Fresh flowers are bought and used in Cuzco year round. They find place in the different events that shape the city’s life and each flower has different meanings according to color, size, and type that makes them meaningful for the different occasions.
All of the flowers are beautiful and their most profound significance comes when they are given to the people we love the most. During the year, this begins with St. Valentine’s day when roses are indicated because they symbolize love. We can say that if we give a red rose it is equivalent to an “I love you”.
For December and for New Year’s we use the color yellow which is a symbol of warmth, light, and hope. The flowers chosen for that day are varied because there is no specific rule that says that you should only use one flower for any given occasion. Nevertheless, the most common at this time are sunflowers and daisies.
Furthermore, throughout the year we have fiestas, such as for example in August for the Pachamama, and others for our saints, revolutions, writers, and more. For these you take different kinds of flowers, generally as wreaths of flowers that are placed around the statues of the writers and the revolutionaries for their days.
Unlike for writers and revolutionaries, you do not take wreaths for the saints. Instead you arrange flowers in pots and vases that will look very good when set by the side of the saints. These floral arrangements are also prepared for events such as graduations, meetings, birthdays, and more.
We also take flowers to honor our loved ones who have left this world. On the Day of the Dead flower arrangements are taken to place in the niches where they are buried as a sign that they are loved and missed now that they are no longer here.
Every day the flower shops and markets offer flowers to the public so that can buy them for any occasion and also to take them home even when there is no special reason. In a vase they illuminate all around them.
The flower shops carry out a difficult work on the days flowers are requested. They make up the arrangements, bundles of flowers, and the wreaths for those who wish to purchase them. They put together a great combination of flowers and assure that their work is beautiful.
Flowers are very important for us. They represent color and joy. One cannot imagine what the world would be like without the color of flowers and plants. It is very important that we care for our environment since if we do not we will not longer have the beautiful flowers that each day make our world so much more joyful.
