Historic Meaning of Flowers

Did you know …

 

Flowers used to contain symbolic meanings. For example, when a man sent a yellow tulip to a lady, she knew it meant he was hopelessly in love with her.

Certain flowers had different meanings

A secret admirer might send yellow chrysanthemums. Forget-me-nots were a reminder to always remember the one sending them. Pink carnations were a symbol of a mother’s undying love.

Different colors of the same flower could mean different things. Red roses were for love while pink roses meant friendship or appreciation.

Gardenias, yellow roses, and yellow carnations brought thoughts of joy or cheerfulness.

Specific colors have meaning

Even the color of flowers took on a specific meaning. A bouquet of purple flowers might celebrate success. Blue flowers bring a peaceful feeling while white bouquets symbolized innocence.

Birth month flowers

Everyone’s birth month has a flower, too. Carnations are for those with birthdays in January. Those born in February have a choice between irises and violets. Daffodils are for March with daisies and peonies for April babies. Lilies or lilies of the valley are for those born in May while roses are sent to June birthdays. Delphinium is the flower for July. August has a choice between dahlias and gladiolus while September babies choose between asters and forget-me-nots. With marigolds for October and chrysanthemums for November, December has four choices — poinsettia, holly, narcissus, and paperwhite.

While most symbolic meanings have faded into the past, it’s still fun to read about it around Valentine’s Day. It’s a day when many give or receive flowers. You may want to show the list to your dad before he orders flowers this year!

-Sandra Merville Hart

 

Resources

“Flower Meaning and Symbolism,” joy’sflorist.com, 2014/01/14 http://www.joysflorist.com/flowersmeaning.html.

“Flower Meanings,” aboutflowers.com, 2014/01/14 http://aboutflowers.com/flower-a-plant-information-and-photos/meanings-of-flowers.html.

“Meaning of Flowers,” Yankee Publishing, 2014/01/14 http://www.almanac.com/content/meaning-flowers.

“The Color of Flowers!” telflora.com, 2014/01/14 http://www.teleflora.com/flowercolors.asp.