Friday, April 10, 2009

A hidden violet...

On Good Friday, a tiny reminder of miracles and surprises of nature is found in my garden. I did not plant this sweet little violet but here it is blooming so prettily in a small corner.

Violets stand for modesty in the language of flowers.

"This humble flower has been celebrated in poetry and romance from ancient time and is mmuch loved for its delicate powdery scent. It was widely referred to by Shakespeare, who called it "forward", for it blooms early and heralds the approach of summer. The plant is often described as modest for hiding it dark beauty away in the long grass and for flowering so fleetingly.

There are many stories regarding the Violet's name, but it almost certainly originated in Greece where it is considered the flower of Zeus, the king of the gods. Legend has it that Zeus was in love with a beautiful maiden called Io and in order to protect her from Hera, his jealous wife, he changed her into a beautiful calf. Then in order to feed her with delicacies, he commanded the earth to bring forth a beautiful flower in her honour, which he named Ion, the Greek word for Viola."

~ from Penhaligon's The Language of Flowers


“The splendor of the rose and the whitness of the lily do not rob the little violet of it’s scent nor the daisy of its simple charm. If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its lovliness.”

~ Therese of Lisieux

8 comments:

Nancy said...

Hi:
I love your header. Wow, very pretty. The violets are pretty too.
Nice they pop up on their own.
Love you, Mom

Anonymous said...

Hello Heidi,

What a lovely story and a happy coincidence that you should have a violet flowering in your garden.

Thank you for your feedback on my sampler ~ I will measure etc this weekend and post another comment about it. I hope to salvage the piece, as too much work has gone into it to consider starting again!

Happy Easter

Marie x

Anonymous said...

What a lovely surprise to find in your garden !!! I love the ornaments on your easter-tree, they are so wonderful. I had look at the shop's website rightaway....saw lots of nice things :)
Wishing you and Jos a Happy Easter.

Linda said...

I just love violets...I have a patch in a flower bed right by my front porch, they are a sweet welcome home. What a nice treat to find one in your yard...enjoy. Hugs, Linda

p.s. Your new header is so pretty.....love the quilt and all the wonderful color.

Ragged Roses said...

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Easter weekend. I hope you are feeling much better these days, so sorry I haven't been round much lately, take care
Kimx
We went for a walk yesterday and found the most beautiful clumps of violets hiding under the trees, it made my heart sing!

Tammy said...

Hi Heidi!
Very pretty quilt in your header!
What a nice surprise to find in your garden. Thank you for sharing the beautiful language of the violet.
Happy Easter to you!
Hugs2
Tam

Tvert-om-tanten said...

Such a beautiful violet!

You wondered if I am living at the countryside, and yes, I do! There's about 7-8 kilometers to the nearest shops, but we can hear the noise of the cars from a rather big road when we are outside our house (well, noise, it's not that loud, but I don't like the sound of anything with a motor...), so our home could very well be much more remote...

Happy Easter, Heidi =)

Tracy said...

Violet...I've always love them, they are such happy flowers, and this is such a sweet post! LOVE your new banner, Heidi...that quilt is outstanding! Hope this finds you enjoying the Easter holiday! :o) ((HUGS))