Flowers for remembrance, flowers for celebrations | Decorator Carleton Varney
The recent Memorial Day holiday was for millions of Americans a time to gather, hold cookouts and celebrate the unofficial start of summer.
Families whose relatives serve — or served — in the military marked a more somber day, as they reflected on their loved ones’ service to their country and those whose lives were lost as a result.
Such a meaningful day, I think, should be filled with flowers. Baskets of geraniums, carnations, daisies and roses were surely brought to cemeteries all around the world — including the South Florida National Cemetery in western Palm Beach County — to honor the men and women who have been laid to rest there.
As I was thinking about these remembrances, I reflected on the power flowers have to evoke memories. I recalled how I have purchased a passed loved one’s favorite flower when I’ve seen it at the market.
In years past, too, I have planted sweet peas at my parents’ graves in Nahant, Massachusetts.
And for my own gardens, I am a great believer in planting flowers in memory of others. The joy I receive when they bloom reminds me of the happy times we shared together.
Kneeling down and quietly working the earth, for me, is almost like prayer, a time of quiet contemplation.
The act of gardening also links the generations. I think of my grandmother, mother and sister all tending their gardens. How often those who grow up with gardens are moved to continue on and plant their own.
I have often written about the wonder of gardens and house one can use color to paint a fantastic scene. Up north, I have planted soft-pink fox gloves, bright orange marigolds, purple irises and sunshine yellow daffodils. In my Florida garden, I enjoy a rainbow of hibiscus.
For the United Kingdom’s Remembrance Day, which honors fallen military personnel each November, the poppy remains a powerful symbol. The flower also is part of Memorial Day remembrance ceremonies in the United States and other countries.
After the horrific fighting of World War I, the first thing that grew back on the war-torn fields were poppies — so much so that Canadian Lt. Col. John McCrae was moved to write the poem, “In Flanders Fields.” His image of the poppy captured the hearts of those who had lost loved ones in the Great War, including so many of England’s families.
As I write of England, it’s impossible not to think of the celebration last weekend of Queen Elizabeth’s 70th year on the throne — her Platinum Jubilee. The occasion was certainly marked with flowers. I noticed that crews have planted a “Superbloom” garden, with 20 million seeds, in the moat surrounding the Tower of London.
The recent Chelsea Flower show also had many displays honoring the Queen, including a portrait featuring lilies of the valley.
At her public appearances during the weekend, the queen wore ensembles that bought to my mind the colors in a garden – her pearl-embellished pale-blue suit, which reminded me of soft-blue hydrangea blooms; her brilliant-green outfit the color of banana leaves; and, of course, the dress she wore with blue flowers on a yellow background for her delightful tea with Paddington Bear.
Flowers can be celebratory, and flowers can mark remembrance. They are the perfect gift from nature.
*
Palm Beacher Carleton Varney is president of Dorothy Draper & Co., an international design firm with offices in New York, West Palm Beach, London and White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. His new book, to be published in the spring, is titled "The High Life of Dorothy Draper." Visit CarletonVarney.com or email him at cvarney@dorothydraper.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Decorator Carleton Varney: Flowers for remembrance, for celebrations
