The weekends in December were filled with Christmas bazaars offering many high-quality handcrafted items. The one I attended had the feeling of entering a huge art gallery of pottery, woodworking, oil and watercolor paintings, plus so many additional temptations. Many of the paintings were also available as blank cards. I have thought of that bazaar often and of all the beautiful botanical prints being offered.

I have been reading “The Gardener’s Atlas,” the origins, discovery and cultivation of the world’s most popular garden plants. The chapter on The Art of Illustrating Plants begins with a quotation of a pompous botanist at Oxford University. He remarked that, “picture books are for fools, and only fools use them.”

He underestimated the essential role of illustration in botanical works as an aid to identification in the medical field.

Some of the most sensitive flower drawings of all times were from Leonardo da Vinci. As botany developed as an independent science, botanical art developed. At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, botanical artists were retained by wealthy patrons to illustrate their gardens. Empress Josephine Bonaparte engaged French artist, Pierre-Joseph Redoute, to paint her garden.

One of my favorite books on my bookshelf is Kate Greenaway’s “Language of Flowers.” I decided this was a good time to peruse the book once again.

Greenaway was a noted English artist as well as an author of many children’s books. The “Language of Flowers”, published in 1884, is a glossary of the meaning behind a wide variety of flowers. The study became known as Florioraphy. Learning the meaning and symbol behind each flower became a popular pastime.

When I saw botanical themed cards at the bazaar, I thought of Greenaway. Greeting cards first appeared in the 1840s. In 1871, card maker Marcos & Ward hired Greenaway. Her cards sold well and early Valentine sales were recorded as 25,000 copies in weeks. Looking at the assortment of botanical-themed cards at the event, decision making was difficult. I am in hopes that area produced cards will be available locally throughout the year.

The “Language of Flowers” lists many varieties of flowers along with some trees. I chose some that we are most familiar with giving us a new eye to our landscape.

Juniper: Help and support in difficult times, protection.

Larkspur: Lightness, pink larkspur means fickleness, purple is haughtiness.

Lilac: Purple means first emotion of love, white is youthful innocence.

Mock Orange: Counterfeit (yes, but in Central Oregon it offers beautiful flowers and foliage).

Pear Tree: Comfort.

Peony: Shame, bashfulness.

Pine, Spruce: Hope in adversity.

Poppy: Red means consolation, scarlet means fantastic extravagance, white is sleep, my antidote.

Potato: Benevolence.

Roses: I won’t begin to list all the meanings of the 34 roses listed, other than say that most of them have to do with love, with the exception of the yellow, which means a decrease of love, jealously.

Snapdragon: Presumption.

Sweet William: Gallantry.

Thyme: Activity.

Tulip: Fame.

Tulip Red: Declaration of love, variegated tulip means beautiful eyes, yellow is hopeless love.

Zinnia: Meaning thoughts of absent friends.

Consider this list as the first of many you will make for the upcoming garden planning. It’s intended for inspiration and a practice run on list making in your garden journal.

OSU Master Gardner program

Interested in the OSU Master Gardener program? Call 541-548-6088 for more information. Classes begin Wednesday, Jan. 17. https://extension.oregonstate.edu/program/mg/central/events