London seems to teem with an abundance of flowers. Each street overflows with plants of different kinds. This makes the stereotype of the dreary, gray English countryside seem absurd. While the weather here veers towards cool, and the sun is much more shy than in the States, Londonites have viciously combatted this by adorning seemingly every surface with greenery.
Pubs seem to incorporate this idea the most. I suppose it helps build the friendly, cozy atmosphere they desire. The Churchill Arms was covered inside and out with flowers of different kinds, making the small Thai restaurant inside feel like a jungle.
The monuments in London receive the same treatment. The Monument to the Women of World War II, the Monument to World War I and II soldiers, and the ANZAC memorials were all heavily adorned with wreaths and flowers. Here, flowers not only brightened the landscape but honored the memory of fallen soldiers. Like bringing flowers to a loved One’s grave, Londonites seem to have adopted these honored people as their own family. This shows how much fresher the World Wars are in the minds of the English. Where Americans have other, greater casualties from wars such as the Civil War, the World Wars hit England comparatively harder than the States. Perhaps this is the only reason so many memorials are constructed to honor a diverse host of Allied soldiers under the English Commonwealth.
A more sinister interpretation is the continued maintenance of the empire. By raising monuments to countries such as India and Australia, and honoring them like they are part of the British family, this figuratively keeps them under the Crown. Placing flowers on these particular monuments could say “we see you, and know you fought for us, but you still belong to us.”
However, the poet in me wants to think otherwise. I’d like to think that the abundance of flowers signifies growth, both after the casualties of war and from the primitive practice of subjugation under an empire.