Know what makes the June birth flowers unique, as you might want to gift these to a June-born friend or family member!
In today’s guide, we’ll be delving into the meanings, cultural impact, and best gifting occasions of the June birth flowers.
What are the birth flowers of June?
The birth flowers of June are the rose and the honeysuckle. These flowers are in bloom during summer, including the month of June.
What does the rose symbolize?
The rose symbolizes love, passion, and courage, and a lesser-known meaning of the flower is secrecy.
Rose symbolizes love and romance
Red roses are a timeless symbol of love and romance. It is a popular flower gift for Valentine’s Day, anniversaries, weddings, and other romantic occasions.
Rose symbolizes beauty
Roses are delicate and beautiful, and that’s why they’re associated with beauty. Their petals are velvet-like and ruffled spiraling around the center.
Rose symbolizes courage
The most famous rose color, red, makes the flower symbolic of courage and passion.
Rose symbolizes secrecy
Unbeknownst to many people, the rose also symbolizes secrecy.
This meaning can be traced back to ancient times when people gave roses to keep others from divulging a confidential matter.
This is also the basis for the New Latin word sub rosa, which translates to “under the rose” and means something kept hidden.
What are the various rose meanings by color?
Red roses mean love and desire; pink roses mean grace and elegance; orange and yellow roses mean joy, friendship, and energy; and white roses mean purity and innocence.
Red roses mean love and desire
Red roses express the love and passion between two lovers. They represent a romance that strengthens through the years.
These flowers can be given to a crush, partner, or celebrity idol.
Pink roses mean grace and elegance
Instead of romantic love, pink roses convey platonic or friendly love.
Pink roses are excellent gifts for close friends and family members, especially mothers and grandmothers. Therefore, pink roses are most suitable to be given on Mother’s Day or Thanksgiving.
Orange roses mean fondness and energy
Orange roses stand for energy, fondness, gratitude, and happiness.
This makes them perfect for gifting a friend, mentor, kin, or neighbor who has a lively and happy personality.
Yellow roses mean happiness and friendship
Yellow roses connote happiness and friendship. These flowers hold more or less the same meaning as orange roses, as yellow is one of the colors comprising orange.
Thus, yellow roses are most suitable to be given to friends on their birthday, graduation, job promotion, or other special events.
White roses mean purity and new love
White roses signify purity and new love. They’re most commonly seen in bouquets, posies, or table centerpieces in engagements and wedding events as well as baby showers.
What is the cultural relevance of the rose?
The rose holds notable cultural significance in Greece and Europe:
- The rose is associated with the Greek goddess of beauty, Aphrodite.
- Shakespeare popularized an adage mentioning a rose in Romeo and Juliet.
- Roses are England’s national flower.
It is said that the Greek goddess Aphrodite created the rose
A popular Greek legend explains that the rose was created by the Greek goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite.
In the story, she was enamored with her handsome lover, Adonis. But one day, Adonis became mortally wounded by a wild boar.
And so Aphrodite ran and came to his side, crying a pool of tears. These tears mixed with the pouring blood of Adonis on the ground and turned into beautiful red roses.
Roses are England’s national flower
England’s national flower has been the rose ever since the Wars of the Roses. These civil wars for English rule spanned from 1455 to 1487.
The two warring factions in the wars are the House of York and the House of Lancaster.
So the rose’s relevance here is that the former house used the white rose as its emblem and the latter used the red rose as its symbol.
Shakespeare popularized an adage mentioning a rose in Romeo and Juliet
Legendary poet and playwright William Shakespeare brings up the rose in Romeo and Juliet. He wrote, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
This phrase shows that a thing having a different name doesn’t alter its intrinsic nature or qualities.
Applied to the story of Romeo and Juliet, it means love is love even though both Romeo and Juliet belonged to rival houses.
What do roses mean in religion?
The rose is one of the several flowers associated with Mama Mary.
Three colors of roses represent her. The red rose stands for her suffering for her son, the gold or yellow rose signifies her humility, and the white rose represents her purity.
What does a rose tattoo mean?
A red rose tattoo means love and romance, a purple rose tattoo means royalty and admiration, and a pink rose tattoo represents femininity and sweetness.
Roses can be a great tattoo design since their colors are vibrant.
What are the uses of the rose?
Besides gifting, roses can be used in medicinal and decorative ways:
- Roses make gardens and homes attractive
- Rose petals enhance food flavoring
- Rose oil treats skin issues and stress
Roses make gardens and homes attractive
With numerous rose varieties available differing in size and color, roses make excellent greenhouse, garden, and home interior flowers.
Not to mention that each rose carries a certain scent, making one’s home smell fresher.
Rose petals enhance food flavoring
All kinds of roses are safe to eat. The stronger the rose’s aroma, the better the flavor.
The flower’s petals can be added to butter or sugar or steeped in liquid to give the food or beverage a somewhat strawberry-like flavor.
Rose oil treats skin issues and stress
A medical study confirms that rose oil is effective at healing different skin, stomach, and emotional issues when used topically or in aromatherapy.
These illnesses include stress, anxiety, depression, headaches, allergies, stomach ulcers, wounds, and infections.
What does the honeysuckle symbolize?
Honeysuckles mean joy, affection, gentleness, and true love, as the climbing plant extends and twines around nearby structures when growing.
Honeysuckle symbolizes happiness
The honeysuckle mainly symbolizes happiness with its bright flowers. They come in a range of hues from cream white to peach.
Honeysuckle symbolizes fondness
Yellow and orange honeysuckles connote fondness or affection for someone.
Honeysuckle symbolizes true love
The honeysuckle means true love that can be romantic or friendly.
Honeysuckle symbolizes gentleness
The honeysuckle also represents sweetness and gentleness thanks to its sweet and fruity scent. Many people love to wear this fragrance.
What is the cultural relevance of the honeysuckle?
The honeysuckle flower holds cultural significance in Ancient Greece, Great Britain, and modern France:
- In an old Greek tale, the honeysuckle symbolizes love.
- Honeysuckle is included in the Ancient Celtic tree alphabet
- Honeysuckle means love, loyalty, and dedication in France
Honeysuckle represents love in a famed Greek tale
The honeysuckle is symbolic of the love between Chloe and Daphnis in a Greek romance novel written by Longus in the 2nd or 3rd century CE.
In the story, both Chloe and Daphnis were abandoned by their parents from the time they were born, left outside to the cold on the Greek hillsides.
Luckily, they were each adopted by a caring family who lived on a farm close to the town of Mytilene.
Seeing that they both have similar backgrounds, one day, Eros, the Greek god of love, instilled in them a strong desire and love for each other.
So when these young people met, they immediately fell in love with each other.
But since they lived far from each other, Daphnis often felt lonesome. And so he prayed and asked Eros to help him.
The god answered his prayers and let them see each other amid the fields of wonderful honeysuckle flowers. That is how the flowers became associated with this tale.
Honeysuckle means protection to Celts
The honeysuckle was incorporated into the ancient Celtic tree alphabet called Ogham.
Called Uilleand, the honeysuckle alphabet looks like a spiral or cross. It symbolizes protection from bad luck, spiteful actions, and mischievous and evil spirits.
Honeysuckle means love, loyalty, and dedication in France
In France, honeysuckles are viewed as a symbol of unconditional love, dedication, loyalty, and religious vision.
The reason for this is the charming vine plant grows fast and twines around arbors, fences, and gates.
When should I give someone honeysuckles?
Because honeysuckle is a symbol of love and bliss, you can give someone honeysuckles on romantic events, be it a wedding anniversary, Valentine’s Day, White Day, or the like.
Other than that, honeysuckles make for a terrific gift for a woman relative and friend. So feel free to give them during Women’s Day, Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving, or any regular day.
What does a honeysuckle flower tattoo mean?
A honeysuckle flower tattoo means real love.
If you have found the person you’re meant to be with or are trying to attract them, this could be a good tattoo to get.
What are the uses of the honeysuckle flower?
Besides gifting, the honeysuckle flower can be used in the following ways:
- Honeysuckle nectar can be consumed
- Honeysuckle is a beautiful decorative plant
- Honeysuckle treats coughs, colds, and heart disease
Honeysuckle nectar can be sipped as soon as it is picked
Honeysuckle’s name derives from “honey suck” because the nectar can be quickly consumed by the person as soon as the flowers are cut from the garden.
Honeysuckle is a beautiful decorative plant
The honeysuckle is a wonderful and fragrant plant ideal for hanging baskets, arbors, or pergolas around your home or garden.
Plus, this flower is a favorite among hummingbirds and butterflies which pollinate plants.
Honeysuckle treats coughs, colds, and heart disease
According to research, honeysuckle flowers can treat a wide range of health conditions.
Among them are coughs, flu, and inflammatory ailments like asthma, arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
The flower is also used as a supplement to aid the body’s resistance to illnesses. It can be consumed in candy, soup, tea, and wine form.
Due to its efficacy, many modern medications use the honeysuckle flower as an ingredient for the aforementioned conditions.
