29th January: Carnation Day

It's Carnation Day. It's Carnation Day because it's former US President William McKinley's birthday. 10 things you never knew about carnations.

1. Why is US president William McKinley's birthday Carnation Day? Because he used to wear one, as a lucky charm, ever since he won his first election. Until one day he gave his carnation to a little girl at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. Moments later, he was shot and died of his wounds eight days later. In France, carnations are used as funeral flowers and considered unlucky.
2. The most common colour of the flowers is Pink, but there are also red, white and Yellow ones. It's not possible to naturally produce a blue one because the plants do not produce the necessary pigment, delphinidin. However, if you want a blue one, or a Green one, it can be achieved by putting a white carnation in Water with food colouring - the flower will take in the colouring and change colour in about a day.
3. In the language of flowers, light red carnations represent admiration, dark red denote deep love and affection. White carnations represent pure love and good luck, striped (variegated) carnations symbolise regret that a love cannot be shared, and purple carnations indicate capriciousness.
4. The flowers have been adopted by political movements. Red carnations, as well as Roses, are a symbol of socialism and the labour movement and are worn on demonstrations or on May Day. The Dutch Prince Bernhard wore one during WWII and some of the Dutch population copied him. After the war the white carnation became a sign of the Prince, veterans and remembrance of the resistance. Green ones are traditionally worn on St Patrick's Day. Oscar Wilde used to wear one, and so green carnations became a symbol of homosexuality, helped along by the book The Green Carnation and Noël Coward's song, "We All Wear a Green Carnation" in his operetta, Bitter Sweet.
5. According to legend, carnations first grew where the Virgin Mary shed tears as Jesus carried his cross. Hence they have become associated with Mother's Day.
6. There is a tradition at Oxford University for students to wear carnations to their exams - a white one for the first exam, a pink one for the middle ones and a red one for their last exam. This comes from the ability of carnations to change colour in coloured water. Students were said to keep a white carnation in a red inkpot between exams and it would gradually change colour.
7. The botanical name is Dianthus caryophyllus which comes from the Greek for "heavenly flower". Some scholars believe that the name "carnation" comes from "coronation" or "corone" (flower garlands), as it was one of the flowers used in Greek ceremonial crowns. Others think it comes from the Latin for "flesh" because of the colour, or perhaps because of another legend which says that the goddess Diana came to earth and propositioned a shepherd boy she took a fancy to. He turned her down and in a fit of rage, Diana ripped his eyes out and threw them on the ground, where they sprouted into the first carnation flowers.
8. There are over 300 varieties of carnations and Colombia is the largest carnation producer in the world.
9. Carnation is the birth flower for those born in the month of January, the traditional first wedding anniversary flower and the national flower of Monaco, Spain and Slovenia as well as being the state flower for Ohio.
10. The flowers can be eaten in salads. They can also be drunk - Carnations are used as flavouring agents in the manufacture of Beer, Wine and other alcoholic beverages.