Wildflowers are usually equated with a simple, understated beauty (but a spectacular beauty nonetheless). An entire bouquet can be comprised of all wildflowers; they don’t have to be used as strictly “filler” blossoms. When one thinks of a bouquet that looks as if it were picked from a green valley or enchanting forest, it can usually be held in the hands easily and tied together with a modest ribbon. Most flowers that dry beautifully are the ones that grow in and around fields and meadows such as Queen Anne’s lace, heather, black-eyed Susans, bachelor’s buttons, flowering clover, and goldenrod. Some are planted specifically to attract butterflies and some just grow on their own, such as flowering clover and wild violets.
Heather is an especially romantic flower as it was written about a lot in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights and is an expression of Cathy and Heathcliff’s love as it grows on the hills in the moors. Brontë’s heroine, Cathy states “I wish I were a girl again, half savage and hardy, and free… Why am I so changed? I’m sure I should be myself were I once among the heather on those hills.” Heather comes in hues ranging from white to pink, purple and red and symbolizes good luck and admiration. Some even believe it to have protective powers.
In D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover the clandestine affair between two lovers is made even more deliciously precious and tender as Lawrence describes a scene in which “with quiet fingers” forget-me-nots are threaded within Lady Chatterley’s brown hair. After this, she exclaims “Doesn’t it look pretty!” while her lover replies “Pretty as life” before placing a pink campion-bud among her hair. A pink campion (or a “rose campion”) is a species of flowering plants in the carnation family while forget-me-nots or “scorpion grasses” are small, grow in clumps and received their common name from when it was first used in 1398 AD in association with King Henry IV of England.
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