Flowers make our gardens and homes filled up with positive energy and freshness, but they also stand for our emotions and express our feelings. We all sent a message of love by sending flowers to our special person at least once.
Still, we can’t just randomly pick a flower and gift it to a person we love, because we should be familiar with the meaning and symbolism of a flower and its colors.
The great thing is that you can easily find descriptions of almost every species of flowers. People gathered numerous information about flower through centuries and formed a picture we know today.
Some of them date back to a hundred or two hundred years ago, while others date from dozen of centuries in the past.
Today we will talk about the Heather flower more and reveal the hidden symbolism this flower hides.
What Is the Meaning of the Heather Flower?
We should be familiar with the flower symbolism at least for the occasions when we want to gift a specific flower to someone. We believe you can’t imagine a ceremony without flower decorations all around. On the other side, many people usually As every flower has its own specific meaning, we will tell you more about the Heather flower meaning.
The main meanings of the Heather flower are:
• Good luck,
• Independence,
• Admiration.
Heather flower represents fortune and good luck. If you want to wish all the best to someone close to you or if you would want to attract some happiness into that person’s life, then the Heather flower might be an optimal gift. It would be also great to decorate your home with Heather flowers and bring some luck to your family too. People these days search for ways to attract some luck, while the key to all this is very simple – in flowers.
One of the highest values in the century we live in is independence and the Heather flower carries this meaning too. In case someone you know is searching for their way to find recognition and become more independent, give them the Heather flower. The Heather flower will give that person the right amount of courage and motivation he/she needs. Shortly after, your friend or a family member will experience confidence and independence.
Gorgeous Heather flower stands for admiration also and it expresses your deep and true admiration towards someone’s personality and their deeds. Heather flower means respect and honesty and it will send a clear message to someone who should know how much you care.
The Etymology of the Heather Flower
Heather flower’s name originates from the English dictionary. The literal translation of the Heather flower is a filed full of flowers.
As the Heather flowers usually grow in hilly and rocky terrains, they grow in groups and fill large surfaces with their beautiful flowers. The name of the flower was hather initially, while it has changed with time into Heather.
The Symbolism of the Heather Flower
Heather flower comes always carried a strong symbolism through history. People of Scotland believe the Heather flower is a symbol of protection, so they wore the Heather flowers in their pockets or in their bags. This way, the Heather flower assumingly provided them protection from bad things and negative energy.
Another reason why the Heather flower became so popular in Scotland is the war in this county.
The Scottish soldiers wore the Heather flowers as a lucky charm somewhere close to their heart, as they strongly believed in the powers of the Heather flower. During that time, the Scottish avoided taking the pink and red Heather flowers into their homes, as these colors stood for blood so they didn’t want to bring these to their homes and attract bad luck.
White Heather flower has a positive and strong symbolic meaning, as it is believed that fairies live among the Heather flowers. In the third century, there was a maiden Malvina. Malvina was a daughter of a famous poet Ossian who fell in love with a powerful warrior – Oscar.
Unfortunately, Oscar was killed during a battle and Malvina was left alone. Malvina cried so hard for her beloved one that her tears overflew all the nearby fields. However, even though beautiful Malvina was so sad and grievous, her desire was that the Heather flowers bring luck to anyone who walks across them.
Heather Flower – Color and Meaning
Colors usually add on perfect symbolic of any flower, especially the ones who come in multiple nuances. Heather flower comes in purple, pink, and white color.
Pink Heather flower, as we already mentioned, was a symbol of blood in the past centuries. However, the Heather flower in this color today represents femininity, motherly love, romance, and tenderness.
Purple Heather flower is unique and extravagant and it is a perfect gift for someone towards whom you want to express respect and admiration. Heather flower in this color might not be a perfect romantic gift, as it doesn’t carry an emotional charge, but you can definitely gift it to someone who is close and important to you.
White Heather flower carries symbolism of good luck, fortune, purity, faith, and hope. Gift the white Heather flower to someone to send them your positive and good wishes and give them support through some situation they are dealing at the time.
Botanical Characteristics of the Heather Flower
The first specific thing about the Heather flower is the fact it blooms in the winter and this is the reason why it has a nickname of the queen of winter.
What is more, the Heather flower blooms even under the snow and shows off its luxurious pink, white, and purple nuances.
Heather flower is an evergreen plant and it generally grows up to 30 cm in height, but you can see this flower about 200cm high. You can choose between 800 varieties of the Heather flower species.
Some people mistake the Heather flower with the Erica flower (Calluna vulgaris), which originates from the same genus, but the botanists split these two and made Calluna flower a special category.
Difference between the Heather flower and Calluna is that the Heather flower has a slightly smaller flower, fewer leaves, and blooms mostly in winter and in spring, while Calluna blooms in summer.
We mentioned the Heather flower blooms in winter, but some species of this flower can grow in different weather conditions and you can find them as shrubs or stables. Some of the most interesting species of the Heather flower are Heather carnea and Heather darleyensis. These plants are everlasting and bloom from autumn to spring, while their color changes gradually through seasons. You can grow the Heather hyemalis and the Heather gracilis in pots inside your home.
Heather flower mostly originates from South Africa, but you can find some species that are autochthonous to Europe. Naturally, the Heather flowers grow in mountains and on fields with acidic soils. If you are about to plant the Heather plant in your garden, make sure to find them acidic soil, even though these flowers will adjust to almost any type of soil (even the alkaline ones).
However, what is important when it comes to planting the Heather flower is to find them a human and well-drained, rich soil which is exposed to sun or is slightly shadowed. Heather flower definitely loves moisture, so you should water it almost every day during summer (except when it is eventually raining), but also take care of it in autumn and winter, keeping the soil always well moisturized.
When your Heather flowers bloom, make sure to feed them every two weeks by adding some liquid fertilizer that provides acid reaction. At the end of the winter, when the Heather flower finishes its blooming, prune them so that you enable the new shoots enough space and new flowering cycle in the shortest possible time.
If you are getting the Heather flower seedlings from nurseries, you should know these are usually transplanted going from August to late October or November. When picking seedlings, sort those fresh, with green leaflets aside and make sure none of them have twigs and don’t shrivel.
You can also easily test them by shaking the pot in which the seedlings are. Heather flower is breaded in July and August with cuttings, but you can also share busses in August and September. If you are taking twigs, you will take them from cuttings at 3 to 5 cm of length. Then put the Heather flowers in the ground and cover them with a plastic bottle or nylon and raise them gradually as you notice the plants growing towards the air. In about three weeks, you should plant your Heather plants in the garden and provide them a permanent place.
Some heather flowers grow in a form of a low bush and you can see them along the paths and in rocky grounds in the wilderness, but also in front of tall perennials and in balconies in the cities. In case you would like to transplant the Heather flowers in your garden, make sure to find a place where there is at least 5 of them. Then you can plant them in your garden, but leave at least 25cm of distance between them. Heather flowers will expand rapidly in the second year of growth and spread up in about 50 cm in diameter.
Heather Flower – Fun Facts
Heather flower produces large quantities of nectar and that is why butterflies, bees, and moths like it, as these are the main pollinators of the Heather flower.
You can expect your first Heather flowers to bloom after 3 to 4 years, while it can live for 15 years in general. After these 15 years, Heather flowers will turn into wood. Heather flower will live up to 40 years in the wilderness.
Heather flower is used in the production of stuffing and beddings for pillows and into the production of packaging materials, baskets, and ropes as well.
On the other side, the Heather flower is used for making wines, honey, tea, shampoos, teas, perfumes, and baths.
Conclusion
Flowers generally make a big part of our everyday lives and are appropriate to every occasion. Even though we all have some ideas about the flower meaning our ancestors taught us, but we also make our own notions about them by finding out new information.
The secret message behind the Heather flower is to always look at the brighter side and find the best in every situation – you will never get depressed.
Also, you will attract some new, positive energy, good luck, and fortune with the Heather flower. Heather flower has a rich and long history and it definitely reminds us to believe in good things in life and have faith that everything will turn out the best possible way.
