Floral Folklore: The forgotten tales behind nature’s most enchanting plants

With Floral Folklore, discover the fascinating stories and traditions behind 43 of nature’s most beautiful flowers and learn how you can benefit from their properties.

Discover the fascinating folklore behind more than 40 of nature’s most intriguing plants and learn how you can benefit from their timeless wisdom in everyday life.

Why do buttercups glow when held beneath your chin? Which blooms are sometimes called fairy phones? Why are foxgloves sometimes ominously referred to as ‘Deadman’s Bellows’? And what is the true meaning of a rose?

Humans have given meanings and stories to plants and flowers for thousands of years, whether they’re myths about Ancient Greek Gods who pecked out the eyes of anyone who dared move the sacred but thorny Peony plant, or 19th-century superstitions of how flowers could foreshadow love, life or death. After reading Floral Folklore, you’ll never look at a bunch of flowers the same way again!

Brought to life with enchanting, full-color illustrations of the plants, flowers and visiting creatures, the book explains the origins of the folklore behind each plant, and offers a beautiful ritual to help you better connect with the teaching each plant has to offer. This is the perfect gift for foragers, gardeners, and budding horticulturists looking to develop their knowledge of plants beyond the exterior.

From the old wives’ tale that sage thrives in the garden of a woman who rules her household (and husband!) firmly, to poppies growing in places where blood has been shed, learn the meanings and stories behind:

BayMintBasilLotusTulipsOrchidsSunflowersLily of the ValleyNightshadeMulberryHyacinthValerianParsleyDaffodilRose…and more!

Including common plants found all over the world, and traditional herbs and flowers used in medicines for thousands of years, this is a truly unique and fascinating exploration of our floral folklore heritage.

About the Author

Alison Davies lives in Nottingham and runs workshops at universities throughout the UK showing academics, students and early years practitioners how stories and narratives can be used as tools for teaching, healing and learning. She has a keen interest in folklore, health and wellbeing and the esoteric and is the author of Tales Behind the Tarot and Goddess Stories (Leaping Hare Press).Anna Potter is the florist behind the flower shop Swallows and Damsons and author of Flower Fix (2019). Her style of arranging has a luxe and wild feel that uses containers of all sorts and moves beyond the confines of blooms in her decoration—incorporating foliage, fruit and vegetables, sea shells and most things that grow out of the ground. She is based in Sheffield and can be found online at @swallowsanddamsons on Instagram.