Flowers & Flora
Tartans in full bloom ...
Click any picture to navigate to the page of interest for more information about this tartan or its associated day.
Roses
Feb 7
Rose Day
This tartan, designed by Carol A.L. Martin, was inspired particularly by pink and yellow roses.
Spring Daffodil
Mar 2
the Birthflower of March
By designer Carol A.L. Martin, the colours are reminiscent of daffodils on a clear spring day. From the designer's notes: "The large yellow squares of yellow remind me of the trumpet of daffodils; the green is their leaves; the blue is the sky; the multiple lines overall remind me of how busy the spring can be in a garden."
Pansies
Mar 12
Plant a Flower Day
Japanese Cherry
Mar 24
Cherry Blossom Season
Lochcarron Heather
Mar 27
Heather Ale Days
One of a set of four tartans in 'The Four Seasons' collection to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first treaty between Japan and the UK (1858) and the arrival of Thomas Blake Glover, the Scottish Samurai, in Nagasaki (1859). The sakura (cherry blossom in Japanese) tartan represents Spring.
Sakura
Mar 27
Cherry Blossom Season
One of a set of four tartans in 'The Four Seasons' collection to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first treaty between Japan and the UK (1858) and the arrival of Thomas Blake Glover, the Scottish Samurai, in Nagasaki (1859). The sakura (cherry blossom in Japanese) tartan represents Spring.
Dandelion
Apr 5
Dandelion Day
The common name dandelion, from French dent-de-lion, meaning "lion's tooth" comes from the jagged tooth-shape of the leaves.
Texas Blue Bonnet
Apr13
the Blue Bonnet Festival
The tartan was adopted as the Sequicentennial Tartan and was officialy adopted as the Texas State Tartan on 25th May 1989.he colours of the Texas Bluebonnet district tartan owe their selection to the bluebonnet flower, a member of the lupin family, which is widespread in many parts of Texas. The flower changes colour with the passing of time, the 'brim' becoming flecked with wine red.
Hanami
Apr 19
Cherry Blossom Petal Falling Days
Created to celebrate Hanami (blossom-viewing), a centuries-old Japanese tradition of welcoming the Spring.
MacLaren Albino (Dance)
Apr 29
International Dance Day
This rose was introduced in 1945 at the end of World War II.
Peace Rose
Apr 29
Peace Rose Day
This rose was introduced in 1945 at the end of World War II.
Sweet William
May 28
Flower Days
Sweet William is a favourite name for lovelorn young men in English folkloric ballads, e.g., "Fair Margaret and Sweet William," in which either one or both of the lovers die from heartbreak.
Arctic Tundra
Jun 17
Iceland's National Day
The colours in this design represent the surprising number of flowering plants that grow low to the ground in the harsh climate of the Arctic Tundra of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Scandinavia and Russia.
Icelandic Lupines
Jun 17
Iceland's National Day
This design was inspired by the fields of Lupines found in Iceland, where they were introduced in 1945 to combat topsoil loss. These somewhat aggressive plants display beautiful blue white and purple blooms.
Mountain Avens
Jun 17
Iceland's National Day
This design was inspired by the National Flower of Iceland. Mountain Avens are small evergreen plants with creamy white flowers and they form large colonies on rocky slopes and moorland all over Iceland.
Sunflower
Jun 21
Summer Solstice and Sunflower Day
The colours in this tartan investigate the deeper shades in the sunflower's seedhead.
Wild Mustard Dreams
Aug 5
Mustard Day
The designer of this tartan created this to share with family and friends in South Eastern Wisconsin and Northeast Illinois, where the Wild Mustard flower is a feature of the prairie landscape.
Chrysanthemum
Oct 17
The Double Ninth Festival
One of a set of four tartans in 'The Four Seasons' collection to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first treaty between Japan and the UK (1858) and the arrival of Thomas Blake Glover, the Scottish Samurai, in Nagasaki (1859).
Blooming Poppy
Nov 11
Poppy Day
Designed by Tartans 4 Africa, South Africa, to represent the native wild poppies.
Red Thistle
Nov 17
The Red Thistle Dancers' First Performance (1974)
This tartan was created as a tribute to The Red Thistle Dancers, a Scottish Dance performance group in Palo Alto, California, of whom this site developer is a member.
Red Thistle Dance
Nov 17
The Red Thistle Dancers' 50th Anniversary
This tartan was created as a tribute to The Red Thistle Dancers, a Scottish Dance performance group in Palo Alto, California, to mark their 500th performance.
Red Thistle Dress
Nov 17
The Red Thistle Dancers' 500th Performance (2019)
This tartan was created as a tribute to The Red Thistle Dancers, a Scottish Dance performance group in Palo Alto, California, to mark their 500th performance.
Rose in Full Bloom
Feb 7
Rose Day
There are over a hundred species of roses and thousands of cultivars. Roses have been cultivated since ancient times for their beauty and use.
Daffodils
Mar 2
the Birthflower of March
The daffodil is the national flower of Wales, and is often worn on St. David's Day on March 1. (In Welsh, the daffodil is known as "Peter's Leek", cenhinen Bedr/Cenin pedr.)
Pansies
Mar 12
Plant a Flower Day
Blooming Cherry Trees
Mar 24
Cherry Blossom Season
There are festivals all over the world to mark the blooming of cherry trees. In Japan, trees are watched carefully and festivals planned around their predicted bloom dates usually through March and April.
Heather Gathering at Twilight
Mar 27
Heather Ale Days
There are festivals all over the world to mark the blooming of cherry trees. In Japan, trees are watched carefully and festivals planned around their predicted bloom dates usually through March and April.
Blooming Cherry Trees
Mar 27
Cherry Blossom Season
There are festivals all over the world to mark the blooming of cherry trees. In Japan, trees are watched carefully and festivals planned around their predicted bloom dates usually through March and April.
Spring Dandelions
Apr 5
Dandelion Day
A favorite game and pastime is the blowing away of the seeds to make a wish or to consult the thoughts of a loved one.
Bluebonnets
Apr13
the Blue Bonnet Festival
Scientifically named Lupinus texensis, the bluebonnet is also called buffalo clover, wolf flower, and (by the Mexicans) el conejo. It was adopted as the official state flower by the Texas Legislature in 1901.
Cherry Trees in Blossom
Apr 19
Cherry Blossom Petal Falling Days
Hanami (花見?, lit. "flower viewing") is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the transient beauty of flowers, flowers ("hana") in this case almost always referring to those of the cherry ("sakura") or, less frequently, plum ("ume") trees. From the end of March to early May, sakura bloom all over Japan, and around the first of February on the island of Okinawa.
Billy Forsyth
Apr 29
International Dance Day
Considered one of the greatest roses of its time, developed in 1935, this hybrid rose was in the process of being refined by French hybridizer Francis Meilland during the war. It was one item spirited away on some of the last planes to leave France before German occupation during World War II.
Peace Rose
Apr 29
Peace Rose Day
Considered one of the greatest roses of its time, developed in 1935, this hybrid rose was in the process of being refined by French hybridizer Francis Meilland during the war. It was one item spirited away on some of the last planes to leave France before German occupation during World War II.
Sweet William
May 28
Flower Days
Sweet William is a form of dianthus barbatus.
Icelandic Tundra
Jun 17
Iceland's National Day
Around 490 plants grow wild in Iceland (see list of wild flowering plants and ferns in Iceland), a figure that includes both native plants and imported plants that have colonised the island, including clubmosses, ferns, flowering plants, and trees.
Icelandic Lupines
Jun 17
Iceland's National Day
The species of lupine that can be seen in Iceland is called the “nootka lupine” and was introduced for purposes of soil fertilization. The flower helps the soil by turning atmospheric nitrogen (N2) into organic nitrogen through using specialized bacteria living in the flower’s roots.
Mountain Avens
Jun 17
Iceland's National Day
Dryas octopetala, the mountain-avens, is an Arctic–alpine flowering plant in the family Rosaceae. It is a small prostrate evergreen subshrub forming large colonies. The specific epithet octopetala derives from the Greek octo (eight) and petalon (petal), referring to the eight petals of the flower, an unusual number in the Rosaceae, where five is the normal number.
Sunflower Seed Head
Jun 21
Summer Solstice and Sunflower Day
The seed heads of sunflowers generally illustrate one of nature's mathematical series, the Fibonacci sequence, a set in which each number is the sum of the previous two.
India Mustard
Aug 5
Mustard Day
Mustard plants are any of several plant species in the genera Brassica and Sinapis. Mustard seed is used as a spice. Grinding and mixing the seeds with water, vinegar, or other liquids, creates the yellow condiment known as prepared mustard. The seeds can also be pressed to make mustard oil, and the edible leaves can be eaten as mustard greens.
Chrysanthemums
Oct 17
The Double Ninth Festival
Chrysanthemum Day (菊の節句 Kiku no Sekku?) is one of the five ancient sacred festivals of Japan. It is celebrated on the 9th day of the 9th month. It was started in 910, when the Japanese imperial court held its first chrysanthemum show. Chrysanthemums are the symbol of the Imperial House of Japan.
Nov 11
Poppy Day
Wild poppies have been used since ancient times as symbols of death, death in battle, and to represent eternal sleep.
Cirsium Occidentale
Nov 17
The Red Thistle Dancers' First Performance (1974)
The native red thistle species, Cirsium occidentale (also known as the Venus Thistle) and Cirsium arizonicum flourish on the West Coast of the United States.
Red Thistles
Nov 17
The Red Thistle Dancers' 50th Anniversary
500 red thistles for 500 performances!
500 Red Thistles!
Nov 17
The Red Thistle Dancers' 500th Performance (2019)
500 red thistles for 500 performances!