Valentine's Day Ideas

What Can History Teach Us About the Language of Flowers?

Nothing says ‘I love you’ like a bunch of flowers. But during the 19th century, a bunch of flowers could do much more than that – it could profess undying commitment, a refusal, or even act as an accusation of infidelity. The Victorians went as far to develop their own floral language and if we let you in on their secrets, you can learn it too.

Below we reveal the hidden meanings for some of the most popular flowers that can be found at our sites so you can impress your Valentine's date. 

© Queen Victoria on her wedding day. Royal Collection Trust © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2023

A Pretty Parlour Game or the True Language of Love?

One of the earliest English books to be be published about the language of flowers was 1825 ‘Floral Emblems, or A Guide to the language of flowers’ by British botanist, horticultural writer and gardener Henry Phillips. Phillips drew on classical literature, Shakespearian associations, earlier French floriographies and his own imagination to give meanings to different breeds and colours of flowers. Many other writers followed him, and the list of supposed meanings grew over the century. Different writers gave plants different meanings, so for instance the rose represents beauty, but according to different writers a white rose can either represent innocence, silence, a Holy death or that someone was worthy of another person.

Despite the popularity of the books and the use of the language of flowers in literature, there’s no real evidence that people actually designed bouquets to deliver specific messages – rather, it’s thought that it was more of a parlour game for genteel women. But there is evidence Queen Victoria and Albert used flowers to prove their love for each other and there is nothing to stop you from doing the same.

What is Floriography?

The idea that flowers had different meanings grew in popularity in France and England in the first decades of the 19th century. During this period, many books were published, each claiming to translate the ‘language of flowers’, and known collectively as ‘floriographies’.
 
With the expertise of our gardening team, we’ve pieced together the individual meanings of some of the different flowers that grow at our sites throughout the year.

© Creative Commons

Myrtle

Meaning: Love

What our gardeners say:

Victoria was fond of myrtle, a flower that continues to grow at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight today. Myrtle was given in a posy to Victoria by Albert’s grandmother in 1845 and it was later used in the wedding bouquet of Victoria’s daughter – a royal tradition also adopted by Kate Middleton in her 2011 wedding to Prince William. It is understandable that myrtle is often used in bridal bouquets, as it provides excellent green foliage along with delicate white or cream flowers, with a mass of gold-tipped stamens, and a delightful scent. Myrtle comes into its own when flowering in July and August.

Find Myrtle at Osborne House

Rose

Meaning: Beauty

What our gardeners say:

Synonymous with Valentine’s Day today, roses are the go-to flowers for bouquets under their overall definition of ‘beauty’. But be careful about your colour choice, because while red refers to ‘love’, yellow can indicate ‘infidelity’. The historic rose garden at Brodsworth Hall and Gardens is a great place to see roses where they are set out within box hedges in the shape of a leaf. We have also created a rose dell within an area of the garden that was undocumented and little was known about it. Here wild rose species are grown in a woodland setting. The best time to discover roses at Brodsworth is June.

Find roses at Brodsworth Hall and Gardens

© Creative Commons

Honeysuckle

Meaning: Devoted affection

What our gardeners say:

Back in 1749 the owner of Wrest Park, Jemima, Marchioness Grey, said honeysuckles ‘blow in such profusion that the bushes are one entire flower, hardly a leaf appears and they creep about in the underwood, twine into the branches of the trees and hang in such natural festoons from them that both the scent and the look are quite like an enchanted garden.’ A walk in the woodlands at Wrest Park is the best place to see honeysuckle. Here it is left to climb and scramble among the trees and shrubs and fills the air with its sweet scent when in flower in late May and June.

Find Honeysuckle at Wrest Park

Pansy

Meaning: You occupy my thoughts

What our gardeners say:

Pansies were particularly popular during Elizabethan times when they were known as ‘heartsease’, a name which is sometimes still used today. Pansies were also mentioned by Shakespeare in The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. They have a way of brightly lifting a garden when in flower, and you can see many pansies in a variety of bright colours used in our spring bedding schemes across several gardens. The name ‘pansies’ comes from the French ‘penseés’, meaning thoughts. So to court someone with pansies, was a way of letting them know you were thinking of them – and hoping they were thinking of you, too.

Find Pansies at Eltham Palace and Gardens

Carnation

Meaning: Pride and beauty

What our gardeners say:

Carnations are often used in buttonholes and have sometimes been overlooked as a garden plant. But at Kenilworth Castle they’re a highlight in the Elizabethan Garden during the summer months. While a carnation suggested pride and beauty, a striped carnation traditionally symbolised a refusal, which prompted Henry Phillips to warn people ‘think seriously before they present this emblem to their suitors’.

Find Carnations at Kenilworth Castle and Elizabethan Garden

What not to say with flowers

While today most people continue to associate red roses with love or romance, the historic meanings behind this complex code are fading and the many different messages you can send with flowers have been forgotten.

Not all sentiments expressed through floriography, the term given to a dictionary of flower meanings, were complimentary. For example flowers like Japanese lilies ('you cannot deceive me'), yellow carnations (disdain) and basil (hatred).

Here are the worst, most negative, and most passive aggressive flowers according to the Victorian language of flowers. 

Yellow Rose: Decrease of love or infidelity

Yellow Rose: Decrease of love or infidelity

Yellow Rose: Decrease of love or infidelity
Yellow Rose: Decrease of love or infidelity
Striped Carnation: Refusal

Striped Carnation: Refusal

Striped Carnation: Refusal
Striped Carnation: Refusal
Pink Larkspur: Fickleness

Pink Larkspur: Fickleness

Pink Larkspur: Fickleness
Pink Larkspur: Fickleness
Lavender: Distrust

Lavender: Distrust

Lavender: Distrust
Lavender: Distrust
Marigold: Despair or Jealousy

Marigold: Despair or Jealousy

Marigold: Despair or Jealousy
Marigold: Despair or Jealousy

Keeping the Tradition Alive

Today the emphasis on the language of flowers has lost its lustre in popular culture, but they continue to be appreciated for their beauty and, when given as a gift, for their generosity and thought.

Flowers still have symbolic significance today, even if we’re not as obsessed with the intricacies of flower etiquette as the Victorians. We give red roses to our loved ones on Valentine’s Day, we wear poppies to commemorate Remembrance Day and we send wreaths as tributes to those who have passed away.

Christopher Weddell, Senior Gardens Advisor at English Heritage, adds that:

‘People – especially the Victorians – have attributed different symbolic meanings to flowers for thousands of years, but today the deeper and more complex language of flowers is all but lost. We want to help keep this tradition alive and bring back the language of flowers. Who knows? You could also avoid offending the very object of your affection’.

So why not have a go at making your own bouquet using our historical examples? We'd love to see your creations - you can share your flowers with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram using the tag @EnglishHeritage

 

 

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