April Showers Bring What May Flowers?

You may have heard the phrase “April showers bring May flowers”, but do you know what those May flowers are? I’m going to tell you of three flowers that you might see around Pennsylvania in May.

The three flowers that I will be showing you is the Spanish Bluebell, Tulips, and Peony. These three might seem unfamiliar, but after you see a picture of them, you might recognize them.

The first flower is called the Spanish Bluebell. From its name, you can tell what it looks like. It has small bluish-purple petals that form the shape of a bell and hang down. These flowers originated in Spain and Portugal and were brought over to America. They are perennials that grow using bulbs not seeds. You can relate them closely to Hyacinths. They bloom in the month of April but the petals on a Hyacinth almost exactly matches the Spanish Bluebell. The only difference with the petals is that the Spanish Bluebells hang down and hyacinths have more than just blue for colors. Both flowers are perennials and use bulbs to grow instead of seeds. The Spanish Bluebell symbolizes humility, gratitude, and everlasting love. Bluebells are closely connected to fairies saying that they are used as fairy thimbles.

The next flower is the Tulip. The Tulip is known as one of the most colorful spring flowers to bloom. Its colors can be anything that any gardener could think of. The colors can be anything from any type of yellows, oranges, pinks, reds, purples, and violets. They, too, have bulbs instead of seeds. The Tulip is more common in Pennsylvania. You can’t find any gardening store that doesn’t sell tulips in the spring and any house that doesn’t have tulips planted. The tulip came from central Asia and Turkey. It is thought that tulips came from Holland, but that is a misconception. The tulips leaves and stem is a dark to light green color. Tulips colors add to their symbolism. Red symbolizes love, purple symbolizes royalty, and yellow symbolizes sunshine and happiness.

The final flower that I will show you is called the Peony. This is a classic that is loved by many. It, like the others in this article, is a perennial. The Peony is also a bulb like the Spanish Bluebell and the tulip. Peonies are native plants to Asia, Europe, and North America. Peonies can range in colors of red, pink, white, and blush (a very pale pink). With modern breeding techniques, some achievable peony colors are yellow, coral, and patterned. The peony symbolizes honor. It is also the most popular flower in Indiana weddings due it is meaning a happy marriage.

Now I want you to stop and look sometime when you take a walk or drive and see if you can recognize these flowers. Even though these are not all the flowers you will see blooming in Pennsylvania in May, it’s a great start. If you are interested in learning more about flowers in Pennsylvania, use the resources that this technological world has given us. You will be able to research any plant you want and you can even start your own flower garden. Now, go out there and start planting.