Source – Farmers Almanac
Floriography, or “the language of flowers,” was a popular Victorian fad during the 1800s in which specific meanings were attributed to different plants and flowers. Most flowers conveyed positive sentiments: friendship, fidelity, devotion, love. Others were assigned more negative meanings, such as anger, contempt or indifference. All Victorian homes had guidebooks which contained listings for hundreds of trees, shrubs, herbs, and flowers, accompanied by dainty illustrations. I’m sure many of you have plenty of garden books, new and old that teach how to care for our favorite plants. It is possible that these popular flower vocabularies were mainly a kind of 19th- century “coffee table book.”
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. Some stories told of these days and ways – 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.”
How flowers were presented and in what condition also 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!
We have updated the photos logs of our gardens on our facebook page as well as our Gardens page. We hope to see you there this season enjoying the views on one of the outdoor benches.