Did you know that if your great-great grandmother wanted to send a secret message to her beau, she could do so with a bunch of flowers? For example, if she gave him red carnations…
He presumably understood her message would be “my heart aches for you.”
If she gave him yellow carnations…
she was telling him “you have disappointed me.”
Now, if she instead sent him a variety of colored carnations, such as this…
I assume he would know she was just plain schizophrenic.
Just kidding. I wanted to see if you were paying attention. I am glad you are!
And it wasn’t just carnations that spoke, believe me. Savvy Victorians believed that flowers had a code all their own.
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
I plan to expand this post quite a bit, as it’s a topic I love, so please check back later if you care to read more. In the short term, check out this link for quick info as to what various flowers meant to the Victorian mind.
get back, lauretta! 