For the past several days, I’ve been surrounded by flowers. What a wonderful thing! On Sunday, I went on a Secret Garden Tour. On Monday, I went to Wiawaka, and made a tussie mussie. In the words of Mary Dunn, a tussie mussie is a “tiny tightly made nosegay of fragrant flowers and leaves”. “Back when sanitation was poor and a walk down the street was a far cry from ‘getting some fresh air’, both men and women held these tiny, fresh nosegays up to close to their noses to sniff the fragrant leaves and mask the odors of the streets”.
In Victorian times, the language of flowers was important as a means of communication. Some of the flowers and their meanings are such things as calendula for joy, fennel for strength, marigold for grief, sweet cicely for gladness, mint for wisdom/virtue/warmth, rose for love(of course)! (From charts assembled by Pat and Jon Bourdo, and Mary Dunn).
I made the tussie mussie from the beautiful flowers picked from the grounds of Wiawaka, while enjoying the magnificent vista of Lake George. I attached
a tag that said “gladness”. I was glad to be there, and to enjoy the flowers and scenery.
In these times, we need more roses (love), daisys for hope, and rue for light where there is darkness.
Morning glory Moments 