Power Flowers

Introduction When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other. - Chinese Proverb Through the ages flowers have delighted and empowered us. Shakespeare talks about the sweet smell of roses. The Koran tells us that flowers feed the spirit. Henry Beecher thought they were the sweetest things God had ever made without a soul. And who could forget the flower children of the sixties, with their message of love and peace. Or the mysticism of oil and incense? We pay tribute to births and deaths with sprays of these delicate beauties. A bride carries flowers down the aisle, and at the wedding reception, she tosses her bouquet, a symbol of eternal love, for someone to catch. We embroider flowers on our hand towels and add them to our lotions and perfumes. We press a rose from a loved one between the pages of a book. We dry lavender from a garden so we'll have its sweet scent in the dead of winter. Flowers boost our emotions. Wouldn't Mondays be easier to deal with if someone sent us a bright, scented floral bouquet for our desk? Besides their intrinsic appeal, flowers are valued by the homeopathic community for their healing qualities. They're also used for purification and rituals. Myths and legends abound around the eternal flower. In POWER FLOWERS, you will discover the wonders and uses of flowers such as gardens, aromatherapy, edibles, crafts, their personal language and the carnivores of the plant kingdom. An easy reference chart of basic floral information has been included at the end of the book. If you would care to take notes, blank pages have also been provided for your convenience. So please come with me to a world that will delight your senses and give you peace of mind.