Suppose you want to impress your date tonight. Red roses are the go to on a date night. You’re nervous, hands are clammy, your hair keeps sticking up in odd places and you KNOW you gelled it down. You have thirty minutes until you’re supposed to be at your dinner location. But first—flowers. 

Stepping into the flower shop, plants are blooming in unexpected places. 

The walls, floors and even the door has plants curling around it. Hurrying up to the florist, you ask “Can I have a bouquet of red roses?”

But why red roses? Why not blue hydrangeas, her favorite color? Red roses are widely known as the “symbol of love” around the world. Every year on Valentine’s Day, convenience stores are a violent shade of red, red roses are printed on cardboard boxes.

Victorians are the ones who originally hosted the flower exchange party, the OG’s. In Victorian era Britain (1837-1901—the years that Victoria was Queen), bouquets with various plants held meaning, and so one who had romantic inclination toward another would send a bouquet, expecting one in return with a response. Let's have a moment of silence for those who never got a response, a harsh left on read at 5:49 p.m. Bouquets weren’t limited to romance though—enemies would send each other bouquets full of basil to signify their hate for each other. Yellow roses, are arguably a powerful flower, meaning infidelity. Imagine the horror of being sent a yellow bursting bouquet from your partner! Unfortunate. So this spring, head to your local flower shop, smell the flowers, prance past the red petals and give a unique bouquet to your mom, dad, dog and friend (if they aren’t allergic).

Agapanthus: love letter
This flower, native to South Africa, is defined as “love letter.” Its name is derived from the Greek term agap, which means love, and anthos, meaning flower. A pretty blue color, use this flower when writing a love letter, and press it into the pages for a unique touch. 

Poinsettia: be of good cheer
A classic christmas flower, named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, who brought the flower from Mexico in 1828, this flower is the epitome of christmas. I vaguely remember learning how to perfect painting a red poinsettia back in elementary school, and hanging mine on the student artwork board, one of my proudest moments. You don’t have to wait till christmas to break out this flower—gift it to someone who needs a smile.

Purple Hyacinth: please forgive me
 The namesake of this flower is after Hyacinthus, a pretty young spartan prince, who was both adored by Apollo, the sun god and Zephyr, the wind god. Zephyr spotted Apollo and Hyacinthus having a game of discus, and in his jealous rage, blew the discus back, and it then striked Hyacinthus at the head, killing him. Out of his blood, the first hyacinth flower grew. Gift this flower to one who you’ve wronged, in hopes of forgiveness. 

Heather: protection  
The only reason why I chose to discuss this flower is because of the movie, Heathers. A favorite movie of mine, if someone told me to guess this flower’s meaning I would’ve said “revenge” or “regret,” as Heather Duke becomes the new clique leader. Aside from the movie, this flower, I assume, should ward off the evil eye, or keep one in good health from illness. You could also use this flower to say “I will protect you,” or “I ask for protection.” 

Myrtle: love
If you’ve read the “Harry Potter” series, you obviously know who Moaning Myrtle is. Killed by a Basilisk in the series, she lives as an immortal ghost in an abandoned bathroom, wailing and crying her eyes out. Desperate to be emphasized and loved, she floats throughout the castle, spreading gossip. Apart from morose “Harry Potter” characters, this flower carries a simple meaning, and is synonymous with a red rose. It isn’t as well known, but if you want a subtle way to say “I love you,” add some myrtle to your bouquet.

A long, long time ago, when dogs talked instead of barked, and snakes had legs instead of none, we the human beings on earth had a narcissistic moon. The sun came and went as it should, and so did the moon. Now, our moon loved himself. He loved himself so much that he thought he was the most beautiful thing in this world, up until now.

One night, as the sun was setting, and the moon was rising, the turtles began to crawl up the shore. Their radiant shells glistened under the moonlight, catching the moon’s attention. “Well, hello there, Ms.Turtle,” the moon spoke. “What a lovely night we are having, aren’t we?”

“Why, yes it is, Mr. Moon,” the turtle replied as she was searching for food.

“Oh, and how marvelous my reflection is on this bright blue ocean floor!”

The turtle rolled her eyes but reluctantly agreed. Suddenly, a glimpse of the turtle’s shell caught the moon’s eye. The moon became envious of the slow-walking turtle. 

“Oh my, Ms. Turtle, your shell is so bright and beautiful, I wish I had a shell just like yours.” 

Ms. Turtle shook her head. “Be happy with who you are. Appreciate what you’ve got. There’s only one you, and not another.”

But the moon was caught up in his own little world and ignored what the turtle said. The turtle started to descend back to the ocean. As the moon stared at his reflection, wondering what to do, he said out loud, “I’ll change myself and become more beautiful too!”

As the night grew, the moon morphed himself to look like the turtle’s shell. The sun rose, the moon set and the cycle repeated all over again. The moon was admiring his new shape in the reflection of the ocean, when suddenly the water splashed and made a commotion. “Why hello good dolphins. Do you like how I look? Cause I sure do,” the moon said.

The dolphins giggled and laughed. “Honestly, you look kinda fat. Turn into a crescent like us. You’ll like it.”

The moon thought for a minute. What the dolphins had said consumed his thoughts. The moon thought, “I shall take their advice and change my shape again.” Outloud, the moon came to his conclusion and announced, “I shall look more beautiful just like my old self again.”

 So as the next night came, it was the moon’s time to shine, when a sassy slithering snake slid by. “You’re ugly! What happened? Just go away, no one likes looking at you.” That really hurt the moon’s feelings. He got depressed. He disappeared, just like the snake said.

 As the time went on, the moon didn’t show. He was thinking about what the snake had said. He realized he should ignore him, and listen to what Ms.Turtle said. He should try to love himself again. Slowly, he became a full moon again, but he was still insecure. Over time he tried to pull himself together, to make his mind and heart become whole again.