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So sweet love seemed that April morn,  
When first we kissed beside the thorn, 
So strangely sweet, it was not strange 
We thought that love could never change. 
But I can tell - - let truth be told-- 
That love will change in growing old; 
Through day by day is nought to see, 
So delicate his motions be. 

In olden days, if a girl wore a cornflower, it meant  
she was available for marriage.  If a young man put a cornflower in his pocket, he was in love.  If the flower lived it was a sign that he should marry; if it died, he must find another sweetheart.  It was also believed that if a girl hid the flower under her apron, she would have the bachelor of her choice. Hence the name Bachelor's Buttons.

To love one maiden only, cleave to her, 
And worship her by years of noble deeds, 
Until they won her; for indeed I knew 
Of no more subtle master under heaven 
Than is the maiden passion for a maid, 
Not only to keep down the base in man, 
But teach high thought, and amiable words 
And courtliness, and the desire of fame, 
And love of truth, and all that makes a man. 

Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1809-1892

The Chrysanthemum has been grown in the Far East for over two thousand years, and so admired in Japan that the Emperor sits on the Chrysanthemum Throne. The name comes from the Greek words "chrysos", meaning gold, and "anthemon", a flower, for the species grown was a yellow one. 

I'd choose to be a daisy, 
If I might be a flower; 
Closing my petals softly 
At twilight's quiet hour; 
And walking in the morning, 
When falls the early dew, 
To welcome Heaven's bright sunshine, 
And Heaven's bright tear-drops too. 

I'd Choose To Be A Daisy, Anonymous

The Daisy is the children's flower. They love to gather it for posies and for making daisy chains.  It is also known as Baby's -pet or Bairn-wort meaning child-flower.  If a little girl picks a bunch of daisies with her eyes shut, the number of flowers in the posy will be the number of years before she marries.  Young girls have always told their fortunes by pulling the petals off to the refrain " He loves me, he loves me not".  Daisy means the day's eye, or the eye of day.       

I met a lady in the mads 
Full beautiful, a faery's child; 
Her hair was long, her foot was light, 
And her eyes were wild. 

I set her on my pacing steed,, 
And nothing else saw all day long; 
For sideways would she lean, and sing 
A faery's song. 

I made a garland for her hea, 
And bracelets too, and fragrant zone; 
She lod'd at me as she did love, 
And made sweet moan. 

She found me roots of relish sweet, 
And honey wild, and manna dew; 
And sure in language strange she said, 
I love thee true. 

La Belle Dame sans Merci 
John Keats, 1795-1821

All orchids have spots, their very own beautymarks, and folklore tells us that there were orchids growing at the foot of the Cross when Jesus was crucified.  His blood dropped on the flowers and they have carried the stain ever since.  The Orchid has been named Adder's -tongue, Dead Men's Fingers, Ram's -horns and variously after Mother goose and her goslings, Giddy-gander and Goosie-gander, on account of the way the flowers are grouped on the stem.  Orchids are highly prized and quite unique, as their language implies.

No, the heart that has truly lov'd never forgets,
But as truly loves on to the close,
As the sun-flower turns on her god, when he sets,
The same look which she turn'd when he rose.

Thomas Moore, 1779-1852

Every part of the sunflower is used in some way: the seeds for eating and making oil and soap; the leaves and stalks for fodder and making cloth and even as a substitute for tobacco.  The genus name of Helianthus comes from two Greek words, "helios" meaning sun and "anthos" meaning flower.  It was worshipped as the symbol of the sun by the Incas of Peru and later by the North American Indians.  There is a classical legen that Clytie, a water nymph, was changed into a sunflower having died of a broken heart at the betrayal of Apollo, the sun god.

If Jove would give the leafy bowers
A queen  for all their world of flowers,
The rose would be the choice of Jove,
And blush the queen of every grove,
Sweetest child of weeping morning,
Gem, the breast of earth adorning,
Eye of flow'rets, glow of lawns,
Bud of beauty, nursed by dawns:
Soft the soul of love it breathes,
Cypria's brow with magic wreathes;
And to Zephyr's wild caresses,
Diffuses all its verdant tresses,
Till glowing with the wanton's play,
It blushes a diviner ray.

Sappho of Lesbos, c.600 BC.

The rose is one of the oldest flowers known to man, and still one of the most popular.  Nebuchadnezzar used them to adorn his palace and in Persia, where they were grown for their perfume oil, the petals were used to fill the Sultan's mattress.  In Kashmir the Moghul emperors cultivated beautiful rose gardens and roses were strewn in the river to welcome them on their return home.  Roses later became synonymous with the worst excesses of the Roman empire - the peasants were reduced to growing roses instead of food crops in order to satisfy the demands of their rulers.  The emperors filled their swimming baths and fountains with rose-water and sat on carpets of rose petals for their feasts and orgies.  Helipgabalus used to enjoy showering his guests with rose petals which tumbled down from the ceiling during the festivities.
The Rose is the flower of love.  It was created by Chloris, the Greek goddess of flowers, out of the lifeless body of a nymph which she found one day in a clearing in the woods.  She asked the help of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, who gave her beauty; Dionysus, the god of wine, added nectar to give her a sweet scent, and the three Graces gave her charm, brightness and joy.  Then Zephyr, the West Wind, blew  away the clouds so that Apollo, the sun god, could shine and make the flower bloom.  And so the Rose was born and was immediately crowned Queen of Flowers.