Thanksgiving is quickly approaching! A time of celebration for Americans around the world, not just stateside. It’s a time famous for its foods and decorations; a blend of traditional meals like turkey, yams, stuffing, mashed potatoes and everything swimming in gravy.
But the decorations of Thanksgiving really give it a signature feeling. Falling between the Spooky month of October and the Festive season of December, it is a hodgepodge of warm and familiar sights. Browning leaves, turkey imagery, roasted colours and homely smelling incenses and flowers.
The best ways to celebrate the season is to decorate your home with Autumn dried flowers. Some flowers are symbols of the thanksgiving joy that will bring the whole family together. Why not go the extra step this year and match them with some classic American iconography? Make your thanksgiving flowers truly extraordinary this year!
Carnations and Autumn Dried Flowers
Carnations are a favourite flower of Americana. Mentioned over 2,000 years ago in Ancient Greek literature, the name is derived from Greek and Latin. Carnation may refer to the Latin “Corona-ae” a wreath or crown, or the Latin “Caro”, which means flesh. Wild Carnations have been found all around the Mediterranean, mostly in old Roman provinces of Spain, Italy, Greece and Turkey.
Carnations were therefore brought to America by European Colonialists, slowly growing a reputation as an American symbol. President William McKinley, born in Ohio, always wore a scarlet carnation in his lapel. President believed it represented respect, love and reverence. The Carnation would later become the state flower of Ohio, out of respect for McKinley’s assassination in 1901. Carnations are still used as symbols of love in America, used for mothers’ days and school proms.
The perfect Thanksgiving flowers to match the beauty of the Carnation is The Amaranté Small Tender Bloom Bouquet. This combination of beauty and respect will impress everyone in your home. They’re the best way of thanking all your loved ones with their scintillating smells and gorgeous appeal.
Feasts of American Foods
One can’t mention Thanksgiving without talking about food! It is often thought that, in North America, Indigenous Americans were largely hunter-gatherers. The common historical faux-pax is to think that was a lack of organised farming, at least in the European sense. That is to say, Indigenous peoples (As a broad strokes generalisation) didn’t “Use” or “Abuse” the land like Europeans would recognise as “farming”.
However, there is a wide variation of agriculture that emerged across the Americas. Though many coastal tribes stuck largely to fish-based diets, and those in arid environs tended to look more to hunting, it is impossible to generalise the vast variety of the First Civilizations. This applies not just in what would become the mainland USA. Mexico and Central America was the centre of American population expansion for centuries. It was here where Corn was first cultivated, with rows and rows of golden heads in large swaths of fields. This concept, and the technology it brought with it, quickly expanded into many parts of the country.
The main food sources of Eastern Coast First Peoples were often Corn, Beans and Squash, known as the “Three Sisters” because they were planted interdependently; each food source helped the other grow! Even Maple syrup is a native American invention, and these influences of cuisine made a massive impact on the first Colonists in New England, leading to the tradition of Thanksgiving meals we know today!
Easily the best thanksgiving flowers to represent the vast differences of cuisine in America is the Rustic Meadow Autumn Dried Flowers. This thanksgiving bouquet will perfectly encapsulate the raw, natural aspect of where the food comes from. Too often, we only see our meals as single ingredients before they're brought together or as a final mean, ready to be served. These thanksgiving flowers remind everyone of the raw wheat from the fields, that made your bread. The simple green leaves that are the basis of life for maple trees or the growths of potatoes. The colour of the Earth that is so plentiful and bounteous for us all!
Trees to Grow Old Under
A now sadly lost feature of the American countryside is the enormous fields of forests. Though there are still many places where trees are protected, the California Redwoods, for instance, their numbers are dwindling. However, in the early days before Colonisation, the forests were a sanctuary.
The Haudenosaunee people of the North East of America had a close relationship with the Spruce tree. They knew tea brewed from the needles was excellent as a source of medicine. Almost an early herbal remedy. That’s not all, but spruce trees were excellent for brewing beer!
The Choctaw people, and other neighbouring tribes, would use the Willow trees to fashion toothbrushes of sorts. These would clean and medicate their gums and keep them from the ills and pains of tooth ache.
The Okanagan People of the Northwest ate yew berries as a form of contraception. The Quinault people further added to this medicinal thinking by using the bark as a pain relief from Arthritis, tuberculosis and kidney disease.
It is easy to see the vast knowledge of the world around them that Native Americans had. Fallen leaves Autumn Dried Flowers are the perfect representation of this botanical importance. A bright, varied and audaciously designed Thanksgiving bouquet. It is the perfect way to remind those around you of the diversity in the world. How every fallen leaf is a story of a tree, hundreds of years old. History is all around us, and should we only look, we’ll find fascinating stories.
Guard the Future, Remember the Past
Right now, as Thanksgiving comes around, we look to the past. We to remind ourselves what we’re thankful for. But we should also use it as a time to look to the future. And think about Thanksgivings to come, where our children will wonder what we were thankful for. Will they be thankful for us?
The best way to ensure that world is by protecting it today. With Amarante’s same-day flower delivery, you can ensure that your home is decorated in the most environmentally friendly way possible. These Autumn dried flowers are hand picked from flowers in season, so you’ll never worry about nasty greenhouse costs driving the carbon footprint. Any footprint made by deliveries is guaranteed to be offset by our own investment.
The great trees of America once guaranteed freedom and security for those who slept underneath them. It is time we provide that security for our children, sleeping under our rooves. Though it may seem small, from such small seeds grow mighty sycamores. Give thanks with truly thanksgiving flowers.
