
That's right: Victorians discovered and perfected the art of floriography, or the idea that every flower has a meaning. They sent flowers in bouquets or in letters, and with the use of a handy dandy flower dictionary, could decode "secret" messages! Isn't that just a splendid idea? What could be more pleasant than a language based on flowers?
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Hollyhock represents fruitfulness and ambition. |
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This isn't the cover I have, but it's prettier! |
It's not all love and friendship in the meanings, though. One can send some pretty nasty messages, such as "I declare war against you" with Wild Tansy, "Revenge" with Birdsfoot Trefoil, "You will be the death of me" with Hemlock (which is very poisonous), and "Hatred" with common Basil!
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Revenge, I Say! |
I think it would be fun if we all started using the language of flowers with our friends. Wouldn't it be neat, if at the end of a letter (or a blog post, for that matter!) we included a certain flower that could express our sentiments in a charming way? Here I'll start the tradition: the flower below is called volkamenia. Can you find out what it means? (I mean every word of it!:))
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Have you ever heard of the language of flowers?
Were you surprised with any of the meanings?
Did you find out what volkamenia stands for?
This is so cool, Abby. I've heard of flower meanings before, but I don't have any of them memorized. They're very intriguing, though. I wonder if you really could have a whole conversation using flowers alone. That would be amazing! :)
ReplyDeleteHaha! "You will be the death of me." Now that is quite a message! :P
I looked up volkamenia, and I say "same to you!" May you be happy, Abby! :D
This was a darling post!
~Miss March
Why thank you, Miss March! You are too kind.;) That would be quite a conversation indeed! That could be an interesting feature in a novel, actually.
ReplyDeleteI know! That would be awful to get in the mail!
Oh, good, I'm glad you found the meaning! I was hoping there wasn't some nasty alternative translation that I was unaware of. Some flowers have two very different translations!
Abby
An interesting feature in a novel? TOTALLY! You just sparked my imagination! A conversation in flowers could make an extremely interesting scene in a story! :)
DeleteHaha! I'm glad I got the right one, too. I was wondering if they might not have multiples meanings, so I was very much hoping I'd hit on the right one! :)