Iris

Iris

 
 Iris

Cancer, Virgo

Connection to source energy, Healing with color

Iris are perennials that grow from 6 inches to up to 40 inches. Flowers grow on stalks and are in many colors, including blue, purple, yellow, white, pink, red, orange and brown.  Most Iris varieties have flat leaves that fan out around the stalks.

Iris roots are rhizomes, which grow at the soil surface, and produce horizontal roots and new flowering stalks for the plant. The iris plant can easily be propagated by dividing the rhizomes. Some Iris varieties are grown from bulbs. More than 60,000 cultivars (types of iris) are grown. A common name for some types of iris is "flags."

In Japan, Iris is known for its purifying energies and the flower is worn to protect the wearer.

Iris, in Greek mythology, is a goddess of the rainbow and is a messenger of the gods.  She was also known as a goddess of the sea and sky. Iris has unique capabilities related to her goddess status.  The plants receive source energy/divine energy as all living things do but what makes Iris unique is that the purpose of the plants are to to be open to receive source energy or the energy of the heavens. Iris is one of the light workers of the plant family and you can become familiar with Iris to work in partnership with the plant to leverage this unique capability. You can sit near Iris plants and absorb the energy they are receiving.  For those who practice shamanic journey, the stem or leaves of the Iris plant can be used as an energy conduit or focal point to jump into the lower world. Iris can also be used in combination with the wind as a jumping off point to the middle world.

If you are specifically drawn to Iris you can contemplate whether you could benefit from the energy Iris receives from the heavens or whether you need to be more open to receiving source energy.  You can work with the energy Iris brings in your own light worker practice, and to receive high vibration energy that you and others can use with the intent to heal.  As Iris is goddess of the rainbow, Iris will assist with healing with color.

Iris is poisonous if ingested. The plants are deer and rabbit resistant.

Iris is available in many varieties:

• African Iris (Dietes bicolor) - likes full sun and is drought tolerant. Produces white flowers accented with yellow and blue.
• Bearded Iris (Iris germanica) - also known as German Iris.  Many types are available with plants growing from 8 to 38 inches high. Flowers bloom in a variety of colors, depending on variety, from mid-spring to early summer and require good drainage.
• Dutch Iris (Iris hollandica) - grows from bulbs and blooms in spring. Likes full sun and well drained soil. Popular with florists due to long stems and long lasting flowers.
• Dwarf Crested Iris (Iris cristata) - grows in part to full shade and blooms in white, purple and blue from March to May. Clusters of leaves grow from 4 to 16 inches high with flowers 2.5 inches wide.
• Japanese Iris (Iris ensata) - will grow in shallow standing water and poorly drained soil. Also known as the Butterfly Iris.
• Louisiana Iris (Iris brevicaulis, Iris fulva, Iris giganticaerulea, Iris hexagona, Iris nelsonii) - five species native to Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. These plants tolerate swamp conditions, like full sun and are dormant in August and September. 
• Siberian Iris (Iris sibirica) - blooms in late spring and early summer and will grow in poorly drained soil. Plants produce clumps of grassy leaves, and are native to Northern Italy, Turkey and Southeast Russia.
• Walking Iris (Neomarica gracilis) - attracts bees, butterflies and birds. Grows from 10 to 36 inches high and usually has 12 leaves.

Peony

Tree Peony

Paeonia

Scorpio

Vibrancy, Winter

Peony is a perennial known for it's large showy pink, red, white or yellow flowers in spring and summer. Newly planted peonies may take up to three years to produce flowers.  Mature plants may require support as the number of flowers may cause the supporting stems to bend to the ground. Peony plants require little care and can survive winter temperatures to -30 degrees F, with some able to tolerate -50 degrees F.

Peonies are native to Asia, Europe and along the Pacific Coast in North America.  Tree Peony is native to China.

Peonies are available in two types:

• Herbaceous Peony likes full sun.  Plants grow to 4 feet and blooms are up to 6 inches in diameter.  A well established plant may have several dozen flowers. Herbaceous Peony can be divided. At the first frost, these plants die back to the ground and reemerge in the spring. These plants have been known to live in the same place for 50 years or more. They are deer resistant.
• Tree Peony (Paeonia suffruticosa) typically grows to 5 feet tall but can grow up to 10 feet tall and are 4 to 5 feet wide. The plants like partial shade and well drained soil. In the fall, the plants loose their leaves but the woody branches remain visible through the winter. Tree Peony is grown from seed or grafts. 

The two energetic aspects of this plant, vibrancy and winter, provide balance for each other. The Peony flowers are bold and are produced in high numbers in spring and summer, showing us the bold aspects of vibrancy.  Peony is for those who like life bold and colorful, who live with vibrancy.  This is the energy that can be used to provide focus and, more importantly, the action needed to create and complete projects, from planning a party to producing a software release. The vibrancy will carry the planner and the project to completion.

One who is familiar with peony energy may also be thankful for the dormancy in winter.  Peony either dies back or loses its leaves, but either way it becomes quiet and is prepared for extremely cold temperatures of winter.  We can learn from this example that winter can be a time of quiet rest. The darkness can be used as a time of contemplation and planning, and the cold a way to slow down and prepare for the action that spring and summer will be sure to bring.

People who chose to work with Peony have the best of all seasons - the vibrancy of the full sun of spring and summer, and the time to contemplate and plan during winter.

Coneflower

Echinacea

Pisces

Knowing, Healing

Coneflower is also called Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), a wildflower native to eastern and central North America that is used to treat bacterial infections. It also refers to Yellow Coneflower (Echinacea paradoxa) which also has a cone center surrounded by yellow droopy petals.  The "paradoxa" references the paradox of this plant having yellow flowers instead of purple. This paradox points out the uniqueness of people who work with Coneflower medicine - they make look like everyone else but have a better sense of knowing, both themselves and through all of their senses, including their connection to spirit.

Coneflower grows from 2 to 4 feet in height and likes full sun. The purple and pink flowers blooms in the summer and often into the fall.  It grows well in many types of well drained soil, including soil with clay. The plant is heat, drought and deer resistant. This suggests resilience and tolerance which are traits of people who know themselves, who know their own resilience and are tolerant of those conditions, places and people who are not like themselves.  This knowing extends to intuition or claircognizance, where people who are attracted to Coneflower were born with strong intuition to see into the dark: to know the truth of others, their true nature and motivations and their true personalities, which may or may not match with what they say. The concept of knowing may be seen in people with a strong sense of purpose, such as professional athletes, painters and others who have a passion for what they do.  To outsiders, these may look like extraordinary abilities.  To the individual, the unique ability feels very comfortable, and they likely see themselves as no different than anyone else. 

Coneflower attracts birds and butterflies which is symbolic of connection to higher realms of intuition and knowing. 

If the flowers are left on the stems, the plants will self seed.  The leaves and flower petals are edible. Roots are used to make echinacea tea. 

The plant was used historically by Native Americans as a medicinal herb. Extracts from the plant roots and leaves are used currently to treat colds and the flu and some have used it to treat other types of infections such as ear aches. It has also been used to reduce inflammation and has been explored for use as an antioxidant. 

Echinacea comes from the Greek word echinos meaning sea-urchin in reference to the spiny appearance of the center cone on the flowers. 

Sedum

Sedum

Sedum

Gemini

Strength, Steadfastness

Also called Stonecrop, Sedum refers to a variety of  perennial plants that have thick, succulent leaves that store water along fleshy stems and grow flower clusters in pink, red, white or yellow in summer and fall.  The plants very from 3 inch tall creeping sedums that are frequently used as ground cover to tall sedums that grow up to 3 feet in height.

As flowering plants, Sedum attracts birds and butterflies. The plants are deer and rabbit resistant.  Sedum can be easily divided for propagation into more plants. Once established, Sedum is drought tolerant and requires very little watering. Sedum will grow in rocky soil.

Sedum plants have thick stems and leaves that are symbols of strength.  Sedum bring to us several concepts of strength.  The first is the concept of inner strength.  Call on the energy of sedum when you need to fine tune your inner strength or to shore up the strength you need to carry a project to completion.  These energies can also be used to remind us of our own strength when surrounded life challenges.

Tall sedum plants have many stalks bearing flowers.  Think of these stalks as a group of people who are like minded who are standing together.  They can also represent your family group or friend group.

The strength sedum brings also carries the energy of steadfastness.  If the family of sedum is of interest to you, you likely have beliefs that have evolved over time into a solid base of who you are.  You use this base of beliefs to make sense of the world around you and the world of spirit and can use that base to navigate both easily. Sedum energy also introduces the question of whether your beliefs are too firmly based.  Can you see the perspective of someone else introducing a new idea or are you willing to discard old beliefs that no longer serve you? 

Sedum points out the choices we have in how we progress through life. What do you prefer?  The relative safety of growing close to the earth, safe from the wind, or taller and more visible, yet vulnerable to more risks? Or do you choose a combination of both?

• Creeping Sedum - produce clusters of star-shaped flowers in yellow, pink or white.
• Tall Sedum - grow up to 3 feet with succulent leaves along the stems with flower clusters in summer or fall.

Baby's Breath

Gypsophila

Capricorn

Baby's Breath

Creation, Eternalness, Profusion of Life

Available as an annual or perennial, Baby's Breath is a dense plant with very small white flowers.  Some varieties produce small pink flowers. The plants prefer full sun but will grow with 4 to 6 hours of direct light per day. The plant grows to 3 feet in height and width.  Baby's Breath blooms for weeks during the summer, often from May until August, and attracts bees and butterflies.

The flowers are commonly used in bouquets and flower arrangements.  Single stalks can be used to augment a bouquet, bringing to mind the value of one single flower type and the compatibility it has when matched with others - the Baby's Breath is a compliment to them.  The flowers are also used to make bouquets - and when observed, the bouquet is composed of many slender stalks with a profusion of flowers. The whole is greater than each of the stalks. This shows us how, when like-minded individuals grouped together, they can effect a paradigm shift.

The plants are salt, drought and deer tolerant.  he profusion of flowers both on plants in a garden and in those grouped into a bouquet is symbolic of the profusion of life.  It mirrors the profusion of plant life in all of its forms from the plants that propagate through root systems to the weeds that find a toe hold in the crack of a sidewalk.  It shows that life is perpetual and persistent.

The plants like soil with few nutrients, such as sandy soil areas, and enjoys being left alone once established. Like all of creation, the process knows what to do and does not need encouragement or influence from human kind.  The role of humans is to expand the eternalness of the process of creation by taking thought into new areas.

Baby's Breath grows quickly from seed and it can be propagated from cuttings.

The plant originated the area from Eastern Europe to Western Siberia. The scientific name, 'Gypsophila’ means "likes gypsum" in the earth. Gypsum contains calcium which helps plants absorb other essential nutrients.

Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum

Scorpio

Collaboration, Completeness

Also known as Mums, Chrysanthemums are fall blooming flowers. Chrysanthemums wait until the height of summer in many locations, until there are about 10 hours of sunlight per day, to produce buds and then flower 6 to 10 weeks afterwards.  A hard frost stops bloom time. The behavior of this fall blooming flower bring to us the energies of collaboration, cooperation and completeness. Completeness means projects are wrapping up so you can look forward to the next, as well as transitions from the present to completion. The idea of completeness brings the concept of new beginnings. The fall bloom time signifies a time of maturity in the cycle of life.

The plants grow in a range from under 1 foot to up to 6 feet, and are perennials but are often grown as annuals. The flowers are in white and many shades of red, pink, orange, yellow and purple. Some varieties are bi- and tricolor. Blooms are from 1 inch in diameter to 3 inches. 

The lengthy sunlit days needed to begin flowers blooming is symbolic of the time spent learning a trade or honing skills to proficiency or performing a job to the point where one has achieved a number of life goals, such as a stable job, a stable home, a stable family or circle of friends. It represents the jumping off point to levels of higher satisfaction reached through collaboration and cooperation, with work associates, with family and with one's spirituality or spirit.  It very much carries the satisfaction of reaching a plateau, of perceiving that one doesn't have to work so hard to achieve goals, and of the ability to have a more balanced perspective that things really do work out well.

Mums like well drained soil and bloom more profusely if planted in full sun. The wide variety of plant heights and flower sizes and colors are indicative of the wide variety of interests and traits of all of us. 

Chrysanthemums originated in Asia and are now grown worldwide. The flowers are edible. Flowers and leaves are used in Chinese medicine for reducing fever and other uses. The flower has also been studied and is sometimes used for anti-inflammatory purposes. Dried flowers have been used to make tea.

Chrysanthemums can be propagated from seed. New plants are fairly easy to start from cuttings, suggesting that even as the plant represents maturity in the cycle of life, so also does it show us new  beginnings.

Zinnia

Zinnia

Zinnia elegans

Aries

Comfort, Diversity

Grown in a variety of colors and shapes, Zinnias are annual plants native to dry grasslands and can withstand hot temperatures and drought.  Zinnias do well in fertile soil in full sun. Flowers are in shades of white, yellow, orange, red, purple and multicolor.  Some varieties grow up to 4 feet tall.  Zinnias are easy to grow from seed, and progress to flowering plants within weeks.  Flowers continue to bloom throughout summer. At the end of the summer, gather flower heads and allow to dry for seeds for the next year.

The simplicity of growing zinnias and the wide variety of colors imply comfort - a version of life that comes easily and is colorful enough to add some variety to the every day normal.  Zinnia is a great plant for those who want life on an even plane with enough simplicity to even out those highs and lows and enough variety to hold off complete boredom.  Use zinnia if you feel like your lows need to be brought up or if your levels of excitement are so intense you get tired from them.

Zinnia plants and flowers also bring us diversity within the comfort of everyday life.  For those who are willing to take a deeper dive with their experience, to go beyond the every day and to consciously create their desires, Zinnia is a great example for contemplation.  This simple flower that grows easily has levels of complexity: varieties grow from 6 inches to 4 feet tall; have a single row of petals with a visible center or multiple rows of petals; and are in many colors, including multicolor.

Zinnia is unique in that it represents simplicity - the comforts of every day - as well as complexity - the diversity and advancement of your consciously created life.

The flowers attract butterflies and hummingbirds.

The flowers are native to Southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America and South America.