September the 1st is back to school day in Russia. It is the official day of the beginning of an academic year for schools and universities across Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union. The first day of school, also known as “The Day of Knowledge”, is an official celebration in Russia; and as with any celebration, there are certain traditions associated with it. Flower-giving to teachers is one of them. Although it is difficult to understand for people from other cultures, the 1st day of school in Russia is deeply associated with flowers. It is thought to be the third biggest selling period for local florists.
All over the country dressed up children walk to their school with the bouquet of flowers for their teachers. This day carries a special significance to the first graders, for whom a very special ceremony is organized that is called the “The First Bell”. Hundreds of students stand around waiting for their first bell, all with bouquets of flowers and a mixture of excitement and agitation.
This tradition has been around since the 80s. That is something their parents used to do, older siblings did and now it is younger children’s turn. What changed, however, is the type of bouquets that children bring to their teachers these days. It used to be dahlias and gladioluses from the garden (the family’s own garden or friends’ or even neighbors’ garden). Those flowers were in season and that’s what most students used to bring to school on the 1st of September.
As years went by and the number of families having their own garden reduced, more families turned to buying flowers from grandmas selling them on the streets or near grocery shops, and eventually to buying flowers from flower shops.
These days, more and more families buy bouquets from florists that make arrangements with sunflowers, roses, hydrangeas, carnations, orchids and other variety of flowers. Often the bouquets are decorated with some elements of school life; for example, rulers, pencils, erasers, etc.
With the spread of flower delivery service, some families choose to order flowers online to have them delivered to their home the night before or early in the morning of the Day of Knowledge.