Those April showers totally came through with the promise of May flowers and my neighbourhood is exploding. In the Witch n’ Bitch this month we’re talking flower magick, and I started to think about the flowers people give their moms on Mother’s Day, and what kind of magickal energy they bring. Of course, giving flowers is wonderful no matter what kind you get. Wild or store-bought, living or in bouquets, or even in flower essence or potion form; flowers have a ton of magickal energy to share with you.
These 9 flowers are some of the most popular for Mother’s Day and also have incredible magickal powers. The last 3? Well, the last three are for all of those tricky mother-child relationships out there. So cast some magick with your mom and remember that you’ll go to jail if you poison her.
Carnation – love, encouragement, gratitude, good luck, longevity, beauty
Aw yeah, friend, get that pink carnation and a pickup truck and show your mom you’ll love them forever. These sweet and spicy scented flowers are actually the official flower of Mother’s Day, usually in red, pink, or white. Carnations work with your heart chakra for healing and opening and can help you see the blessings in your life. If you want to take it a step further, get them a bottle of Carnation flower essence! It’s said to speed healing and increase the power of your own personal energy field.
Rose – beauty, love, healing, gratitude, magic, compassion, enchantment
The queen of the flowers! Hot pink roses always make me think of my own mom, who had very large and gorgeous hot pink rose bushes in our front yard when I was young. They were thorny, smelled like old ladies, and took constant upkeep and pruning and literal bloodshed. Now that I’m older I love the smell of roses and am more inclined to see roses as something that takes patience and cultivation. Roses are associated with self-love and emotional healing and I often think it’s due in part to the pride you can take in having grown gorgeous roses. Of course, roses are most associated with love and beauty, and the many colours of rose have different meanings in the language of flowers!
Orange roses show enthusiasm and happiness! They can also show attraction and fascination.
Pink means friendship and healing. I also associate the hot pink ones with success and self-love.
Red roses can mean everything from love and respect, to I want to rip your clothes off, depending on who they’re coming from. They’re also the roses most associated with beauty.
White roses mean protection, honesty and truth.
Yellow roses mean friendship, especially great for friends and moms who live far away.
Blue or Mauve roses are all about magic and enchantment. If your mother is very unique and witchy, they’ll love them. If you’re getting them for your wife or partner they express that you are fully enchanted by them. Oh, it’s witchcraft, that wicked witchcraft.
Daisies – playful, protection, peace, simplicity, health
The classic daisy and its whole family (which includes chamomile, dahlia, and sunflower!) are a powerful source of magick. They seem simple, but that’s really the beauty of daisies. They remind us that simplicity can be beautiful, worthwhile, and beautiful. That even without bright colours, bells or whistles, we’re perfect. They’re also associated with health and wealth, so they act a general well-wish for anyone receiving them. If your mother or partner has some health problems or is currently on the mend, consider a pot of daisies that are still growing or flower essence rather than a bouquet. Daisies are a wonderful healer and have a very simple, calming and positive vibe.
Daisies planted around your home also offer protection from negative energy or entities and invite healing energy into your home. Chamomile, of course, has a whole host of magickal uses and is one of my personal favourites in incense blends or mojo bags for lucky sunshine energy, wealth, and health.
Snapdragons – sorry, inner strength, expression, spell breaker
This is perhaps the sassiest flower on the whole list. Snapdragons are protective, fiery, full of life energy, and totally… dragonlike. These are great flowers for strong, independent moms or partners – especially if they run a high risk of pissing off other people. Fresh snapdragons guard against spells and hexes around the home, and the skull-shaped seed pods carried in a mojo bag do the same. If your mother feels jealousy or the evil eye on the reg (it totally happens!) these can help bump some of that energy back. If you think I sound judgey, just be clear – I RESPECT THAT.
In your magick, snapdragons are all about owning your power, speaking your truth and self-expression, protection, and fiery energy. The seed pods really are shaped like skulls, and I love using them as a protective talisman in a bag, or on a mirror that faces out the windows and doors of my home.
Orchids – self-love, unique, rare, elegance and regality, sensual, enchantment, sex
Orchids are a common gift flower, probably because they’re beautiful and if you just care about keeping them alive, they’re very easy to care for. There even some varieties that clean the air at night so are great in bedrooms. If your mom or partner is a unique, gorgeous, elegant queen of a woman then orchids are right up their alley. They bring wishes of wealth and luxury, as well as the reminder to always be herself to your mom.
If you’re looking for something to get your wife and partner for Mother’s Day, Orchids are also a really sexy flower. These flowers have been equated with sex and sensuality for as long as anyone can tell. Being a mom can be overwhelming and sometimes your partner just needs to feel like a one of a kind super fly sex goddess, and not someone who’s been barfed on twice today. Orchids help with that. To make an orchid love potion add a few drops of Orchid flower essence into champagne, chocolate, ice cream, or even a massage oil.
Chrysanthemums- friendship, optimism, love, truth, longevity
Of course, it wouldn’t be mother’s Day without some mums! Chrysanthemums are the flowers you always see in pots outside of your grocery store and are usually in these amazing fall colours because fall and winter are their regular blooming season (but you can get them basically any time). They have a wise, sturdy, lovely crone vibe and are a great reminder that even when it’s getting dark, there is light to be found. magickally, mums are great for truth and clarity spells, soothing grief, and longevity. I often think they’re great for giving to grandparents, or anyone who’s known you for a very very long time to show gratitude and appreciation.
Iris – faith, spirit, release blocks, higher wisdom, healing, faeries
Wow, show off. If your mom or partner is magickal, creative, artsy, or is the kind to see and hear things no one else can, Iris will be their best friend. Not only are Irises stunning and extravagant looking, but they are strongly aligned with faeries and are often used in magick to facilitate moving through the magickal world, or even entering the faerie kingdom. How cool is that?! Iris is also known to increase energy, clear chakras, and open you up to magick or divinity.
Is your mom a tarot reader? Your partner a painter or sculptor? A witchy woman, faerie friend, or genuine believer in mermaids and unicorns? IRIS. Another cool thing is that this flower comes in the most amazing shade of black with hints of purple if your mom or ol’ lady is all those things and punk rock as hell.
Living Iris’s will be great for her working, practicing or creative space, and the flower essence added to paints, her morning coffee, their hand lotion, bath water, or faerie garden is a great way to work with the flower in a magickal way.
Tulip – love, beauty, simplicity, gratitude, strength
Tulips are known for their exquisite beauty because of their total simplicity. The single, bright flower on top of the bright green stem stands out wherever it is. They come in an amazing range of colours from bright and sunny, to dark purples and blacks. They’re connected to the heart chakra and can help heal and strengthen the heart, and allow you (the giver of tulips) to open your heart up to whomever you’re giving them to.
Since I have a dutch sister, with adorable Dutch grandparents, I also always think of the Netherlands when I see tulips. Her grandparents left Holland because of the war and have lived a long and happy life here in Canada. Since they left the day they got married they like to say that they’ve been on their honeymoon ever since. Considering how many Dutch people went through all of that and escaped the war, I often equate tulips with strength and gratitude. Being grateful that you, or they, are alive.
Dandelion – wishes, longtime happiness, healing, intelligence, warmth, clarity, survival
Straight up, if you do not think it’s cute when a dirt-covered kid runs up to their mom with a handful of half-wilted dandelions that they VERY PROUDLY picked themselves you literally have no soul. They’re pretty, hearty, plentiful, and simple. They’re the perfect flowers to show your mom that you’re still their little dirt covered baby. Dandelions are also associated with faeries, magick and wishes when they go to seed and are covered in fluffy puff balls. Grab a couple and blow some wishes into the air with your mom!
Dandelions are finally getting some cred for how important they are. Not only are they the first flowers that the bees eat when they wake up, but the leaves are delicious and the roots incredibly good for you. Consider making your mom or partner a salad with dandelion leaves, or gathering some roots to make tea. If you can stomach it, there is dandelion wine out there (any other Bradbury fans out there who tried it?!) and of course the flower essence. Magickally, they’re also great for working with animal familiars and healing, communicating, or protecting animal friends. If your mom is a super crunchy, lovely, eco-friendly, vegan hippie this is a great way to show her you appreciate all that she does for the world.
Love’s a Bitch and So is Your Mom
No one likes to think about it, but some people’s moms are the worst. Mother’s day can be brutal for those with moms who are unsupportive, mean, or abusive, especially if they still feel obligated to see their mom. Short of getting some straight up poisonous flowers like Belladonna or Hemlock or Oleander, here are a few pretty flowers to lowkey tell your mom she can go suck an egg.
Blue Lobelia – dislike
In the language of flowers, Lobelia is the hard dislike button. It can also be incredibly magickal and powerful for divination, but in a bouquet, it means “you suck”. It’s also one to attract faeries – which can totally be a bad thing – so maybe plant some in your mom’s garden and then put something they hate right next to it. That’ll teach her.
Narcissus – self-explanatory
Is your mom (or partner, let’s be real) a narcissistic sociopath? Hey, it happens. These cute little daffodils are named after Narcissus, the tragic Greek hunter known for his incredible beauty. He was also a dick about it and so Nemesis, the goddess of retribution, lead him to a pool where the sight of his own reflection was so perfect he fell in love with it. He refused to leave his reflection and literally died lusting after his own selfie. Need I say more?
Love Lies Bleeding – desertion, broken heart
Not only does this flower have a violent name, but when stuck in a bouquet it can look like blood pouring out. Sick. This is the flower for the one who left you, broke your heart, or neglected you. This is the classier version of “thanks, Coyote Ugly, this cactus-gram stings almost as bad as your abandonment.”. Love lies bleeding can also be used in spells for invisibility, desertion, death, and even healing your own broken heart.
Of course, a hella sharp cactus is also a practical way to speak your truth here.
I hope your mom gets exactly what’s coming to her this Mother’s Day, and that you have a fun and satisfying day yourself! If your mom is your best friend, I hope you know how special that is and cherish every second. if she’s not, I hope you at least get to smell some pretty flowers and give a sharp ass evil eye.
More on Flower Magick:
Love flowers but they csn make me sneeze. Pollen.
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