Blooming Flowers by Kasia Boddy
As a florist who is also a mother of an avid baseball player, I pick up on references I see to these two topics throughout almost every book I read. How is it that baseball and flowers are relatable in some metaphorical way to any situation in human life? Both the mystery of nature and magic of the game must be worthy of my attention. It is with this in mind that I chose Blooming Flowers by Kasia Boddy as Flower Clvb’s book of the month! Though there are little to no baseball references, she takes a deep dive into the ways people have esteemed flowers and found meaning in them throughout history and culture. If anyone knows the baseball equivalent, please do share!
*Kasia Boddy teaches American literature at the University of Cambridge.
One reason we love flowers is because they let us talk to each other about the big and small questions of life: about love, death, class, fashion, the weather, art, disease, an allegiance to nation, religion or political cause, the challenges of space and the passing of time (Boddy xiii).
Overview
A taste for unseasonal flowers dates back at least to the Romans, who imported thousands of roses and narcissi from Egypt during the winter months, and who developed heating systems to speed up their own blooms (Boddy 162).
Divided into four seasons, Boddy dedicates each chapter to specific flowers. Ironically, not all flowers associated with each season in her book, align with the actual time of year they are blooming. I believe the author does this to indicate the ways people have appropriated the earth for their own values and purposes. The tension between the natural state and the human imposed use of the flower is felt throughout the book.
Geraniums, snowdrops, lilies and carnations are just some of the flowers that have served as a status of wealth and privilege in our world. The fact that nations have gone to war over land is not just a matter of real estate, but also of ownership over trees and plants. In the 1960s, flowers were used by anti-war protesters both as a symbol of peace and reminder that flowers bloom for everyone (Boddy 130).
While there are so many different ways that humans have seen and valued floral life throughout history, the two themes in this book that stick out to me the most are sensuality and death. Flowers are consistently symbols of sex and romance, as well as, given to those coping with loss with no particularity to culture, location or time in space.
The chapter that compelled me more than any other, is the one on sunflowers. I have always extolled sunflowers as the most otherworldly of blooming creatures. The way they follow the sun, grow toward exceeding heights and then die so grotesquely resonates with the human experience. One of my favourite movies is Terrance Malick’s Tree of Life. Scenes of sunflower fields compel a consideration towards the ways of nature and grace. I have come to realize that flowers have a greater meaning to me than mere beauty. They communicate about the world without words.
Reflection
Yesterday, I dropped my oldest son off for his first day of kindergarten and can only hope that from here, his love of learning buds and blooms. I think back to my own kindergarten experience with Mrs. Griffin—a nice smelling, chestnut-brown haired teacher— who was kind and caring. She had a jar full of cotton balls, charts for gold stars, large rectangular cards with giant letters and of course stations all around the room for various kinds of learning. She taught us about letters, numbers, animals, outer space and how to use our imaginations to make things.
Though I know it will take time, I am most excited for Jack to learn how to read. It certainly took me a while to get the hang of it. In fact, I think it has taken me well into my adulthood to adopt the habits of a voracious reader. No matter when one starts to embrace the magic of books, my hope is that the fire is lit early. Is it possible that looking at a flower or hitting a baseball into the great unknown of outer space might spark inclination toward wonder? Kids really need no prompting for wonder. On the contrary they need less interference and at most, a paved path into a hidden garden.
My son may not learn to read this year and that is okay. If he can play some ball, look at the stars, climb a few tress and perhaps examine the petals of a flower, that is enough. I like to think of kindergarten as a field full of rich soil just waiting for someone to come along and plant little seeds.
( All the beautiful photography is by Stacey McDonald and pics of my kid are taken by me!)
*Kasia, Broody, Blooming Flowers. New Haven and London. Yale University Press, 2020.
*Tree of Life. Directed by Terrance Malick, performance by Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain. Riverroad Entertainment, 2022.