Flowers, herbs, and roots have always held an important place in any culture due to their use for medicine, ritual, and decoration. I'm sure therapeutic and spiritual use increased their decorative value. Archeological evidence shows botanical ingredients in funerary preparations by ancient Egyptians. The Roman goddess of flowers, Flora, had her own temple and festival. They were particularly fond of roses, and used them as garlands, in their food, scattered rose petals on floors, and showered them over their armies in victory marches.
Victorian era decorations were profuse with flowers - on walls, carpets, dishes, and more. They even developed a language of flowers, which enabled a bouquet to double as a message.
Today we enjoy decorative art from all ages of civilization, and even combine past and current traditions. Technology enables us to reproduce the two images above as posters. Examples at the top and bottom of this post are some of my floral works. Again, thanks to modern technology, these images can be placed on greeting cards, postcards, or numerous other objects that you use every day.
