Like every other month, August has its own flowers that can be used for seasonal and sustainable celebrations.
August’s flowers are all about remembrance - the gladiolus and the poppy - and both are available in a whole variety of colours to eke out the bright summer days.
A gladiolus is a symbol of strength and love. These tall blooms make themselves known with their colourful and multiple flowers on every stem. Common colours of the gladiolus include white, pink, red, purple, and yellow, among many others.
Part of the iris family, the gladiolus is also known as the sword lily because of its shape and height, as well as the name originating from the latin gladius, which means sword too. Because of this, the flower is often associated with victory, healing, and honour.
The Victorians believed a gladiolus would pierce the recipient’s heart with love, but is also a common appearance as a gift for a 40th wedding anniversary.
The poppy, often seen in red, is most widely associated with remembering those who fought in wars, but have also been known to represent rest and recovery, as well as sympathy and enchantment.
They’re not just available in the red of Flanders Fields though, poppies also come in oranges, blues, whites, yellows, and purples.
Poppies were popular in Greek mythology, the goddess of agriculture (Demeter) as it was believed that if poppies grew in your fields, a bountiful crop would follow the next year. They’re also an important pollen source for bees - which is why they’re often found growing throughout English hedgerows and along the central reservations.
If you’re placing freshly cut poppies in an arrangement, you should heat the end of the stem to prevent the milky substance inside from leaking out into the water and potentially poisoning the other flowers.