My dear Aunt has ordered a set of Easter cards to send the ladies in her church. She asks for watercolor paints and she thinks maybe a cross and flowers would do nicely.
Rose of Sharon, lily of the valley, and dogwood are the first flowers that come to mind when I think of Easter. So, first I'll do a little research into the Biblical history of those flowers (to verify if my notions are accurate) and then some research into photo references.
Found that Solomon 2:1 references these flowers: "I am the rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys" (KJV). The speaker is Solomon's beloved. These terms have been allegorically applied to Jesus Christ.
The following text is from https://biblehub.com/sermons/auth/calthrop/the_rose_of_sharon_and_the_lily_of_the_valleys.htm
~ I. THE ROSE OF SHARON. Of all the flowers that God has made, the rose, take it all in all, is the loveliest and the sweetest. It has three things in perfection — shape, colour, and fragrance. Indeed, we may call it the queen of flowers. Now, it is in its sweetness especially that the rose reminds me of the Lord Jesus Christ. His character was marked not only by manliness, but also with what we may call "sweetness," for he had all the firmness of a man and all the tenderness of a woman. I will give you another reason for the comparison of Christ to a rose. The rose is the most common as well as the most beautiful of all the flowers. You find it wherever you go, — in all countries and in all places. In fact, it is the universal flower: it belongs to everybody. And in this respect it resembles Christ, for Christ is the common property of all — of the peasant as well as of the prince; of poor as well as of rich; of the child as well as of the full-grown man. He belongs to all nations, too — to the dwellers in north and south and east and west; arid there is no one, whatever he may be, or wherever he lives, who cannot say, "The Lord Jesus Christ is my Saviour, and I claim Him as my own."
II. But the Saviour calls Himself in the text THE LILY OF THE VALLEYS, and we have now to consider what this second title is intended to teach us. Supposing that "the Lily of the Valleys" is the flower which we know by that name — you all remember how graceful it is, with pretty little white bells ranged in a row on a tapering stalk, and how it appears to hide itself modestly under the shade of its broad green leaves. Now, why is it thus chosen? Partly because the lily is of a beautiful white colour, and represents purity. And you know how pure the Lord Jesus Christ was. Never at any time did He think, or say, or do anything that was wrong. As a child, as a boy, as a man, He was absolutely free from fault. But the lily of the valley — because it has a drooping head, and retires behind the shade of its broad green leaves, instead of thrusting itself forward — may be taken as an emblem of lowliness or humility, and so will serve to remind us of the Lord Jesus Christ.~
The relation of Easter to the dogwood is a legend. I'm probably particular to the dogwood because it is NC state's flower and I've grown up surrounded by them. None the less, there's value in the story. The poignant element of the story is the flower of the dogwood tree which typically blooms at Easter time. The four petals of the flower form the shape of a cross. The middle parts of the flower are yellow and resemble a crown - the crown of thorns which Christ wore upon His head. The petals have an unusual indention where one could imagine the holes of the nails to have pierced. And those hollows are surrounded by crimson - the stain of Christ's blood.
Now I have a bit of inspiration to generate some mock-ups and get them over to Auntie for her to choose her Easter cards :)
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