To know someone a long; time and to know someone well, this is the promise of the periwinkle.
You have to look hard, sometimes, to see these blooms of blue and white amid the deep green clusters of periwinkle leaves. The French know the periwinkle as the virgin’s flower, for its readiness and reticence. In England, periwinkles are sold with a song.
In lore, a bunch of these delicate, pastoral blooms, carried in a pocket, evoked sweet memories of a lover long gone.