The Edible Star of the Meadow 💙 The Cornflower 🌾

Some flowers are for admiring. Some are for eating. Some are for healing. But this flower is for all three! 🌸👁️🍽️✨ If you are walking through a green summer field, you can spot it. A bright splash of blue, as if a tiny piece of sky fell into the grass. 💙🌿 That’s no ordinary bloom.

Some people call it Bachelor’s Button—but it goes by many names. Here’s a twist: we call it Cornflower, it’s not the flower of the corn you eat 🌽❌🌸! Long ago, people named it this because it loved to grow wild among cereal crops like wheat and barley, which they used to call “corn”. So really, it’s the flower of the grain fields! 🌾🌼

💙 But wait—why is it also called Bachelor’s Button? A long time ago, before texting or love letters, people used flowers to send secret messages. One flower, with its bright blue petals and button-like shape, became known as the Bachelor’s Button. 💌 Young men would wear it in the buttonhole of their jacket if they were in love. 💙🧥If the flower stayed fresh and bright, it meant their love was strong and hopeful. But if it wilted quickly… it might mean their heart was broken. 💔🌸 A secret love note made of petals.

Now… do you remember what we call a flower that isn’t really one flower, but a whole bundle of tiny ones gathered together? 🌼 That’s right—it’s called an inflorescence (👏 in 👏 flo 👏 res 👏 cence)! From Latin in- meaning in/on, and florescere meaning to begin to bloom. So it means “a blooming together.” 🌸🌸🌸 Cornflower is part of the cleverAsteraceae family—just like the sunflower and daisy.🌻🌼💙

Look closely: the spiky “petals” are actually florets, each with its own little job!But here’s a puzzle! 🧩 The sweet nectar that bees and butterflies love hides in the starry florets on the outside, while the pollen and pistil—the flower’s reproductive parts—are in the center. So how do pollinators reach both? They must dance across the whole flowerhead, brushing pollen from the middle and sipping nectar from the side. 💃🦋 Isn’t that clever teamwork?

🌼✨ In ancient Egypt and Greece, people soaked the petals in water to make soothing eye washes. In medieval Europe, they were planted in physic gardens for herbal remedies. 💧👁️ Even today, cornflowers are used in teas and salves to calm the skin and help digestion. 🍵🌿

And here’s something delightful: all colors of cornflower are edible! 💙🌸🌿In medieval feasts, kings and queens sprinkled them on food like blue confetti! 🍽️ Today, people still use dried cornflowers in teas or to decorate cakes and herbal blends. Their color stays bright—even when dry! 🍰🍵🎂

Cornflowers have also become symbols of remembrance and peace. 💙 In France, people wear a little blue cornflower—called le Bleuet de France—on two special days each year: May 8th, to remember the end of World War II, and November 11th, to honor the end of World War I. 🕊️ On those days, people wear cornflower flowers on their jackets or place it on memorials to say “We remember you” to the brave people who lived through or lost their lives in war. 🇫🇷💙

But why this flower? 💭 There’s a powerful story behind it. During the war, while much of the land was turned into muddy trenches full of craters and chaos, the little blue cornflower kept growing. 🌱💙 It was one of the only flowers that dared to bloom, even when everything around it was broken. Just like the red poppy in other countries, the cornflower stood for hope. A tiny patch of beauty in a world full of sadness. 🌍🕊️

They even made it to the canvas of Vincent van Gogh. 🎨 In his 1890 painting “Wheat Field with Cornflowers,” the brilliant blue blooms dance in golden fields—a gift to the eye and the heart. 🌾💙🖌️

Today, wild cornflowers are becoming rare in the countryside—but people plant them in gardens and flower pots to help pollinators like bees and butterflies. 🐝🦋 And here’s a project: try collecting your own Bachelor’s Button seeds when the flower dries! Just wait until the center gets papery and brown, and shake out the seeds into an envelope. 🌱💌 They’ll be ready to sow for next season!

💭 I wonder… what other flowers are safe to eat! 🌸👀💭 Let's make a research and create your own chart of edible flowers and go outside to collect it. 🎨📝🌾

With Montessori joy,

Vanina 😊