Project 2010 - Flower of the Month
Motif 01 for January - Carnation
Carnations have been traditionally associated with fascination, which is but fitting for the start and freshness of the new year. Its botanical name is Dianthus, which means divine flower. Carnation was the flesh-pink color that Elizabethan portrait painters used as background wash. The red carnation was said to mean "alas for my poor heart", while a striped carnation would mean refusal. If one would give a yellow carnation, it would mean disdain, while a pink one depicts a woman's love.