Scents Invoke Memories

A forced tulip blooming on my counter wafts a scent that suggests

that spring is on the way but it also reminds one of the value of

scents of plants. Scents evoke strong and often poignant memories. We

smell lavender and think of our grandmother. A certain perfume will

persist in a car days after a certain woman has been in it.

Valentine’s Day is often associated with flowers, their scents, and

love.

Scented herbs and flowers were once used in early centuries to

dispel the odors that permeated both castles and huts. They were

strewn on the floor and as people walked, the plant material was

crushed and pleasant scents floated up. Friends recently used that

technique by scattering pine tips on their garage floor for a large

party with many guests. The scent permeated the garage and drifted

into the house, creating an aromatic image of northwoods hospitality

that will linger in memory long after the event.

Perhaps scent is one of the ways flowers and herbs acquired their

meanings as people used them to communicate messages. In eras when

people weren’t educated in reading and writing, it also was a means

to interact, much as we use e-mail, the telephone, or letters.

Flowers are still used in Christian symbolism. For instance, the

Christmas rose comes from a legend about a shepherd girl crying

because she had no gift to give Jesus. An angel turned her tears into

a bouquet of white flowers - a powerful mode of saying that one need

not be wealthy to give a princely gift.

Flowers have conveyed meaning in other ways also. The Greek

goddess Asterea, looking down from the heavens at the earth, saw no

stars. That legend explains that her tears became the star-shaped

flowers known as asters. (Aster is the Latin word for star.)

Over time folklore gave meaning to so many different flowers that by

the Victorian age there were even dictionaries available with the

name of a flower and its meaning. This is known as floriography. Even

without a dictionary people were well aware of flower meanings and

how combining flowers in a bouquet could send imply a complex

message. Small bouquets were often given in ornate holders called

tussie-mussies to a romantic interest. The recipient could accept

the bouquet or reject the message (and thereby, the giver) by letting

it remain untouched.

With Valentine’s Day approaching, perhaps another suggestion is in

order for gardeners. Express feelings to a sweetheart or to a

friend or colleague with packages of seeds for them to grow or plants

to be delivered at planting time; the message could keep on giving

year after year. It would create a memory that could persist and

grow as the relationship does or be ripped out the ground if love

dies or friendship dwindles. Zinnia (thoughts of absent friends) and

coreopsis (good cheer) seeds might be great for a friend living far

away. Heliotrope (devotion) and ivy (faithfulness) might fit a rocky

marriage. Of course, a poem would be a nice accompaniment.