Emerson said that, ‘the earth laughs in flowers’. Years ago, I worked with an older colleague who was in a new relationship. When asked about his day, he talked about it being his girlfriend’s birthday. We asked him what he had given her and he replied that she said it didn’t matter about presents. From the looks on our faces he realised that he shouldn’t have taken her literally! We immediately suggested flowers and called a florist for him. The next day he cheerfully told us that the bouquet was happily received. In previous ages, the language of flowers was really important and could be an answer to a question. A daisy stated that a love was true, bluebells for kindness and rosemary was for remembrance. These days we have some cliches with red roses for Valentine Day but Feng Shui is a different approach.

Positive & Negative Chi

Live plants and flowers are considered to be positive energy. Match the colours to the different sectors of the bagua map. Not being a fan of red, I still buy lovely red velvet roses for the Fame sector and pink peonies for the relationship corner. Avoid sharp and spiky plants including the latest craze of cactus as they are seen as aggressive and often give off what are called poison arrows – see my other posts on this. Avoid dried flowers and grasses as they represent death. That includes twisted branches of wood. Looking for an apartment, we saw one place stuffed with plastic plants and flowers, another no-no. Silk, cotton or linen flowers are fine as they represent a natural product but ideally real plants are the answer. That being said, keep the plants healthy and clean. If they don’t look great, consider throwing them away and starting again. We have one plant that looks healthy but I confess, I would like to see some new leaves on it!

Tips

  • Use filtered water to keep the flowers longer;
  • If you have animals, particularly cats, don’t put the flower preservative in the water as they are likely to try to drink the water out of the vase;
  • Normally, a third needs to be cut off the stems, measure against the vase;
  • Ask the florist to arrange the flowers, even if it is just for yourself, it is their skill and they will often add pieces;
  • And don’t forget to ‘say it with flowers’!