Flower symbolism helps us transfer our messages and emotions to people we love. What is more, some of the purest and strongest emotions can’t be express through words.
The other times, our minds simply go locked and we can’t find the right words. That is why we have faith in all those beautiful flowers surrounding us and teaching us more about the world and about ourselves.
The amazing Japanese Sakura flower is a flower that grows on a cherry tree and carries so deep symbolic and value we are about to describe in this article.
What Is The Meaning of the Sakura Flower?
No matter of the size of a flower, each one of them has its own value and meaning. When you get to know something more about the origin of a flower, you can understand its meaning better.
Flowers are here to complement our emotions and ceremonies and the Sakura flower is no exception here.
The main meanings of the Sakura flower are:
• Spring is coming,
• A new family member,
• Shortness of youth.
Sakura flower means that spring is just around the corner. When you see the first Sakura flower blossoms, you know that winter is over. That is why artists associate the Sakura flower to rejuvenation, birth, and rebirth. Sakura flower decorates pathways and alleys with its sweet and scented blossoms, which makes everybody happy as people know spring is coming once the Sakura blossoms.
If you are looking for a flower that will welcome a new family member (a newborn) in your home, the Sakura flower is the best flower for such happy occasions. Sakura flower has a strong symbolic value when we talk about the tradition, as it describes the happiness of the partners and their relatives when a baby is on its way.
However, the Sakura flower reminds us that youth is not endless – it passes away faster than we can imagine. The most beautiful years of our lives pass almost seamlessly and when they are gone, we are asking ourselves what did we do wrong. Sakura flower tells us that nothing lasts forever, especially those most beautiful moments and things in life. Everything has an end, but the Sakura flower, however, doesn’t have negative connotations. A
ctually, this flower reminds us of our passing through life and the fact we are not enjoying ourselves as we should do. Don’t let life pass you by, enjoy even small things and take the best memories with you wherever you go. Life is short so there is no time for bitter emotions or anger. Youth doesn’t last long, but make it worth remembering. Sakura flowers live for a short period of time, as they only announce spring, but never lasts more than a week.
The Etymological Meaning of the Sakura Flower
Sakura flower comes for the family of Prunus. As we already mentioned, this is a flower of the cherry tree, which got its name from the Latin word cerasum and from the old French word cherise.
It also has a root in the Greek language, from the Greek word Krasous, which means region and represents a region in Greece called Giresun.
The Symbolism of the Sakura Flower
We can compare year seasons to the life of humans. We should stop for a minute and just admire a quiet surface of the lake, riverbed, purity, and shine of the snow scenes, blossoming flowers, and trees, bees flying around – there is so much happening in nature we don’t notice sometimes.
The very beauty of Japan is even more picturesque as the Japanese care a lot about their tradition and culture and nurture it through all seasons. That is why spring is no exception when the Japanese celebrate the cherry blossoms – Sakura flowers, following with the festivities in summer, embellishments in September etc.
However, seems that the Sakura flower, or the cherry blossom, gets a specific type of attention and utmost care. Even though there are cherry trees and the Sakura flowers in Europe too, and the Europeans adore the cherry trees and their fruits, Japan still appreciates the flowers more. More than two hundred varieties of cherries that don’t give fruit grow in Japan, but the Japanese adore then because of their scent and fascinating beauty.
The beauty of the Sakura flower inspired artists, poets, emperors, princesses, but ordinary people also. Sakura flower represented the emerging Sun in ancient Japan. Sacrum, or the cherry blossom in Japanese, is a combination of multiple symbolic meanings, such as relationship, life, death, femininity, birth, courage, and nostalgia.
Cherry blossoms live for only 7 to 10 days, but during this week whole city is ornamented with magnifying white, delicate pink, gentle and light-red colored petals, bringing new life and spring after long and cold winter. As some branches of cherry trees touch the ground, this makes an impression of a bridge or a cloud so everything resembles of a fairy tale.
Japan narrates a legend about their goddess Ko-no-hana-sakuya-hime who is responsible for the cherry blossoms and the Sakura flowers. She awakens the new year by giving some warm breath to the air and making the cherry blossoms come out and dress everything into amazing colors.
Gentle Sakura flower symbolizes the transience of life and youth. When its bulk petals fall off to the ground, that creates an image that even the most beautiful things are about to pass. However, the fact that the Sakura flowers appear with the first sun rays that melt the snow, this flower also symbolizes that even cold and ugly days are about to pass. Sakura blossoms remind of a crown and resemble of huge clouds appearing and disappearing in the sky.
Buddhists also appreciate the Sakura flower and they consider it a symbol of the transience of things that create both happiness and sorrow but enrich our lives and experiences.
The beauty of the Sakura flower is described in many works of art – poetry, painting, and music. The Japanese express the Sakura flower through numerous motifs – in paintings, sew it on kimonos and gowns, drink the cherry blossom tea, especially during wedding ceremonies, and sing traditional songs about the Sakura flower. Kabazaikuu is a traditional Japanese art of making decorative boxes out of the cherry tree, in which ones they preserve tea, sugar, coffee, tobacco, and some personal items.
Sakura Flower – Color and Meaning
Colors of any flower help us see things from another perspective and take the wider image. Sometimes the color of a flower complement with its meaning and symbolic completely, but this is not always the case. Some flowers come in dozens of different colors and the Sakura flower is one of them. Sakura flower comes in a couple of different shades too, while its main colors are pink, white, purple, and yellow.
The most common color of the Sakura flower is pink or bright pink. The pink color is a symbol of love, affection, romance, charm, tenderness, and all beautiful and gentle emotions and feelings. When you see the pink Sakura flower, it will instantly make you think about persons you love or a person towards whom you feel romantic attraction and gentleness.
White Sakura flower symbolizes spirituality, faith, innocence, purity, hope, religion, and sincerity. There is something divine and supernatural in the white Sakura flowers, as they carry specific symbolic and catch attention easily. This species of the Sakura flower is not the largest, but the white color is equally mesmerizing and enthralling as any other color, and maybe even more.
Yellow Sakura flower is a symbol of positive energy, good vibrations, friendship, joy, happiness, new opportunities, and family bonds. If you want to make your garden stand out and attract new, positive energy into your life, the yellow Sakura flower will do miracles. Anytime you look at it, this beautiful flower will fill you up with some positive and magical vibes and give you energy for the day.
Purple Sakura flower represents beauty, mystery, mysticism, royalty, spirituality, and charm. Dark purple Sakura flowers usually have small pink splashes, which makes them completely adorable. If you want to impress someone with one of the most beautiful flowers and charm them at the same time, the purple Sakura flower might be the right pick for you.
Botanical Characteristics of the Sakura Flower
Cherry wood is widely used in the production of high-quality furniture, wooden boards for painting, and various sculptures. As we already mentioned, the Japanese grow numerous cherry trees that don’t even give fruits, differently from the Europeans.
If you want to grow a cherry tree, we have good news for you – it is pretty much an easy job. You can propagate the cherry tree from the seed. The Japanese plant cherry trees all over the country – along with the main roads, river banks, parks, and numerous gardens. Cherry tree loves a lot of light and heat – this is a distinctive helophyte plant. When the average daily temperature reaches around 10 ° C, you can expect the flow of your cherry tree. If you want to fertilize it, do this when the temperatures reach 15 ° C or more.
Even though the cherry tree likes warm and hot weather, it is tolerant to cold, as it turns into a deep sleep during winter. Don’t worry about your plant even if the temperatures lower down even to -30 ° C.
However, if your cherry tree had a rough year (for example, it didn’t get enough water during the past vegetation, cold autumn, or was attacked by pests), then the maximum level goes to -24° C. Yellow and light red cherries have lighter bark and more resistant vegetative organs to cold, while red and dark red cherries are less resistant.
Roots of the cherry trees are highly absorbent, so you will never see it soak in water. If the precipitations are well distributed during the year, your cherry will reach its maximum growth in a short period of time. Cherry tree can’t stand high humidity, so the tree actually dries air making it optimal.
However, when the air gets relative humid, your cherry tree will blossom, while increased precipitation worsens up the situation as it cracks the fruits. However, there is not much you can do about growing the cherry tree in the right way, except for planting it in the right place and watering it during the growth.
Sakura Flower – Fun Facts
Sakura flowers are edible so that you can pickle them, salt them, or drink a traditional Japanese tea made of these flowers. What is more, the Japanese loved the Sakura flower so much they made an ice cream of it!
Hanami is the name for the traditional Japanese custom of making a picnic underneath the cherry tree. This custom dates from the time of Japanese emperors and members of the Imperial Palace.
According to calculations, the Sakura flowers open on the 4th of April almost every year.
A cherry tree can reach up to 75 feet in height, which makes it one of the biggest trees in the world.
Conclusion
Every flower tells us something openly, but there is some hidden messages flower hide. We couldn’t imagine life without flowers and colors as they truly brighten our days and help us express our emotions.
The hidden message the Sakura flower tells is us to always grasp life and enjoy every moment, as we don’t know how long something will last. Don’t run away from your emotions, be in tune with them and listen to your heart – is another secret message of the Sakura flower.
Beauty passes quickly, but what is within stays forever, so pay attention to the inner beauty but scratch underneath the surface in order to reveal true values. Sakura flower welcomes new people in our lives, especially the newborns and predict them a long and happy life.
Always believe in yourself, have hope, and look for new adventures, keeping your spirit free and young. In other words, the Sakura flower tells us to live our lives to the fullest, no matter of our age.
