Victorian flower codes

Before buying a bouquet or a pot of something this Valentine’s Day you might want to check out our Victorian Flower Code to see what the blooms you’ve selected really mean.

Anemone
Abandonment. The goddess of love adored Adonis the boy from whose blood the scarlet anemones sprang. In Christian tradition the anemone was said to have grown on the hill beneath the cross where the blood of Christ had fallen.

Daisy
Suggests innocence.

Delphinium
Swiftness and light. Derived from the Greek meaning dolphin.

Dogwood
Stands for endurance, and durability through all seasons.

Freesia
Reminds us that love may be calm.

Gardenia
In the Far East the gardenia represents feminine grace and artistry. In the America South it represents hospitality – the grace of the southern style of life. In 19th Century Britain a gardenia was considered one of the few flowers suitable to adorn the lapel of a formal evening jacket.

Heather
Red heather stands for passion, white heather means an offer of protection.

Heliotrope
Means devotion. 

Iris
Message of hope or sorrow. The Greeks named this flower after the messenger who led the soul to eternity after death.

Jasmine
An emblem of good luck. Jasmine was brought to the west by Vasco da Gama from the Far East and its Chinese name yeh-his-ming was anglicised to jasmine.

Lavender
In Victorian times a gift of lavender indicated a lack of trust – perhaps because in earlier eras the flowers were used to cover bad smells! Actually, in Roman times a sprig of lavender was used in washing and may have come from the Latin ‘to wash’.

Nasturtium
Indicates jest.

Poppy
Suggests the consolation of rest, the wonder of dreams and the sleep of depth.  Morpheus the god of dreams was said to drop a wreath of poppies on the sleeper’s head.

Pansy
Pansy comes from the French word pensee, which means ‘thought’.  Pansies represent the thoughts of lovers before they are spoken – they have even been ascribed telepathic powers.

Primrose
The primrose represents youth and hope. Primrose petals, made into an ointment has been used as a wrinkle cream.

Protea
Suggest that the challenge of desire takes many forms.

Quince
Stands for temptation – some say it was the quince and not an apple that Eve ate in the garden of Eden. The quince may also be the ‘golden fruit’ of the Hesperides. The tart fruit of the quince has been token of desire and fertility. Plutarch counselled young women to eat quince in preparation for their wedding night.

Red rose
Symbolises love. Robert Burns – “A red red rose”
O my Luve’s like a red, red, rose,
That’s newly sprung in June: O my Luve’s like the melodie
That’s sweetly played in tune,

Aphrodite was said to have created the first red rose when she scratched herself on rose thorns while rushing to tend her injured lover Adonis. 

When Cleopatra seduced Mark Anthony she did so in a chamber filled two feet deep with red rose petals.

Violet
The violet is a pledge of faithfulness.

Water Lily
Stands for perfect beauty.

White Rose
Purity and silence. In Asian tradition, the white rose stands for the ultimate absence – death. In Japan, funeral armbands are white.

Wisteria
Signifies obedience.

Yellow Rose
To the Victorians the yellow rose stood for jealousy. However, in America it symbolised love and humility. The yellow rose is the prairie rose.  It symbolises the joy of domestic happiness and as the story goes “The yellow rose of Texas is the only girl for me…”