Finland's national flower is the kielo, the lily of the valley: small, white, sweet-smelling, out in the forest in early summer — and poisonous from root to petal. Look, smell, don't pick it for the salad.
The other thing about Finnish flower names is that many of them are little pictures. A dandelion is a voikukka, a "butter flower." Coltsfoot is leskenlehti, a "widow's leaf." The harebell is kissankello, a "cat's bell."
Wild Flowers
flower
kukka
lily of the valley
kielo
dandelion
voikukka
coltsfoot
leskenlehti
liverleaf, hepatica
sinivuokko
wood anemone
valkovuokko
harebell
kissankello
oxeye daisy
päivänkakkara
fireweed
maitohorsma
heather
kanerva
clover
apila
cornflower
ruiskaunokki
violet, pansy
orvokki
lupin
lupiini
Practice these words
kukka
The pretty one nobody wants: the purple and pink lupiini lining Finnish roadsides every June is a garden escape, classed as a harmful invasive species. It crowds out native plants, and local volunteer groups pull it up by the armful.
Blue and white: sini- is blue and valko- is white, so sinivuokko and valkovuokko are literally the blue and white anemones (botanically, the blue one is a hepatica) — among the first woodland flowers after the snow. Ruiskaunokki grew in rye fields: ruis is rye.
In the Garden and at the Florist
rose
ruusu
tulip
tulppaani
daffodil
keltanarsissi
lily
lilja
peony
pioni
sunflower
auringonkukka
orchid
orkidea
bouquet
kukkakimppu
florist's
kukkakauppa
Practice these words
ruusu
Auringonkukka is a translation: aurinko (sun) + kukka (flower), exactly like English. Kelta- in keltanarsissi is yellow, so it's literally the yellow narcissus — though around Easter you'll more often hear daffodils called pääsiäislilja, "Easter lily."
Trees Beyond the Forest
The three trees that make up almost all of a Finnish forest — mänty, kuusi and koivu — and the aspen, haapa, are in nature and landscape words. These are the ones you'll meet in parks, gardens and along rivers.
alder
leppä
maple
vaahtera
oak
tammi
willow
paju
linden, lime tree
lehmus
ash
saarni
elm
jalava
larch
lehtikuusi
bird cherry
tuomi
apple tree
omenapuu
cherry tree
kirsikkapuu
Practice these words
leppä
Leaf-spruce: lehtikuusi is literally "leaf spruce" — a conifer that drops its needles every autumn like a leafy tree, which is exactly what a larch does.
Plants and Gardening
plant
kasvi
houseplant
huonekasvi
seed
siemen
root
juuri
flowerpot
kukkaruukku
garden
puutarha
lawn
nurmikko
weed
rikkaruoho
to water
kastella
to plant
istuttaa
to bloom
kukkia
to wilt
kuihtua
Practice these words
kasvi
Weed means "rubbish grass": rikka is a speck of litter (as in rikka silmässä, "something in my eye") and ruoho is grass — rikkaruoho is the grass nobody wanted. Every Finnish allotment holder knows the word.
Giving and Getting Flowers
These are for you.
Nämä ovat sinulle.
Thank you for the flowers!
Kiitos kukista!
What beautiful flowers!
Kuinka kauniita kukkia!
I'd like a bouquet of roses.
Haluaisin ruusukimpun.
Could you wrap it?
Voisitteko paketoida sen?
Do they need a lot of water?
Tarvitsevatko ne paljon vettä?
Practice these words
Nämä ovat sinulle.
Flowers for every occasion: Finns give flowers for birthdays, name days, graduations and as a thank-you to a host, and a single rose for a new graduate is entirely normal. The occasions themselves are in birthday wishes and congratulations.
Seven Flowers Under the Pillow
The flower calendar in Finland is short and dramatic. Snow until April in much of the country, then leskenlehti along the roadsides, the anemones in the woods, tuomi in white blossom around the start of summer, kielo in late May and June, and by midsummer the meadows are full: päivänkakkara, kissankello, apila, maitohorsma starting on the clearings.
That midsummer abundance is behind one of the oldest Finnish customs. On juhannus night, young unmarried women would pick seven kinds of wild flowers — in some places nine — and sleep with them under the pillow, to dream of the man they'd marry. It's a romantic tradition with a botany exam built in: in a Finnish June, finding seven different flowers is easy, and you need to know which ones are which. More on that kind of romance in love and romance phrases.
Two things to know if you're out picking. Everyman's right lets you pick wild flowers freely almost everywhere, as long as they aren't protected species — the rules are in berries, mushrooms and everyman's right. And leave the kielo in the forest: its scent is lovely, and every part of it is poisonous.