Anemone Flower – Meaning, Symbolism and Colors
Anemone flower (Anemone coronaria), is a plant that can be increasingly found in gardens and terraces. This beautiful flower can beautify every place with its simplicity and beautiful scent. Anemone is a perennial plant originating from southern France.
It can grow to a height of some 30 inches, and its underground tree grows in shape that resembles a tuber. It is characteristic for its green leaves and individual, colorful flowers. They can be found in different colors, from white, light-brown, red to dark-purple.
Flower symbolism is still very important and relevant today. People take much care when it comes to choosing a flower and flower color when gifting someone a beautiful bouquet. Flowers helped people to express their emotions and feelings without even saying one word and that is the reason why we dedicate so much attention to flowers.
Besides being the most common gift to give to someone, flowers are also beautiful decoration and important ingredients of perfumes and many other things that make our lives more beautiful.
Without flowers, our lives would be dull and boring and we wouldn’t have the inspiration to wear colors, decorate our lives with flowers and an inspiration to surprise our loved ones with beautiful colorful bouquets. Anemone flower is another example of a beautiful flower that can be found in the nature and that is still, predominantly, present in the wild.
Meaning of the Anemone flower
Each flower has its own meaning and symbolism. This hidden meaning is something that has been created by ancient cultures and by people who gifted and received these flowers, but also used them in other more meaningful ways.
Anemone flower has several meanings:
- Forsaken or forgotten love
- The death of a loved one
- Anticipation and excitement
- Approach of a rainstorm
- Protection against evil
- The arrival of spring
- Bad luck or ill omens and
- Protection against disease.
Forsaken or forgotten love – Anemone flower is a symbol of forsaken or forgotten love. This flower was often a symbol of love that was no longer present in one of partner’s hearts and the death of feelings inside one of the lover’s hearts.
The death of a loved one – Anemone flowers were also used as bouquets that were taken to the graves of loved ones and people who were no longer in our lives.
Anticipation and excitement – This beautiful flower symbolizes anticipation and excitement and the reason behind it is mostly because of its color. Color yellow symbolizes high energy levels and optimism that is often linked to excitement.
Approach of a rainstorm – Some cultures believed that the Anemone flower could predict the arrival of rain. This helped them take cover in time and protect their belongings from the storm.
Protection against evil – Others believed in magical or spiritual powers of the Anemone flower. People believed that the Anemone flower could protect them from the evil spirits and keep them safe, if they wore it in their pocket or somewhere close to them.
The arrival of spring – Since this flower blooms during spring, it also announced the arrival of sunnier and warmer days. To many people, this flower represented joy and happiness that only warmer weather can bring.
Bad luck or ill omens – Similar to the above meaning, people used to wear Anemone flower close to them to scare away bad luck. They believed that carrying an Anemone flower in their pocket is going to bring them luck in important life situations.
Protection against disease – Disease and illness was often seen as bad luck, so people linked the Anemone’s ability to protect people against bad luck with protection against diseases. This flower was also used as an ingredient in potions and medicines, which were supposed to help people recover from illness.
Anemone – Etymological meaning
The Anemone flower belongs to a wide genus that contains over 120 various species. The name Anemone came from the Greek word that in translation meant “the wind’s daughter”. In common language, this flower is also known as the windflower, which only confirms the theory behind the etymological meaning.
There is also an old Greek myth surrounding the Anemone flower that revolves around Aphrodite and Adonis. According to this ancient myth, Aphrodite kept Adonis too long as her companion so the other gods decided to kill him. The goddess wept because of the loss and her tears that fell on to the ground grow out as Anemone flowers.
Anemone – Symbolism
Anemone flower has a very powerful love symbolism. The love that this flower represents is the forgotten or forsaken love, because of the stories that were linked to it. As I mentioned in the previous part of this article, ancient Greeks thought that the Anemone flower grew out of the tears that Aphrodite shed over her lost partner Adonis. The sad story about love and loss forever marked the Anemone flower and made it a symbol of sadness in love.
During Victorian times, the Anemone flower was the symbol of forsaken love as well. In the Victorian book The Language of Flowers, this beautiful; wild flower is described as the symbol of forsaken love. In China and Egypt, Anemone was a symbol of illness and poor health. The reason behind this symbolic meaning was the sick or ill color of the flower. Contrary to their beliefs, the European people used to carry Anemone flowers with them as protection against disease and bad luck.
Anemone flower closes its petals during the night and opens them up in the morning. Because of this, many considered it to be a symbol of birth and death. For the Eastern cultures, this flower was a symbol of bad luck while for Western cultures it was a symbol of good luck.
Anemone flower is also a symbol of spring and arrival of warmer weather. Some cultures even linked the Anemone flower to bad spirits and death, and they carried it around with them as protection from those same bad spirits.
Anemone – Color meaning
Anemone flower has a very strong symbolic meaning by itself, but the color of this beautiful flower give it an even more powerful symbolism. Anemone flower comes in several colors and these are:
White
- Color white is a symbol of spirituality, innocence and purity. This color is often used in funerals, especially in Eastern cultures. Because of this symbolic meaning, the white Anemone flower was often used as a flower that was taken on funerals to pay last respects for the people who have died. Besides this symbolic meaning, color white is a neutral color that can be gifted to pretty much anyone, but it is always best to pay attention to the symbolic meaning.
Yellow
- Color yellow is a symbol of happiness, joy and optimism. You can gift the yellow Anemone flower to almost anyone you want to see happy or in a good mood. These are also perfect flowers to plant beside your entrance or in your garden; because this bright yellow color is going to bring joy to your face anything you see it.
Purple
- Color purple usually symbolizes honor, royalty, beauty and status. The purple Anemone flower is definitely more extravagant and interesting. Some cultures even link the purple Anemone flower to feelings of excitement and anticipation, and you can keep these symbolic meanings in mind when gifting this flower. You can gift a gorgeous bouquet of Anemone flowers to someone you have been dying to see and talk to, and now you have that chance.
Blue
- Color blue symbolizes trust, authority and intelligence. You can gift a bouquet of blue Anemone flowers to someone you love and respect, and to someone you have been dying to see. Similar to the purple color Anemone, the blue one is also a symbol of anticipation and excitement. Planting these beautiful flowers in your garden is also an option, if you want to add some color to your garden.
Pink
- Color pink is a symbol of subtleness and romance. Beautiful and gentle Anemone flowers can be gifted to someone you love and respect very much. These gorgeous flowers are great decorations in wedding ceremonies and also in the back of your garden. Their bright color is going to bring some joy into your home, if you place them in a vase inside your house. And if you want to be different, Anemone flowers can be your choice for the Valentine’s Day gift.
Red
- Color red is a symbol of romance and love. These small flowers are going to be a perfect addition to your Valentine’s Day bouquet and you can even pick them and place them in your home to bring in some color. Color red can also be a symbol of aggression and power, but since these are small, gentle flowers you don’t have to be worried about sending the wrong message.
Anemone – Botanical facts and characteristics
As for the cultivation of this perennial flower, it is not at all complicated and the Anemone as a plant is very easy to maintain. Most Anemones grow in early spring, and the most important species are white Anemones, yellow Anemones, garden Anemones and Japanese Anemones.
Anemone tubers are usually planted in the spring and early autumn, depending on a particular species. Before spring planting, the tubers are recommended to be dipped in cold water for at least 24 hours. Namely, in such a way the tubers are refreshed and this will make them grow faster and easier. As for autumn planting, tubers must be covered in winter and additionally protected from low temperatures, frost and precipitation.
The ideal place for planting Anemone is light shade. Also, this plant has a lot of delicate flowers which means that it should not be in direct sunlight at all. Do not be surprised if your plant grows slowly. Anemone is just known for its extremely slow growth. Watering should be done once a week, in the summer days and up to twice a week.
Ever since ancient days, Anemone is considered to be a medicinal plant that treats various health problems. Anemone leaves are used to treat rheumatic pains, gout, and inflammation of the joints, headaches, fever and toothache.
Anemone – Secret message
Anemone flower has a special message just for you, and this message is to never forsake the ones you love. This flower should be a reminder that better times are going to come no matter how hopeless everything looks right now. You need to love your partner and give support to your partner in times when this is most required.
Anemone flower symbolism is very strong and it can be applied on various situations. Whether you use it as protection against bad luck or you use it as a gift for someone, be sure that the message you are going to send will be powerful. Plant this beautiful flower in our garden and enjoy its colorful appearance and beautiful scent.
