If you’re on Facebook, you’ve probably taken the “What Flower Are You?” quiz. The quiz questions are pretty random (and frequently misspelled, but don’t get me started on that), and they purport to determine what flower best defines your personality. I took the Facebook quiz and the result was “Daisy”—one of the few quiz results I actually liked.
If I had to pick a flower that suited my personality, the daisy is the one I would have picked – quiz or no quiz. When I got married, my dishes and silverware had a daisy pattern, and when I look around the house, the daisy is still a recurring motif. I’m a happy person—an optimist, a Pollyanna even. I like books with happy endings. Yep, I’m a daisy.
I’m not sure how we came to assign personalities to some flowers (as in daisy=happy; violet=shy), but if you ask people what flower represents their personality, most people can come up with an answer pretty quickly. A forthcoming book, Bouquets with Personality, embraces the personality traits of flowers, and takes it a step further by suggesting the personification of flowers.
The book proposes that flowers not only convey emotion, but take on lives of their own. Some flowers are team players, preferring to blend in and take on a supportive role. Others are dominant by nature; born leaders, if you will. These traits affect the way we group flowers in an arrangement. The same logic can be applied to groups of people—and, in fact, to society at large.
My husband, who strives to convince the world he’s a grumpy old-ish man (we’re exactly the same age, so I had to think twice about using that phrase), chose the rose as his defining flower. First, because he doesn’t know the names of a lot of plants; second, because it has thorns. I have to agree; once you get past his thorns, he’s really very sweet. My daughter also picked the rose because it represents passion and she’s a passionate person. And because the rose’s thorns are sharp and suit her when she’s irritable. And because roses have a wonderful scent and she "always smells good" (*smile*).
Who decides what certain flowers represent? I'm guessing it's tradition—white flowers, like orange blossoms and white lilacs, tend to represent innocence; tall, straight-stemmed gladiolas represent integrity; irises represent valor; peonies represent prosperity; and sunflowers (like daisies) represent happiness.
What about you? What flower (or plant) represents your personality, and why?
A few years ago I decided to "define" myself. I never had a favorite this or a favorite that. So among the favorites that I decided on is my favorite flower- the sunflower. The sunflower touches my heart so deeply that I have two sunflower tattoos. The first was a grouping of sunflowers with "hope" and "courage" written in Chinese and blended in with them. The other is a sunflower with "love" also written in Chinese above it. So is sunflower my final answer? Yes, sunflower is my final answer!!
I'll see if I can figure out how to post pics. The first tat was actually easier because it was on my lower back. I couldn't see what he was doing so I could concentrate on imagining that I was at the beach relaxing. It only hurt when I "left the beach" lol! And I had no lower back pain for a few months- maybe I need another tat back there. If you did get the courage up what would you get? My sister-in-law got her first tat when she was around 60 yrs old- after that was when I got mine She has at least a few tats too. he he- "tats too"- I'm bad
Whenever I look at sunflowers I feel peaceful. I wish I could grow them year round... there wouldn't be a way to grow them inside would there? lol I think I need more sunflower nic nacs around
PS I did a spell check and it wanted to change "sister-in-law" with "scatterbrains". That is way too funny. Sorry I'm a little off subject but I couldn't help it!!
