February birth flower: violet and primrose

The story behind the February birth flowers

February's birth flowers are the violet and the primrose, both small flowers of English woods and hedgerows. The birth-flower lists were put together in England and America, so February there means the first flowers after winter, not the height of summer. Violets were also a favourite of the Empress Josephine, and Napoleon's supporters used them as a badge.

Their meanings are gentle ones. In Kate Greenaway's Language of Flowers (1884), blue violets mean faithfulness, sweet violets modesty and white violets the pleasures of memory, while the primrose stands for early youth. Violets were a common token between sweethearts in Victorian times, which is why they turn up so often on old valentine cards.

Neither is a February flower in Australia. Violets and primroses are cool-weather plants here and are rarely sold as cut flowers. You're more likely to find them as potted plants at a nursery in the cooler months. A potted primrose or violet makes a fine gift in its own right, but plant it somewhere shaded, because summer sun will finish it quickly.

Valentine's Day makes roses dear this month, so look to the summer buckets instead. Lisianthus comes in lavender and purple shades that echo a violet. Tuberose is in season and gives you the scent a bunch of violets would have had. Hydrangeas give you a lot of flower in one stem and suit a relaxed, generous bunch. Buy in the morning and keep the bunch out of the afternoon heat.

Gift tip: Avoid the week before 14 February if you can, because florists are flat out with Valentine's orders and roses are at their dearest.