Today, we continue to honor St. Valentine and recall the history of Valentine’s Day (that actually was NOT all flowers, romance, greeting cards with a cute Cupid and sweet chocolate but involved a good amount of blood and death… just saying) on February 14th each year when we celebrate our love for our significant others. And that is a beautiful holiday where love can be felt in the air (mostly because of all those fragrant flowers and that box of sweet chocolate!).
Valentine’s Day flowers are the most common gift of choice, especially a classic dozen red roses.
The history of giving your loved one flowers for the Valentine’s Day celebration goes back hundreds of years and was perfected during the Victorian era.
The Persian custom of floriography or “the language of flowers” was introduced to Europe by two people: Englishwoman Mary Wortley Montagu Mary (1689–1762), who brought it to England in 1717, and Aubry de La Mottraye (1674–1743), who introduced it to the Swedish court in 1727. Floriography was popularized in The United States during 1830–1850. (Wikipedia)
In “the language of flowers” every flower had an individual meaning or statement that people used to communicate non-verbal messages to each other using only flowers. Even the color and arrangement of the blooms held significance. And remember, this was Victorian era, where flirtation and open expression of feelings were not acceptable or proper in a society, that’s where “the language of flowers” – a secret code came handy allowing to send a message of love, jealousy, happiness or grief to the receiver.
Armed with floral dictionaries, Victorians often exchanged small "talking bouquets", called nosegays or tussie-mussies, which could be worn or carried as a fashion accessory. "A woman also had to be pretty precise about where she wore flowers. Say, for instance, a suitor had sent her a tussie-mussie. If she pinned it to the 'cleavage of bosom', that would be bad news for him, since that signified friendship. Ah, but if she pinned it over her heart, 'That was an unambiguous declaration of love'."(Wikipedia)
Flowers were used to answering “yes” and “no” questions, too. If flowers were handed over using the right hand, the answer was “yes”; if the left hand was used, the answer was “no”.
But, why the famous red rose for Valentine’s Day?
The red rose began its well known symbolic history by being the favorite flower of Venus, the Roman goddess of love. For centuries the color red was used to symbolize fire and strong emotions and up to this day, red roses continue to be the iconic representations of expressing affection and intensity of romantic love.
The red rose may be a Queen for Valentine’s Day, but there are many other flowers that help to communicate the different types of love.
For instance, all of the different meanings of Carnations: red says “my heart aches for you”, symbolizes admiration and affection; pink sings “I’ll never forget you”; white is for the “the sweet and lovely”; yellow expresses romantic rejection.
Tulips generally mean perfect love, elegance, and grace.It is said that the black center of the flower represents a lover’s heart, darkened by the heat of passion. Red tulips are most strongly associated with true love and romance, while purple symbolizes royalty. Choose pink tulips for caring and happiness. Yellow tulips have a common expression for cheerful thoughts and sunshine as white tulips speak of forgiveness.
Daisies - the white petals of daisies signify loyal love, purity, beauty, innocence, and patience.
Asters are considered an enchanted flower that represents love and patience.
Stock flowers are a good addition to a romantic bouquet because they symbolize a happy life and contented existence.
Daffodils are said to ensure happiness and represent rebirth, devotion, or unrequited love. They bring a cheerful feeling to any romantic bouquet but don't include just one—single daffodil stem represents misfortune.
Here at Soul’s Greenhouse we have unconditional love for every flower and have created a variety of bouquets that fit every need, or a type of love and budget. Check our creations and see which one speaks to your heart the most!
May you be surrounded by love on this Valentine’s Day and every day!
And for the ending, here is a beautiful poem to praise the secret Language of Flowers:
There is a language, little known,
Lovers claim it as their own.
Its symbols smile upon the land,
Wrought by nature’s wondrous hand;
And in their silent beauty speak,
Of life and joy, to those who seek
For Love Divine and sunny hours
In the language of the flowers.
–The Language of Flowers, London, 1875
Keep blooming!
Your florist, Ausra
