Allied Florists of Houston

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Did you know that during the 19th and early 20th centuries, “affection” was expressed with Mossy Saxifrage, Pear, and Sorrel? That “love” was expressed with Myrtle, Creeping Willow, Ambrosia, as well as with Roses? That “marriage” was indicated by Ivy?

“How the universal heart of man blesses flowers! They are wreathed round the cradle, the marriage-altar…. How charmingly a young gentleman can speak to a young lady, and with what eloquent silence in this delightful language. How delicately she can respond, the beautiful little flowers telling her tale in perfumed words….Flowers should deck the brow of the youthful bride, for they are in themselves a lovely type of marriage….” From Collier’s Cyclopedia, Published 1883, New York.

The beauty of flowers has been greatly valued since the dawn of civilization. Symbolic meanings were given to plants from the earliest times, although not in the Western World until the end of the Middle Ages. In Europe, correspondence through flowers began the 1700’s, when Charles II of Sweden introduced the Persian custom referred to as the “Language of Flowers.” The advent of the Industrial Revolution and the reign of Queen Victoria (of England) combined to spread the idea of sentimentality with floral motif to the American continent.

So, in Victorian America, a gift of flowers held much significance; each blossom conveying a message. An entire conversation could be expressed through the exchange of flowers!

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But receive a yellow chrysanthemum and it could mean either you're being slighted or that you have a secret admirer. In Japan, chrysanthemums are the national flower, symbolizing long life and happiness.

The meanings of various flower types dates back thousands of years, but the practice was especially popular during the Victorian era.

"What I think made the Victorians stand out in this area is their commercialization of floral messages, just as they commercialized Christmas and even childhood by promoting specialized products for these occasions," says Julie F. Codell, a professor of art history at Arizona State University.

Meanings were based on folktales, herbal medicine, the flowers' appearance and other cultural associations that had been handed down.

Mythology is a popular source for significance. Hyacinths are associated with sports and games because in Greek mythology, Hyacinth, a boy whom Apollo loved, was killed by a discus.

Various "dictionaries" of floral meanings, called floriographies, were produced during in Victorian days, and two people had to have the same dictionary if the flowers were to have meaning.

"Expressing love was a serious business for the Victorians," Codell says. "A man had to be careful not to be misinterpreted as a suitor, or face possible breach of contract. And women needed to protect themselves against revealing their feelings too hastily to an unworthy partner, since anything women inherited went to their husbands."

Flowers also were popular in Victorian art, used to convey the mood of a character or scene, Codell says.

"In John Everett Millais' painting Ophelia, in which she is singing while floating down the river before drowning, the artist put in flowers mentioned in Shakespeare's play, such as nettles and daisies, and added some others very popular with Victorians - fritillary for sorrow, poppy for death, forget-me-nots denoting Hamlet's rejection of her love - to convey the feelings and fate of the drowning Ophelia.

"Victorians knew their botany well, and people complained that Millais' many symbolic flowers could not have been together, since they all bloom at different times, an indication of how carefully Victorians read paintings."

The floriographies included herbs (rosemary for remembrance, parsley for festivity); trees (spruce for hope in adversity, oak for hospitality) and even fruit (cranberry for hardiness).

Contemporary lists of floral meanings leave out the more obscure examples, such as: monkhood ("beware, a deadly foe is near"), belvedere ("I declare war against you") and meadow saffron ("my happiest days are past").

The Society of American Florists includes a list on its Web site, aboutflowers.com, of more commonly used flowers and happy meanings. The symbolism of yellow carnations has been changed from rejection to cheerfulness.

Kevin Holt, owner of Fresh Cut Romance in Phoenix, says creating a bouquet based on the old lists would be tricky because of flower availability and the aesthetics of combining certain blooms.

"At Valentine's Day, the most common arrangements are the red roses and Oriental lilies," Holt says.

Love and beauty endure.

Source: azcentral

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Larry Roof, owner of the North Carolina-based Web site languageof flowers.com, began researching flower meanings in the 1980s when he started his business, which sells Victorian-style gifts and silk-flower bouquets. His list includes only those meanings he was able to verify with at least three scholarly sources.

amaryllis - pride
azalea - temperance
bachelor's buttons - delicacy
basil - hatred
cactus - endurance
calla lily - magnificent beauty
carnation (pink) - unforgettable;
carnation (red) - pure love
carnation (striped) - maybe
carnation (white) - yes
carnation (yellow) - no
cherry tree - good education
evergreen clematis - poverty
purple columbine - resolved
crocus - youthful gladness
dahlia - dignity
American elm - patriotism
fern - sincerity
scarlet geranium - comfort
gerbera daisy (pink) - friendship
gerbera daisy (red) - love
gerbera daisy (white) - congratulations
gerbera daisy (yellow) - joy

holly - foresight and domestic happiness
jonquil - "I desire a return of affection"
lavender - distrust
lily - beauty
marigold - despair
mint - virtue
orange blossom - bridal festivities
pear - affection
poinsettia - cheer
Queen Anne's lace - fantasy
rose (pink) - friendship
rose (red) - passionate love
rose (white) - purity and worthiness
rose (yellow) - forgive and forget
sage - health
tulip (red) - love
tulip (pink) - caring
tulip (yellow) - hopeless love
tulip (striped) - beautiful eyes or smile
zinnia (mixed colors) - thoughts of absent friends
zinnia (white) - goodness
zinnia (yellow) - daily remembrance
zinnia (scarlet) - constancy

To learn more about flowers and plants visit
Aggie Horticulture at Texas A&M
- an archieve of gardening information assembled by Dr Jerry Parsons to answer questions
- provided as a service by Texas Cooperative Extension.

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The language of flowers

Writer Lady Montagu was the first to introduce the language of flowers to Britain. Wife of a British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, she observed Turkish maidens who gave and received messages "written" in flowers. So fascinated with the quaint custom, she sent an example of the floral correspondence to a friend in England. It soon became a popular mode of communication. Every flower was assigned a special meaning.

The first floral dictionary was published in England by Elizabeth Wirt in 1829. Florigraphy or the language of flowers became so popular that by the 1800's all etiquette books had a section devoted to the art of how to shape flowers into sentences. What made the custom more intriguing was that every dictionary had a slightly different meaning.

By pairing various flowers, complex thoughts could be expressed. For example, if a nutmeg geranium (which signified an expected meeting) was placed with a red rose, a date was proposed. If the same geranium was returned with an anemone (meaning forsaken) and a snapdragon (presumption), the proposed meeting was being flatly refused. If on the other hand some ranunculus was received, which meant "you are radiant with charms," the date was lovingly accepted. Even the precise color of the flowers held slightly different meanings.

With roses, coral petals meant admiration, golden petals communicated jealousy and red roses revealed passion and desire.

Before long, romance was not the only language flowers were speaking to Victorians. Congratulatory arrangements might have been composed of palm leaves for victory, lavender for luck and a slightly folded bud to signify a promise for the future. A farewell corsage might contain sweet peas for departure, plum blossom for fidelity and forget-me-not or rosemary for remembrance.

Red geranium blossoms represented comfort, snowdrops meant hope, ivy referred to friendship and the list goes on. Flowers have spoken well throughout history and they continue to communicate the most tender of emotions today.

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As every flower lover knows, flowers have a language of their own. From time immemorial, sentiments of various kinds have been associated with particular flowers.

The range of human sentiments is expressed in one form or another by these fragile blooms and, as a psychologist has aptly noted, “Flowers are a perfect replica of human life.” It’s the delicate, subtle meanings given to flowers that elicit emotion in the receiver.

The language of flowers has been around for centuries and even has its own special terminology known as floriography. Writings of the ancient Greeks, Romans, Egyptians and Chinese all included flower and plant symbolism. Meanings were probably passed orally through a largely illiterate audience.

Flower language was a flourishing art in the Middle Ages. It enabled a couple to express themselves without writing or speaking (one could be overheard and letters intercepted) in the presence of peers and chaperons. Since these courtships often took place during very long periods of time, the chance of someone noticing and interpreting correctly any particular flower in the exchange was slight. Patterned to fit the ideals of courtly love, flower language allowed intentions to be declared, refusals and acceptances to be made, assignations arranged and lovers dismissed. Flowers sent messages depending on context, accompanying flowers, and how they were delivered.

The 1800s seem to have been the heyday of flower symbolism. During Victorian times, many small colorful handbooks were produced to guide the giver and givee as to the meanings. Unfortunately, depending on the culture and the author, not all of the books agreed on meanings. Even today, different cultures assign different messages to the same flower. One would only hope that each party was literally on the same page when it came to the interpretations.

Today, flowers are still an important part of our anniversaries, birthdays, weddings, funerals, holidays and ceremonies although we may not know their true meaning. Wedding bouquets often include ivy that symbolizes fidelity. If you are looking for new ways of saying I love you, consider a bouquet of these flowers: forget-me-nots (true love); red tulips (perfect love); red rose (desire and love); amaryllis (pride, splendid beauty); coreopsis (love at first sight); phlox (our hearts are united); gardenia (I love you in secret); gladiolus (you pierce my heart); lily of the valley (let’s make up) and violet (I return your love).

If you’re the bargain hunter type, then the hyacinth is the flower of choice as it can mean games, play or forgive me. I guess this is the perfect flower for a gentleman to give to a lady as it pretty well covers all the bases (a good form of positive “relationship insurance” for the male gender although I have not yet run that by Dr. Phil) and men in general need to be forgiven for something at any given moment (I’ll probably get some amens from the feminine gender on this).

Whatever its origin, the rose is undeniably the best-known symbol of beauty and love. It is common knowledge that red roses mean I love you. For those with deep pockets or in the dog house, a dozen roses will convey the ultimate statement. On the other hand, a single rose reflects eloquent simplicity and single-minded of emotion — this approach also comes in handy when credit cards have been maxed out.

Lesser-known nuances of meaning are attached to different colors and types of roses so it’s worthwhile to get the definitions straight. Red and white together mean unity, pink means grace and gentility, and yellow symbolizes joy. If you want to stir things up a bit, send orange or coral roses to speak your desire.

The custom of exchanging flowers may have less to do with romance and chivalry than with anxiety. For the shy or uncertain, handing over a bouquet of flowers is an easy way to express sentiment. But matters can become complicated here as how the flowers were presented and the condition of the flowers was also important.

Flower symbolism has a few inherent problems. It did not take a genius to figure out that wilted flowers were not a good thing. Or it could have just meant a slow messenger or that the delivery route taken included being caught in the construction gridlock at the Gulf Freeway and NASA Road 1 interchange.

The manner in which the ribbon is tied also had subtle meaning. When the ribbon is tied to the left, the flower symbolism is in reference to the giver. If it is tied to the right, the symbolism is about the recipient.

Flowers were also used to answer “yes” or “no” questions. A “yes” answer was signified if the flowers were handed over with the right hand. If they were handed over with the left hand, the answer was “no.” Handing over flowers is just like spending time at an auction, don’t scratch your nose — you never know how someone might interpret it.

The language or symbolism of flowers can be confusing and may not be for the unobservant. On the other hand, should the complexity of communications by floral selection become too daunting on an occasion, be assured that the language or symbolism of a new Jaguar or BMW is always clear, universal and appreciated!

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Allied Florists of Houston
c/o Taylor Wholesale Florist
1601 West 21st Street
Houston, TX 77008
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LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS

The language of flowers