Happy Groundhog Day! Will spring flower arrive early this year? According to Shubenacadie Sam, we will have an early spring!  The groundhog came out of his den at the wildlife park in Shubenacadie, N.S. on Wednesday and he didn’t see his shadow. (Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press)

Instead of using the groundhog to predict the weather, the German settlers of Pennsylvania put candles in their windows and believed that if the weather was fair on Candlemas Day, then the second half of winter would be stormy and cold.

The English and Scottish had wonderful sayings to mark this occasion:

The serpent will come from the hole
On the brown Day of Bride,
Though there should be three feet of snow
On the flat surface of the ground.

HYACINTH   Spring Flowers

Spring is just around the corner. One of the first spring flowers to peek out of the snow is the hyacinth.

HYACINTH: Symbolizes playfulness and a ‘sporty’ attitude and can denote constancy.

Hyacinth & Greek Mythology: In Greek mythlogy, the wind god Zephyrus was actually responsible for the death of Hyacinth. The boy’s beauty caused a feud between Zephyrus and Apollo. Jealous that Hyacinth preferred the radiant archery god Apollo, Zephyrus blew Apollo’s discus off course, so as to injure and kill Hyacinth. When he died, Apollo didn’t allow Hades to claim the boy; rather, he made a flower, the Hyacinth, from his spilled blood. According to Ovid’s account, the tears of Apollo stained the newly formed flower’s petals with the sign of his grief. However, the flower of the mythological Hyacinth has been identified with a number of plants other than the true Hyacinth, such as the Iris.

Grape Hyacinth: They are so named because their clusters of small, bell-shaped, cobalt-blue flowers look like clusters of upside-down grapes.

The meaning of Hyacinth according to the color is:

• Hyacinth blue – Constancy
• Hyacinth  purple – I’m sorry; please forgive me; sorrow
• Hyacinth red or pink – Play
• Hyacinth white- Loveliness; I’ll pray for you
• Hyacinth yellow – Jealousy

Care and information

• are available in the winter and spring months, mostly December to April, from domestic sources, and October to May from Dutch sources
• Cool temperatures (15 – 17C) will make the flower last longer and enhance the fragrance.
• As flowers fade, they should be removed from the flower stalk
• Cut hyacinths last from three to seven days, cooler temperatures will slow down bloom development

DESIGN SUGGESTIONS:

• lovely fragrance and are great used in bridal arrangements for “something blue.”  the white varieties can substitute for lily-of-the-valley.
• the thick soft stem need large amounts of water, be sure to give it a good drink and keep it in a water source as long as possible.
• the mature blossoms can be heavy, give support when needed