Happy Mother's Day: Say It With Flowers Though most popular in
the Victorian period, the symbolic use of flowers to send coded
messages dates back to antiquity. It's a language based on a
combination of Chinese, Middle Eastern, Greek and Roman
folklore, literature, mythology and religion, as well as the
plant's physical characteristics. Carnations are traditionally
worn on Mother's Day, either in pink to honor a living mother or
white in memory of one who has passed on. In a bouquet, this
flower stands for pure love, devotion and dedication. Just don't
include any yellow carnations. (That would be "flowerese" for
disdain.) The warm, deep color of the iris is a harbinger of
spring and symbolizes respect, honor, wisdom, hope and valor.
Sunny, yellow daffodils bring the spark of life to the early-
spring landscape and symbolize rebirth, friendship and domestic
happiness. Ancient legend says that a nymph wanting to escape
unwanted attention from a satyr transformed herself into the
daisy. Ever since, this flower h