended for medicinal purposes but nowadays used for after-dinner application.
You might settle for seeds of annual love-in-a-puff if you can overlook the less-romantic Latin name, Cardiospermum halicacabum. Or there are love apples which won an undeserved reputation as aphrodisiacs due to a slight error in translation centuries ago – nowadays we know them better as tomatoes.
To drive home your message, consider investing in a plant bearing the same name as your loved one. That’s easily done if her name happens to be Lily, Dahlia, Marigold, Hyacinth, Rose, Myrtle, Olive, Daphne or Violet.
You’ll have no trouble finding a Fern, Cherry, Poppy or Nigella (a name that turns chaps weak at the knees and has done wonders for sales of love-in-a-mist).
Names for chaps, however, are a tad thin on the ground. No problem if he’s a Basil, Ginger or a rather sweet William. But what would you make of a ragged Robin? When it comes to suitable names the Plant Finder book is packed with subjects or look online at rhs.org.uk/about-the-rhs/ publications/plantfinder.
If your true love knows their plants you might risk a dalliance with Victorian language of flowers, having taken the precaution (as Victorian suitors did) of ensuring your other half has a copy of the same book of meanings to avoid misunderstandings.
One or two flowers have well-known meanings. Rose stands for love – that’s why it’s the traditional Valentine’s Day flower – and forget-me-not means just that. But the real floral messenger can be far more subtle. Coreopsis means “love at first sight”, gorse means “enduring affection” and arum stands for “ardour” – who’d have guessed?
Pansy means “you occupy my thoughts constantly”, while tulips say “hopeless love” if yellow and “I declare my love” if red. Mezereum, pear trees and mossy saxifrages all signify affection too.
And include some celandine which means “joys to come”. As a gardener I can only assume they mean years of togetherness over shared weeding, since the stuff is unstoppable.
But there’s such a thing as being too subtle so should you decide to celebrate with steak and chips at the pub instead, the hidden message still reads Happy Valentine’s Day!