Aubrieta is a flowering plant that softens the landscape with carpets of vivid hues from lavender to pink to royal blue. It is also known as cress, which, according to Marina Heilmeyer’s The Language of Flowers: Symbols and Myths (New York: Prestel Publishing, 2006), represents power and stability, always being reliable. Aubrieta can be seen growing over stone walls, along paths, and covering large outcroppings of rock.

Originally Published with Interweave in 2016.