Types of Flowers that are Both Beautiful and Useful

Flowers are one of the greatest things we have in the world.  They give us beauty, brightening up any place with their cheerful and dignified presence.  They announce the changing of seasons, greeting us when it's their time to bloom.  We associate flowers with life, and with the inevitability of passing.  Behind the gift of flowers, there is the acknowledgement that just like the lovely flowers we behold, our physical selves too will have a moment of beauty and vitality before eventually wilting away.  The beauty of a flower is fleeting, and in this temporality they teach us to appreciate the moment and to let go. 
There is poetry in flowers, but their benefit to us is more than philosophical.  Here, we will discuss types of flowers which we find a joy to behold, but which also can make our stay on earth easier and more enjoyable in other ways.  For many are the flowers that would match their gifts of beauty with their gifts of comfort and healing.  

Calendula is a darling of beautiful and useful gardens.  They aren't fussy and do reasonably well in decent soil, producing "double" flowerheads in a variety of colors, the best known of which is pale-yellow to orange red.  Calendula officianalis is a sort of wonder plant as it is used in the treatment of skin disorders, healing cuts and wounds, and also in many formulas for soaps and skin care products due to its aforementioned beneficial qualities for the skin.  Although usually made into a salve, there are accounts of natives simply chewing the aerial parts of the plant (flowers and leaves) and then putting this on the spot that needs healing.  I've not had the chance to try this myself, as my calendula is growing slowly in poor soil, but will let you know how it works if I get the chance to try!

Sunflowers are one of the many types of annual flowers and are the star representative of the Asteraceae family.  Everyone knows and usually loves these gigantic, seed-filled flowers which routinely grow up to six feet and taller!  The classic sunflower, Helianthus annus, is loved not only humans, but birds, too.  Our feathered friends enjoy eating the delicious and nutritious seeds just like us.  When travelling in China and probably many other third world countries too, you can often find locals coming up to passengers aboard trains to sell cut sunflowers which are loaded with seeds.  Each individual seed is taken off and eaten just like that, one by one.  Because the seeds are so tasty and good for you, it could be said that sunflowers are as generous as they are beautiful.  There are many varieties of sunflower, and one of the more interesting ones is the Maximillian sunflower.  These produce smaller flowers with seeds that are enjoyed by birds.  Although the flowers don't get to the colossal sizes of the more well-known varieties, Maximillians are useful from a permaculture perspective because they grow well in poor soils, even in clay soils, and they are perennial.  This means you never have to replant them as they will keep coming back.  They can grow tall, six feet or more, and they tend to produce many flowers that will attract many butterflies and birds looking for nectar and seeds.  Just be careful, because some people have actually found that these plants grow a bit too vigorously for their tastes!  But for most, Maximillian sunflowers are one of the great types of perennial flowers.

Chrysanthemums are annuals which are loved for their vibrant, cheerful colors and fragrance.  This flower was featured on the imperial flag of Japan, and there is a book on this country titled "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword", one of the first by a western author who sought to explain Japan to the folks back home.  Chrysanthemum  has also been used for centuries in teas in asian countries.  Chrysanthemum tea is primarily a summer tea, and is refreshing and cooling.  In contrast to many other asian teas, this one is often taken sweet. 

Lest I leave the reader thinking that only flower with practical uses are "useful", let's consider the rose.  While rose has traditionally been used more for pleasure, it seems, as in perfumes and such, it is actually a powerful plant with great capacity for healing.  The essential oil of rose is the most expensive you can find, because it takes about 60,000 roses to make just one ounce of oil.  And the secret to rose's popularity?  Vibration.  That's right, everything we can observe in our physical world has a vibration, and different plants also have different vibration frequencies.  In humans, if we go below a certain vibrational frequency level, we get sick.  Too far below this, and we die.  Essential oils can raise our levels of vibration, and rose oil has the highest frequency of any essential oil.  If it's true, and I think it is, that love elevates our vibration levels, then it's clear why the rose is the flower most associated with love.

Our plant friends offer us so many benefits, it's amazing that we have such beautiful natural medicine all around us.  Other helpful and beautiful species include a whole range of flowers, from wildflowers to "exotics" and everything in between.  Just a very few of the many species you might want to learn more about are hibiscus, comfrey, hollyhock, scarlet globemallow, violet, poppy, jasmine, and thistles.  Each plant on this list of types of flowers is a powerful medicinal with great capacity for healing.  What's amazing is that this is often true for all types of flowers!