Flower symbolism dates back hundreds of years and it was an important part of many culture’s traditions. Flowers are not only there to make our homes and gardens colorful and beautiful, they are also there to represent our deepest emotions and feelings. When you think about it, we always use flowers to express the love we feel towards others.
Somehow our minds instinctively go for colorful bouquets of flowers, when we are searching for a gift that is going to tell the other person how much we care.
In the sea of various flowers and flower species, it is sometimes hard to find the perfect one for the perfect person. This is when the flower meaning and symbolism comes in handy. We can’t just gift any flower to the person we like, because it has to be the perfect flower in color and symbolism so that our message is clear. It is easy now to get to almost every species of flowers because our world has merged and the flowers have spread all around the globe.
Almost every person has its own favorite flower and flower color, which can also be helpful when we are choosing the flower for someone we love.
In today’s text we are going to talk about the Gerbera flower and the symbolism behind it. The beautiful Gerbera flowers have a rich symbolic meaning that dates back hundreds of years, so it is interesting to see how Gerbera flower was seen by some ancient cultures.
Meaning of the Gerbera flower
Every flower has its own meaning and this meaning is the main point we go from when talking about flower symbolism. The meaning of a certain flower depends on how a certain flower was seen by people and how they were used in the past.
Some flowers had important meanings especially when it comes to certain ceremonies and events. Some ceremonies couldn’t even be imagined without flowers that recreated the entire symbolic meaning of that event. There were even entire festivals devoted to some flower species.
The Gerbera flower also has its symbolic meanings and they are:
Happiness
- The gerbera flower symbolizes happiness and joy. These colorful flowers are perfect reminders for us to seize the day and do something fun and adventurist. The Gerbera flower will bring in sunshine and warmth into your home no matter how dark your day might seem. This bright flower is going to be the light-point in your home and make you feel the warmth and happiness instantly.
Relief from sorrow
- The Gerbera flowers are also symbols of overcoming grief and sorrow. This gorgeous flower is going to be a great reminder to overcome grief and sorrow you are currently experiencing no matter how hard you are feeling right now. The gerbera flower is going to bring happiness back into your life and make your day much better and full of joy.
Children
- The Gerbera flowers are also symbols of children and they are going to be a perfect gift for someone who just had children or who is expecting. These bright and colorful flowers are beautiful symbols of happiness and beautiful things in life that we have to look forward to.
Deception
- The Gerbera flower is also a symbol of deception and gifting these flowers can also symbolize that you are hiding something from someone. These flowers shouldn’t be gifted to someone you love or for Valentine’s Day because they are certainly going to send a message that you are hiding something from the person you love.
Gerbera Flower – Etymological meaning
The Gerbera flower got its name after the Latin word Gerbera jamesonii and this flower belongs to the family of asteraceae. There are several species of Gerbera flowers and they were actually named after the German botanist that helped discover them. His name was Traugott Gerber.
Another name for these flowers is Transvaal Daisy after Robert Jameson who found these gorgeous flowers growing around the gold mines in South Africa in Transvaal. Since there is an unsolved discussion which one of them discovered these beautiful flowers, they are called after both of them.
Gerbera Flower – Symbolism
The gorgeous and bright Gerbera flowers are symbols of happiness and joy. These flowers remind us to be happy and look forward to life no matter how bad we are currently feeling. Their colorful petals are going to give us an instant boost of energy and happiness that we have needed the entire time. Gerbera flowers were always seen as symbols of something positive and bright and cultures relied on their bright colors to bring joy to everything they have been celebrating.
These flowers are also symbols of gratefulness and giving others what they deserve. The colorful Gerbera flower is going to tell the other person how much you care about him or her and send a message of love and support. These flowers were also seen in the Celtic culture as something that can relieve stress and help you overcome troubles of everyday much easier. They believed that bringing in Gerbera flowers into your home is going to make you feel much better about yourself and joyful.
Gerbera Flower – Color meaning
The color of a flower is an important symbol as well. No matter what is the real symbolism of a flower is the color can certainly add a lot to this symbolic meaning or take away from it. Some flowers have many different colors and others have only several colors. Sometimes the color of a flower is also important for the symbolic meaning and it can completely complement the symbolism of a flower.
The gerbera flower comes in several different colors and they are:
Red
- Red is the color of love, romance and passion. The red Gerberas are simply stunning and send a powerful message to everyone who is receiving them. They can be an ideal gift for Valentine’s Day. The red is also a very strong and powerful color which can sometimes symbolize aggression and anger.
White
- The White Gerberas are symbols of child’s innocence, purity and spirituality. The white Gerberas are often gifted to newlyweds or used as decoration for wedding parties and baptisms. These gentle flowers go hand in hand with the color white and perfectly complement each other.
Yellow
- Color yellow is a symbol of happiness and joy. This flower color goes perfectly together with the Gerbera flower since the Gerbera flower is also a symbol of happiness and joy. These flowers are going to bring a smile back on your face as soon as you place it in your home.
Pink
- Pink symbolizes adoration and admiration. This color is also a symbol of love and romance, so you can use it as a gift for every person you love and care about.
Orange
- Color orange is a symbol of sunshine and joy. This flower color is going to be a perfect flower to bring inside your home and it will instantly lift your mood up as soon as you see it. No matter how sad you are feeling right now; the orange Gerbera can’t be a wrong choice when you want some sunshine in your home.
Gerbera Flower – Botanical facts and characteristics
Gerbera flower (lat. Gerbera) is a beautiful decorative herb that is very easy to grow. Beautiful gerbera flowers will leave you breathless, with its various shades, mostly gentle, pastel colors. Colors in which gerbera flowers come are yellow, orange, white, pink and different shades of red.
Gerbera plant originates from Africa, North America, Madagascar and tropical regions of Asia. There are about 100 species of gerbera, 30 of which grow in nature.
It grows in a shrub, it is a perennial plant, it is 20-40 cm high, the leaves are large and green and very beautiful, decorative. It is used as cut flowers and after rose, carnation, lilac and chrysanthemum – flowers people prefer them the most.
Gerbera should be grown in hot and sunny places, in wet, well-drained soil. You can plant it in pots, gardens, and rocks. If you observe your domestic conditions, you can decide for one particular garden gerbera.
The gerbera flowers are specific in that they are closed at night, but as soon as the sun comes out – they open up again. Occasionally, gerbera seeks savings. The proper cultivation of gerbera involves the regular removal of precious flowers, so that the plant will have enough nutrients for new, young flowers.
If we are talking about gerbera varieties, there are low and high varieties, which are identical and grateful for breeding. Gerber bloom from May to September. In one place it can live up to 4 years, and after that it is slowly dying.
On the other hand, we must note that professional gerbera cultivation, especially those of high quality varieties suitable for cut flowers, is nevertheless demanding and requires a lot of time, effort and investment. It is grown in greenhouses and greenhouses with heating. In production, it is used for 1-3 years, but with age, the yield and quality of flowers are reduced.
The best time to plant gerbera is April, May and June – because the flower buds are formed at the time when it has the highest light and the suns light is the most important condition for the abundant flowering of the plant. Gerber is reproduced in two ways, either by dividing the root or planting the seed.
If you choose to multiply by dividing the root, it should be done in the spring, preferably in April. After separation, plant them in new pots with compost into which you added a little sand and peat. Pour well and place in a sunny place.
If you want the plant to propagate the seeds, the gerbera seed should be planted in peat and sand. Seed is then covered only with a thin layer of peat and left at a temperature of about 15 C – the gerbera seed will boil in about 2 weeks. The transplantation of the gerbera should follow after a month, when the flora is reinforced should be pecked. After that, gerbera cultivation continues in the open space or in the pots.
As we have already mentioned, if it is grown under domestic conditions, the gerbera is quite easy to grow and does not need any particular care and maintenance.
Gerber likes sunny and warm places, as well as great summer fries. What is especially important to keep in mind is that the land in which the gerbera is growing is never completely drained – it is therefore necessary to keep it wet. It needs to be stored regularly, preferably once in two weeks or once a week with appropriate fertilizer, especially if is a plant in the period of flowering.
During the winter, the gerbera should not be fed and watering should be very little. So, just add as much water as needed so that the soil does not dry completely.
In winter, the gerbera should be kept in a closed room, and the temperature of the air in that winter room may be somewhat lower, preferably around 10 ° C.
Over the course of the year, the plant requires plenty of watering, but make sure that the soil is not too soaked, as the root will start to rot, which leads to the dying of the plant.
Gerbera Flower – Secret message
Just like every flower has its own symbolic meaning it also has a secret message that we need to learn and implement on our life. The secret message behind the Gerbera flower is to always be happy and to never let anyone ruin that happiness inside of you.
This beautiful flower is going to be the light-point of your life and fill your home with sunshine. Gerbera flowers are overall gorgeous flowers you can always gift to someone you love and care about, no matter what age and gender this person is. Gerberas are going to bring positive energy and joy inside of your home and life, and fill you with positive energy you so desperately seek.
