After gently caressing her lips with his, he pulls back and gazes into her eyes. “You know, I didn’t just pick this up at the grocery store on a whim. I put a lot of thought into it. You know what’s special about this plant, right?”
She thinks on it a moment, probably going over all its botanical benefits in her head‒it’s just the way Katniss’s mind works. “Well, I know they’re very hardy. Resistant to frost. Able to grow in difficult conditions. And they’re a succulent perennial; they can live a long time.”
“Exactly.” And that was part of it, of course‒he knows Katniss would take a potted plant over clipped and assembled flowers any day. For one, she hates when flowers have to die for 'stupid reasons,' as she puts it (he grinned hard when she said that), and she’s always preferred stalwart, enduring organisms: evergreen trees, yarrow, even the tough-as-nails dandelion.
He imagines it's because she herself is stalwart and enduring, like the evergreens and the dandelions.
But for Peeta, there’s more to it.
He watches her. She’s caressing the undersides of the dark maroon tips of the leaves almost lovingly now. He looks upon her with the adoration she’s showing the plant.
“I got this for you because of what it represents,” he tells her. And she meets his eyes. “You know the meaning of the Latin name, of course.”
“Yes. It means ‘always living.’”
“Right. It’s an evergreen plant as you know, which I know you appreciate. But more importantly, this plant is meant to symbolize my love for you‒it will never fade, never turn brown and wither; it will remain green, and I’ll keep on loving you, for always.”
