New Year Greetings Card, undated.

This is Apple Blossom.

Apples grow abundantly in many areas of Britain, particularly in the south-western counties of England and in Kent. These counties are famous for their apples and the cider drink they produce from them.

Many people have one or two apples trees in their gardens and in the past every large country house would have a small orchard of these trees nearby. Consequently in British cookery there are many delicious recipes for dishes using apples.

The carnation is one of our most popular cut flowers. They are frequently included in bouquets and bunches of them can often be bought cheaply at local shops and supermarkets, in a variety of attractive shades.

As a garden flower they have been grown in Britain for many centuries. Shakespeare even mentions them, calling them the 'fairest flowers of the season'.

Often seen in gardens is the smaller variety of this flower, which we call 'pinks'. They have the most beautiful scent.

Bright yellow daffodils are welcomed by everyone as one of the first signs of spring after the dark days of the British winter. Here they are accompanied by pale primroses.

Daffodils grow wild in woodlands and meadows throughout Britain. Many people grow them in their gardens and local councils often plant daffodil bulbs on roadside verges to give a splash of spring colour in town.

The flower is used as a symbol of Wales and is often worn as a buttonhole on the National Day of Wales, St David's Day, on March 1st. 

This old card was undated. 

The lily of the valley is a charming little flower that often appears in Victorian illustrations. It thrives in shady situations and is much prized for it's lovely scent.

It is sometimes called the 'May Lily' after the month when it flowers. 

Here it is pictured with some violets, which flower at the same time of year.

These brightly-coloured flowers are gladioli. 

A few years ago these tall blooms were often seen at the back of flower borders providing some spectacular summer colour for the beds.

It seems to me that recently fewer people seem to go to the trouble of growing them.

They do have to be staked and tied to stop them being damaged in the wind and perhaps this puts people off. 

However enthusiasts still do love to grow them and if you visit a local flower show you often see vases full of these wonderful blooms.

Heather is considered a very lucky plant. Here it is shown with a horseshoe, which is also considered a symbol of good luck, so the wishes here are obviously for a very lucky year ahead.

You can often see a horseshoe nailed up above the front door of a house to bring good luck to the occupiers. Some people hang it pointing down (like this one) to let any bad luck fall out but others hang it the other way up to keep the good luck in. I don't know which is correct!

This New Year card was never posted and is undated.

This photograph of blossom and lilac has been coloured by hand. We do have lilac of two different shades (white and pale purple) in our gardens but not exactly in these strong colours. In fact we use the word 'lilac' to describe the pale purple colour of these flowers.

Some people say that it is unlucky to cut the flowers and bring them indoors. That's a shame because the scent is so lovely. The card was never sent and is undated.

Everyone loves Roses! In summer there is hardly a garden in Britain that does not contain at least one or two rose bushes in bloom.  Although they originated in China, the mild winters and cool, damp summers that we have in Britain really seem to suit them.

I can't resist roses myself, so you can expect to find lots of pictures of them on this site in the future!

This painted card was posted in 1917.

The primrose is a native plant of Britain that can be found growing wild in our woodlands in spring. As they were becoming scarce they are now protected by legislation so that it is illegal to pick the flowers or dig up the plants for your own garden!

Many cultivated varieties are now available and can often be seen in window boxes and gardens early in the year.

This Easter card was posted to Bognor, on the south coast of England, in 1919.

The colour of these pansies is really gorgeous.

The Victorians wrote books on the 'language of flowers', attributing a virtue or emotion to every flower. Pansies were said to look like people standing with their heads lowered in thought and the French word for 'thought' is 'pensee' so the name probably derives from that word.

If you sent someone a bunch of pansies you were therefore 'thinking of them'.

This card was posted in 1935.

A charming old cottage and a vase full of violets. What could be prettier.

Violets have been cultivated for their beauty and lovely scent for many centuries. In Medieval times it was fashionable to grow decorative lawns containing wild flowers such as violets. 

The scent of the flower has been used for perfumes, soaps, jams, sweets, chocolates and drinks. It is even possible to crystallize the flowers with sugar and to use them as decorations for cakes.

This card was never posted and is undated.

This attractive climbing plant is a Clematis. They are often seen growing in combination with climbing roses. The colours of the two flowers really complement each other.

In the country this plant was often called 'old man's beard'.

This is because the seeds look quite hairy. It is said that field mice make the insides of their nests cosy by lining them with these fibres.

I don't know whether this lady would look so calm if she knew there might be mice about!

This card was posted in 1907 to a friend in Pontypridd, Wales.