Flowers have a special place in our lives. From wildflowers to the most exotic blooms can perk up the mood and drive away anxiety. If you look closely there’s a whole world of flowers, with each one with an interesting story to tell. If you are curious, here are some interesting things to know about flowers that start with G.
Gaillardia
Scientific name: Gaillardia
Origin: North and South America
Gaillardia, commonly known as blanket flower, belongs to the sunflower family Asteraceae. These brightly colored red, yellow, purplish-brown flowers get their name from the traditional blanket-like pattern on their petals and for their spreading, blanket-like growth. The botanical name Gaillardia comes from the name of Maître Gaillard de Charentonneau, a French magistrate and a botanist. Gaillardias can be annual or perennial plants depending on their variety. Gaillardias flower profusely and produce a single flower head on slender stalks. They are easy to grow and a favorite with gardeners for their daisy-like flowers. Gaillardias grow best in full sun and dry climate. Besides growing as landscape flowers, gaillardias are lovely cut flowers and symbolize joy, charm, and modesty.
Gardenia
Scientific name: Gardenia Jasminoides
Origin: South-East Asia, Africa
Pretty and attractive with an intoxicating fragrance, Gardenia flowers are popular ornamental shrubs. The plants belong to the coffee family Rubiaceae and demand special care. Plants that belong to the genus gardenia shy away from the cold weather. Mostly grown outdoors, gardenia plants thrive well in partially sunny, moist spots.
These evergreen plants have broad lance-shaped, shiny, green leaves and bear beautiful white densely-packed flowers. Being seasonal bloomers, they only bloom in early spring to mid-summer. The plants grow wild in tropical and subtropical regions like the Pacific Islands, Asia, Madagascar, and Africa. The genus was named after Dr. Alexander Garden, an American naturalist.
Some of the Gardenia varieties are –
- Gardenia jasminoides
- G. jasminoides ‘Fortuniana’ (Cape Jasmine)
- G. jasminoides ‘Buttons’
- G. jasminoides ‘Crown Jewel’
The showy, graceful Gardenia flowers symbolize purity, joy, gentleness, secret admiration, and pure attraction. Among flowers that start with G, Gardenias are the most exotic-smelling blooms.
Geranium
Scientific name: Geranium
Origin: South Africa
Geranium, a genus of more than four hundred species, consists of annual, biennial, and perennial plants. They are known as geraniums or crane’s bills. Although geraniums are popular worldwide and are a longtime favorite of gardeners, they grow well in temperate regions, the tropical mountains, and the eastern parts of the Mediterranean region. Geranium flowers bloom in shades of red, pink, purple, yellow, and white. Geranium plants like sunny spots. Overwatering can cause root rot and rot of the fleshy stems. A bunch of mildly-fragrant flowers blooms on slender stalks. The leaves have a citrusy smell.
Some geranium varieties are
- Geranium ‘Ann Folkard’
- Geranium ‘Anne Thomson’
- Geranium ‘Brookside’
- Geranium ‘Dreamland’
- Geranium ‘Elke’
- Geranium ‘Johnson’s Blue’
- Geranium ‘Laurence Flatman’
- Geranium ‘Magnificum’
- Geranium ‘Mavis Simpson
- Geranium ‘Nimbus’
- Geranium ‘Orion’
- Geranium ‘Patricia’
- Geranium ‘Purple Pillow’
- Geranium ‘Rozanne’
- Geranium ‘So Amazing’
Although in modern times Geranium symbolizes positive emotions like good wishes, happiness, good health, and friendship, during Victorian times, the flower was connected to stupidity or foolishness. With so many varieties of flowers that start with G, Geraniums are one of the most popularly grown plants.
Gaura
Scientific name: Gaura
Origin: Mexico, Texas
Gaura is a genus of shrubby, herbaceous, flowering plants that belong to the family Onagraceae. Many species of Gaura are commonly known as beeblossoms or whirling butterflies. The long, delicate white-pink, star-shaped blooms attract bees and butterflies to the garden. Gaura flowers bloom well in sunny settings and well-drained soil.
Some varieties of Gaura flowers are –
- Whirling Butterfly
- Butterfly Gaura
- Biennial Gaura
- Corrie’s Gold
- Siskiyou Pink
- Wandflower
- White Gaura
Gerbera
Scientific name: Gerbera. L
Origin: Tropical regions of Asia, Africa, South America
The genus Gerbera belongs to the family Asteraceae. The scientific name was derived from the name of Traugott Gerber, a German botanist, and medical doctor. Often referred to as Gerbera daisies, these flowers from the aster family are grown widely in gardens and used as cut flowers. Extremely popular in bouquets and flower arrangements, Gerbera daisies come in multiple colors. Red, yellow, white, orange, pink, are the most common gerberas. The large flowers have ray-like petals arranged around a round central disc-like feature.
Gerbera daisies are classified into four types according to their flowers.
- A single flower
- Semi-double flower
- Double flower
- Spider flower
The number and arrangement of petals differ according to their types. The green leaves are either lobed or pinnate and are mostly toothed. The bright-colored gerbera daisies symbolize happiness, elegance, pride, purity, beauty, and innocence. Gerbera daisies can be sent to someone on any occasion but different colors are connected to different feelings. Pick the right color to show the sentiment you want to express!
Gladiolus
Scientific name: Gladiolus
Origin: Asia, Mediterranean Europe, South Africa, and Africa
The tall and grateful Gladiolus is the birth flower of people born in August. Also known as ‘sword lily’ for their long slender flowering arrangement, Gladiolus plants belong to the Iris family, Iridaceae. The name is connected to the Latin word ‘Gladium’ which means sword. Among the flowers that start with G, gladiolus flowers bloom in the most varied palette of colors.
Gladioli make excellent cut flowers and are a favorite in summer bouquets. Gladiolus bloom in a multitude of colors starting from red, pink, purple, yellow, white, orange, to bicolor varieties. Gladiolus plants grow from corms and are easy to propagate and grow in garden beds and pots. The long stalks may need to be supported with stakes.
As the flowers are connected to gladiators due to their sword-like flowers, they are used to express the feeling ‘you pierced my heart’. Other than that, these elegant flowers symbolize faithfulness, honesty, integrity, and infatuation.
Some varieties of Gladioli are –
- Abyssinian Sword Lily
- Yellowstone
- Charm
- Elvira
- Alaska
- Flora
- Green Star
- Claudia
- Passos
- Impressive
- Carine
- Nathalie
- Baccara
Goldenrod
Scientific name: Solidago
Origin: Eastern Europe
Goldenrods or Solidago is a genus of more than a hundred species of herbaceous flowering plants belonging to the aster family, Asteraceae. Most are perennial species that grow wild in meadows, prairies, and savannas. Some call goldenrods invasive weeds and some grow them as ornamental garden flowers for their bright yellow attractive flowers.
These summer bloomers are slender plants with fluffy, rod-like flowers that grow on tall, slender stalks. The plants are aggressive growers and spread extensively. The flowers start to bloom from late summer and continue till fall. Goldenrod flowers attract butterflies to the garden. They can thrive well with little care and can tolerate most kinds of soil. The feathery yellow flowers make good cut flowers.
Grape Hyacinth
Scientific name: Muscari
Origin: Southern Europe, Northern Africa
Grape hyacinths are mid-spring bloomers that get their name from the bell shape and cluster of their flowers. The blue flowers hang upside down resembling a bunch of grapes. The genus name, Muscari, is derived from the Greek word for musk. It refers to the musky scent produced by some of the varieties of these flowers. The common name comes from the resemblance of the clusters of the small, bell-shaped, cobalt-blue flowers to upside-down clusters of grapes.
The color of the flowers varies from pale blue to deep blue, sometimes almost black. Certain albino forms also appear. In some Grape hyacinth species, the color of the upper flowers differs from that of the lower flowers. Twenty to forty flowers bloom on a single stalk. The flower stalks are four to eight inches high. The scent of the flowers may be sweet, greasy, or grapey. Grape Hyacinths are popularly grown in flower beds, rock gardens, along pathways.
Some varieties of Grape hyacinth are –
- Album
- Blue spike
- Carneum
- Cantab
- Saffier
- Superstar
- Fantasy creation
Although the most common color of Grape hyacinths is blue, they also bloom in shades of yellow, purple, and white. These dreamy white flowers are popularly used in flower bouquets as fillers and to give them a fluffier, dreamier, airy, and more lacy look.
Gypsophila
Scientific name: Gypsophila
Origin: Eurasia, Africa, Australia, Pacific Islands
Delicate, and tiny, the Gypsophila flowers are also known as baby’s breath. The white or light pink flowers smell like spit and thus are compared to a baby’s breath. The Gypsophila genus belongs to the carnation family, Caryophyllaceae. Various species of Gypsophila are found in Turkey. The easy-to-grow, low-maintenance plants grow fast and bloom in summer.
Some varieties of Gyosophila are –
- Gypsophila elegans
- Gypsophila paniculata ‘Bristol Fairy’
- Gypsophila paniculata ‘Perfekta’
- Gypsophila paniculata ‘Viette’s Dwarf’
Golden Dewdrop
Scientific name: Duranta erecta
Origin: South America and the Caribbean
Golden Dewdrops or duranta are popularly grown as hedges, ornamental shrubs, and bordering plants. Their golden-green leaves and bright violet, purple flowers make them extremely attractive. The flowers have a weepy appearance. The flowers mature into yellow-orange berries.
These plants are extremely popular in tropical and subtropical gardens. The fast-growing shrubs are easy to grow and need trimming from time to time to keep them in shape and under control. Other names for Golden dewdrop are pigeon berry and sky flower.
Grevillea
Scientific name: Grevillea
Origin: Australia
Also known as spider flower, the genus Grevillea consists of more than three hundred and sixty species of flowering plants. These evergreen plants belong to the family, Proteacea. The hardy plants bear flowers resembling a toothbrush or a spider. The plants bloom for many months and some varieties of flowers are fragrant.
Some threatened varieties of Grevillea varieties are –
- Grevillea caleyi
- Grevillea calliantha
- Grevillea hodgei,
- Grevillea sp. Gillingarra
Some varieties that are popularly grown are –
- Grevillea superb
- Chris Jones
- Grevillea Elegance
- Grevillea semperflorens
- Grevillea intricata
- Grevillea Honeybird Yellow
- Grevillea Lana Maree
- Grevillea Golden Lyre
- Grevillea Sid’s Pink
- Grevillea bipinnatifida
- Grevillea ‘Pink Midget’
- Grevilla thelemanniana
- Grevillea Ivory Whip
- Grevillea ‘Lolly Pops’
