Hello, hello! So lovely to be back and be sharing our first episode of 2026 in which Sarah takes us into the curious world of the Camellia.

Don’t be fooled by its beauty and abundance, this flower has a layered and more powerful past than you might expect.

In this episode we wander about gently through history, folklore, politics and fashion houses. Plus, it wouldn’t be an episode about a pretty flower with at least one reference to a noble death, right? In amongst that creepy revelation we talk about memory keeping, notebooks, perfumes that evoke images of ‘theatre and posh old ladies’ and the lengths humans go to, just to have flowers in their lives, no matter the era.

Grab a cup of tea, settle in, and maybe don’t pluck flowers from mysterious trees...

Books

* The Language of Flowers by Odessa Begay

* A Year in Flowers by Erin Benzakein

* Floriography by Jessica Roux

* The Complete Language of Flowers by S. Theresa Dietz

* The Language of Flowers by Margaret Pickston

* Two Japanese tales featured here. This is an illustrated database of Japanese folklore and worth noting they also have Patreon. The accompanying image below is by Matthew Meyer:

Impact on Women’s Sufforage in New Zealand

Speech: “So Women Can Get the Vote” by Meri Te Tai Mangakāhia.

Journal: The camellia – suffragist symbol of womanly excellence.

Battle of the Camellias.

A symbol for Suffrage 130 by Vanessa Smith.

Artworks & Literature

La dame aux camélias by Alexandre Dumas

Camellia artworks by British painter and botanical artist Clara Pope (c.1767 – 24 December 1838).

Camellia and Bird by Japanese ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 – 12 October 1858).

Also mentioned

Camelia Oil by Niwaki

Camellias in The House of Chanel

Flowers & Folklore on Instagram

We’d love to hear from you!

Have your own floral stories or lore about Camellia? We’re accepting reader submissions, so if you have a flower story, (about any flower) please share it with us! Comment below or email us at flowersandfolklorepodcast@gmail.com

Enjoy the episode!

Sarah & Keeley

Find Sarah online: Instagram | Substack | Pinterest

Find Keeley online: Instagram | Substack

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