25 Carnation Facts: Learn More About This Beautiful Flower

Carnation flowers are a symbol of love and are commonly gifted to show your love for family, and the love for friends.

Carnations have been a part of human culture since the Greek and Roman periods. These flowers symbolize human emotions and are featured in many occasions and celebrations.

Carnations are naturally available in a range of colors, including purple-pink, white, red, and many more. Carnations are one of those flowers that are used for all occasions in life, both happy and sad. Not only for occasions, but these flowers also offer medicinal benefits as edible flowers.

There are a few countries that use carnations for funerals. Sometimes, they're also considered as a symbol of bad luck. These flowers grow naturally in Eurasia and the Mediterranean as well.

Facts About Carnations

Carnation flowers are synonyms for fascination, allure, enchantment, and enthrall. According to Cristian legends, these flowers grew from the tears of the Virgin Mary when she saw Jesus Christ carry the cross. That's the reason these carnations are associated with motherly love. Let us explore the wonderful facts about this beautiful and delicate flower.

• Different countries use different colors of carnations for different occasions, but most often, pink carnations are used for Mother's Day. A pink carnation is used to show gratitude.
• A white carnation is used as a tribute to family and worn on family occasions. White carnations symbolize purity and are a great gift for family members.
• A red carnation flower is gifted to express admiration and deep love. Red carnations are most often used along with red roses for romantic proposals and are a popular choice on occasions such as Valentine's Day.
• Both red and pink carnations are used for Mother's Day, Father's Day, and Teacher's Day as well.
• People born in January have carnation as their birth flower.
• This delicate flower is often used in funeral bouquets to symbolize the delicate balance of life.
• Spain, Monaco, and Slovenia have carnations as their national flower. Portugal chose the carnation as their national flower along with four others.

The Lifespan Of Carnations

Carnation flowering plants are perennial plants, and they are grown every year by gardeners. The carnations are very delicate plants and need delicate care and attention. They grow annually through seeds. There are a wide variety of carnations that grow in various temperatures, preferably in moderate climatic conditions.

• A carnation plant generally flowers a single flower, but hybrid varieties grow more than one flower.
• The general lifespan of carnations is a year. These plants go into dormancy in winter as frost begins and they grow back from roots during spring.
• Carnations also grow from seeds.
• Depending on the variety chosen, the carnations may start flowering anywhere between six weeks and a year. They bloom all summer long.
• Carnations are lovely cut flowers that remain fresh for a week or two if taken care of properly.
• If you're interested in experimenting, you can change the color of a white carnation flower by dipping it into water colored with food coloring.
• Carnations have both male and female reproductive organs and can self-pollinate.
• Though not all carnations attract butterflies and bees into your garden, they certainly add beauty to the garden.

Various Uses Of Carnations

The carnation flower is a testament to itself, and it's appealing not only for its beauty but also for the multiple health benefits it has. Liked for their mild, long-lasting fragrance, the carnations were widely used for their health benefits as well.

• Carnations are edible flowers.
• They were traditionally used to scent wines as an alternate to costly cloves. Chartreuse is prepared from the petals, which is a French liquor.
• Also, they have many medicinal benefits and were used to treat ailments such as the common cold and heart ailments.
• Drinking carnation flower tea is good for your metabolism.
• Widely used in bouquets and flower garlands carnations of all different colors are used in all life occasions; from birth to death.

History Of Carnations

A carnation plant is a delicate flowering plant. This flowering plant has been known since Roman and Greek times. Also known as the 'flower of love,' the carnations are known to be one of the oldest cultivated flowers over the centuries. No wonder they are very well-loved across the world.

• In Greece, carnations are used as ceremonial flowers and placed in ceremonial crowns. Hence, the name carnation.
• The scientific name for a carnation flower is 'Dianthus Caryophyllus'.
• In the Greek language, the meaning of 'Dios' is Zeus, which translates to God, and 'Anthos' is a flower. Hence the name of this flower is derived from these two Greek words and is known as the 'Flower of God'.
• Oxford University students have a culture of wearing carnations for exams as well. A white carnation flower is specially worn on the first day of the exam.
• Historically, these flowers were used in the flavoring of wines.