Posted on 05/21/2022 6:57:35 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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Flower Meanings: The Language of Flowers
What Does Each Flower Symbolize?
May 4, 2022
The History of Flower Meanings
The language of flowers has been recognized for centuries in many countries throughout Europe and Asia. They even play a large role in William Shakespeare’s works. Mythologies, folklore, sonnets, and plays of the ancient Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, and Chinese are peppered with flower and plant symbolism—and for good reason.
Whether you’re giving flowers to a mother for Mother’s Day or a friend on their birthday or a beloved on Valentine’s Day, nearly every sentiment imaginable can be expressed with flowers. The orange blossom, for instance, means chastity, purity, and loveliness, while the red chrysanthemum means “I love you.”
Flowery Language of the Victorian Era
Learning the special symbolism of flowers became a popular pastime during the 1800s. Nearly all Victorian homes had, alongside the Bible, guidebooks for deciphering the “language,” although definitions shifted depending on the source.
Following the protocol of Victorian-era etiquette, flowers were primarily used to deliver messages that couldn’t be spoken aloud. In a sort of silent dialogue, flowers could be used to answer “yes” or “no” questions. A “yes” answer came in the form of flowers handed over with the right hand; if the left hand was used, the answer was “no.”
Plants could also express aversive feelings, such as the “conceit” of pomegranate or the “bitterness” of aloe. Similarly, if given a rose declaring “devotion” or an apple blossom showing “preference,” one might return to the suitor a yellow carnation to express “disdain.”
How flowers were presented and in what condition were important. If the flowers were given upside down, then the idea being conveyed was the opposite of what was traditionally meant. How the ribbon was tied said something, too: Tied to the left, the flowers’ symbolism applied to the giver, whereas tied to the right, the sentiment was in reference to the recipient. And, of course, a wilted bouquet delivered an obvious message!
More examples of plants and their associated human qualities during the Victorian era include bluebells and kindness, peonies and bashfulness, rosemary and remembrance, and tulips and passion. The meanings and traditions associated with flowers have certainly changed over time, and different cultures assign varying ideas to the same species, but the fascination with “perfumed words” persists just the same.
What Does Each Flower Mean?
See our list below for meanings of herbs, flowers, and other plants. (Please note: Our chart below reflects mainly Victorian flower language.)
Click on linked plant names for a photo and growing guide:
https://www.almanac.com/flower-meanings-language-flowers
CLICK ON THE PICTURE OF THE RHUBARB MUFFIN!
Or keep reading for more flower meanings!
We had these growing on a fence...such a delight to see. We had all wild flowers in our yard. For many years...when I was older and visiting my mom and dad...dad would take me out to the garden and cut the first yellow rose of the season...and bunches of other wild flowers. Such a fond memory.
(Compendium of Rose references in Literature.)
https://www.bartleby.com/78/711.html
"But ne’er the rose without the thorn." Herrick—The Rose.
"Die of a rose in aromatic pain." Pope—Essay on Man. Ep. I. L. 200.
Thanks for the ping, even though we have no garden here since I decided to give the land a rest after 6-7 years of planting the same 2 crops. Yet I did plant 25 Tomato plants )started from seed) in a neighbors yard, thank God, but I have no camera now to take any pictures of them.
Wonder what they mean?
Photos are flipping again and I'm not sure how to correct the images. Will have to ask IT son and son-in-law.
(It is also the location of his downloadable F/R HTML Tool which is being used for the HTML for this post!)
Daniel; I hope your neighbor will be happy! Will you be sharing your tomatoes with him? What varieties did you plant?
(Will you be releasing another squash plant on him?)
Good Morning! :-)
Well, I’m getting an asparagus crop, so to speak. It’s beyond anemic and not even as good as last year. Not sure why. It could be from the mouse tunneling damaging the roots.
What would be good for fertilizing and boosting the asparagus?
We have a VERY early least date of frost this year. I put my tomatoes in by May 10, which I think sets a record for early. They are nice and big already.
I have lots of plants left over and we’re doing a community wide yard sale this weekend so I’ll be selling the left over plants there.
Speaking of buying plants, I checked a couple places for pepper plants, like Lowe’s and some garden centers. What ridiculous prices. Lowe’s didn’t even have the 6 packs. They had individual plants for $4 each!!!!!! $4 for one tomato, one cucumber, one squash, whatever. And they were pathetic looking things.
And it wasn’t just veggies that were over priced. Flowers are, too.
I started my own seeds and after seeing the prices on these plants, realized that I saved a FORTUNE starting my own. Probably hundreds of dollars with the number of plants I have started.
We’re in for a blistering hot weekend so I got out the floating row covers and covered my lettuce and cabbage plants. I made tunnels with turkey wire, similar to what Pete did, and they are working out well. It was so easy to put the floating row covers over them and clothespin them on.
My potatoes are in but getting a slow start. Carrots are coming up. I started some beans and butternut squash in containers and will get those in when they are big enough.
It’s hard to believe that the garden is well under way already. It seems like I’m late getting some stuff in but actually some years, I’m just hoping to get started by this time.
I’m getting my herbs planted, and my garlic is well over a foot high already. That crop is doing well.
This could be a ‘tomato year’...my plants all look AWESOME...thick sturdy stems, and they are bushing out nicely...Since I planted rare and scarce ones this year, I am more than pleased at the results so far. I had ONE SEED remaining from my meager stash of Coeur de Boeuf Orange, and when it came up, it was looking shaky. HOWEVER, it is looking REAL GOOD right now, and I hope to get a nice crop of beautiful orange hearts off this plant. Clint Eastwood’s Rowdy Red plant looks like it has the potential to break the ‘house record’ of 167 tomatoes off one plant...it is budding already, and it isn’t even Memorial Day! Kiss the Sky (the heirloom variant of Purple Haze) also budding already...
I am so disappointed right now. I learned this morning that DH tilled under my bell peppers and jalapeños that I had planted, after starting from seed in January.
To make matters worse, this was seed that has come from 6 years of heirloom seed I have saved and replanted. So they were well acclimated to our area.
He feels bad and says he will replant and I’m not mad at him, but I could just cry because it’s years of careful seed saving gone down the drain 😢
“What would be good for fertilizing and boosting the asparagus?”
Asparagus benefits from a balanced fertilizer, so just a granular 10-10-10 is fine.
You’re leaving some of the stalks to go to flower, I hope? If you harvest it all, it’s not going through it’s ‘life cycle’ and that could be part of the problem. Leave one stalk alone from each crown and let that flower until it dies back of its own accord in the fall.
Thanks, Pete!
Oh, No! That’s so sad! :(
I am a cake decorator and used flower meanings while I was working on cakes. My favorites? Violets (faithfulness) and dogwood (love undiminished by adversity).
We had violets on our wedding cake, even before I knew about flower language. Apparently they were prophetic. We have been married for 51 years!
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