BIRTH MONTH FLOWER JULY
Flowers have been associated with all different month for centuries now. The flower that is associated with any particular month has a particular reason or believe why history recorded it to that particular month. The birth month flower that was associated with July is the larkspur.
What you need to know about the beautiful flower, Larkspur
The larkspur is very popular for its beautiful flowers and they have unique five (5) petals on their stalk where one of the petals is elongated. History has it that the name of Larkspur is gotten from its petal, that its petal resembles the shape of silver prick spurs of the ancient knights.
Another set of people in history says the name larkspur was derived from the long sharp hind claw of a lark bird. Although the larkspur is the common name, they belong to two genus Delphinium which is toxic to both humans and livestock, and the Consolida, while they both belong to the same family Ranunculaceae. Although, delphinium is different from Larkspur in that the delphinium are perennial while the larkspurs are annual. Because of this, they are mostly classified under Consolida. The Consolida ambigua and the Consolida Orientalis are popularly associated with the cut flower.
Like many other flowers, the larkspur also symbolizes a strong bond with love. The larkspur is mostly found in floral displays, and hand bouquets. Generally, larkspur represents love, ardent attachment and affection. In simple words, it represents levity, lightness, pure heart, desire for laughter and the list goes on and on.
Different colours of Larkspur and their different meanings
Just like other flowers also, the larkspur has different colours too with different meanings associated with the colours. The most common colours among them are pink, purple and white.
As mentioned earlier, the flower has different colours which are associated with different meanings.
The pink larkspur: this flower is used to represent fickleness or better still flattering. So when someone gives you pink coloured larkspur he or she is trying to flatter you.
The white larkspur: it passes a simple message of happiness. To give someone your happiness or to tell someone that their happiness makes them unique, white larkspur is the right flower for the job.
The purple larkspur: it signifies first love. Probably you’re a shy type and you really do not know how to tell someone he or she is your first love, the purple larkspur would pass the right message for you in no time.
Some historical beliefs about larkspur
As to touch the history behind larkspur, there are several historical believe about larkspur. Like the Greek, for instance, believed that the first larkspur sprung up from the blood of Ajax, a legend in the history of Greek. Following the death of Achilles, Ajax and Ulysses tried to take up the armor of Achilles. But then the Greeks seems to be more by the side of Ulysses to give him the armor than they were at the side of Ajax.
Driven by anger and jealousy, Ajax killed himself with a sword and at the place where his blood spewed on the earth surface, Larkspur was found to grow. And the letters A I A written on the petals were the initials of Ajax names, it was said that this was so in remembrance of Ajax.
Another mythology is about the Native American legends. It was said that angels and other celestial bodies when they were descending from heaven, made use of a spike like a rope to climb down from heaven to the earth. But when the sun rose, it dried up this ropes and a great wind came and blew this dried spike into tiny particles which when they landed on the earth they germinated into Larkspur
There is also a Christian legend as to how larkspur came to be. It was said that after the crucifixion of Jesus, they moved his body into a tomb and rolled a large stone to close up the tomb. While they were doing this, many doubted that Christ would rise again, but a tiny bunny tried to remind them of the promise of Jesus, but they ignored him so the bunny went into the dark and waited. Later when Christ was raised, the bunny sported Christ and rejoiced because Christ kept his promise, then Christ gave the bunny a blue larkspur flower and said to the bunny, behold the image of a bunny’s face in the flower. The image of the bunny in the larkspur flower symbolizes trusting in Christ till today
The larkspur flower has in almost every part of the flower poisonous alkaloid, but they do not harm domestic sheep. When larkspur flower is being dried and ground to powder, the powdered larkspur can be used to ward off a scorpion and treat snake venoms. Legend also has it that the dried larkspur flower can be used to keep ghost and evil spirits away from your house when you spread the dust around your house. Despite the poisonous nature of this nature’s beauty, they attract hummingbirds, bees and a lot of other pollinators. No wonder this flower can easily spread through far distance. The larkspur is also used a lot during the Victorian era as a gift to loved ones.
Amazingly, native Americans and European found larkspur to be more useful than just a decorative flower, they were industrious enough to make a blue dye out of the blue larkspur. While in England, they made use of larkspur in a different way where they used it to treat certain ailments especially summer solstice celebrations. Other herbs made alongside with the herbs England made during the summer solstice are the likes of lavender and vervain.
Larkspur nature’s beauty is one of a kind, but they should be kept away from children because they are poisonous and can hurt us. But if you can be careful enough, larkspur is a very wonderful flower. Most especially if you are associated to the month of July, be it your birthday or your wedding anniversary, whatever it may be that you’re celebrating or want to celebrate for someone, larkspur is just a flower you can use to pour out your heart.
