Flowers...Who doesn't like flowers? Their aroma, their beauty. But will someone ask "What kind of maths is in flowers?" I will tell you. We all know how you can measure the time with candles like with an advent candle at Christmas. And an hour glass uses sand to tell the time. But have you heard about Flora's Clock? It was invented by a Swede called Carolus Linneaeus. It uses flowers to tell the time during the day by planting flowers that open at different times. Flora's calendar was a Victorian idea, with flowers representing the months of the year. I took this photo in August of a Scabious, which is the flower for that month. The other flowers in The Calendar of Flora are:
January - Black Hellebore
February - Mezereon
March - Alpine Soldanella
April - Early dwarf Tulip
May - Common Dropwort
June - Cornpoppy
July - Centaury
August - Scabious
September - European Cyclamen
October - Chinese St. Johnswort
November - Serrated Pallasia
December - Smooth Lopezia
So now you know you can tell the time with flowers!
