The Victorian ‘language of flowers’:  Fact or fiction?

Several years ago, I grew a handful of colourful chrysanthemums among a garden bed of dahlias and cornflowers, and it was the red blooms that were so striking against the green foliage of their taller companions.  At certain times of the day the vibrant petals were dappled with sunlight, which made the solar circle around their centres appear as if it was from the heavens rather than the natural hue of flower.  These blooms spoke to me of effervescent energy, bubbling with joy and happiness, and feelings of wonder and gratitude at the ability of nature to inspire these emotions.

Flowers have a wonderful capacity to evoke emotions in us, and the Victorian ‘language of flowers’ had its foundation in the feelings they elicited.  Flowers were extremely popular in the ‘romantic period’ in Europe, England and America during the 1800’s.  It was a time when emotions were more freely expressed and the intense interest in the natural world that had been building in the previous century, reached its zenith.  Flowers infiltrated all aspects of society, from dazzling garden displays to delightful arrangements that enhanced interior decor, from women and men wearing them on hats, in hair, buttonholes, at the wrist and pinned on dresses, to floral designs on fabrics and porcelain, as visual beauty and metaphors in literature and given as gifts to loved ones or friends.  Certain community organisations even arranged for floral bouquets made from donated flowers to be given to those who were ill or struggling in life to try and lift their spirits.  Flowers and plants were also the subject of detailed botanical study, with the information presented in both scientific format and in books as a more relaxed and usually emotional ‘language of flowers’. 

As part of this flourishing interest in floral culture, publishers saw a specific market for books that presented flowers in a romantic rather than scientific sense for the interest of the ‘idle’ women of the upper classes to help fill their time.  These illustrated volumes, usually with a title that included ‘language of flowers’ or some variation thereof, included a list of flowers with their common and botanical names, the meanings assigned to each bloom, and occasionally some scientific information about the plant.  The books were given as beautiful gifts to be placed on tables in prominent locations in the homes of wealthy women for them to peruse to pass the time and learn about flowers in the process.  

In recent times, there has been a resurgence of interest in the ‘language of flowers’, facilitated by a number of beautifully presented publications on the subject, including Vanessa Diffenbaugh’s heartfelt story about a homeless young woman who uses a ‘language of flowers’ to communicate feelings she finds difficult to express in words.  Flowers do indeed touch our hearts and we use them as gifts to express all manner of sentiments, but the assumption that a clearly defined ‘language of flowers’ was created and used in Victorian England to communicate clandestine romantic messages to the object of a potential love match, appears to be unfounded.  

In her detailed academic research on the subject, Beverly Seaton was unable to find evidence that this practice existed in the 19th century or earlier, and furthermore, found a great deal of contradiction in the meanings assigned to flowers in the many different publications that existed during that time.  This is still the case today in books published on the subject and information on the internet.  In the ‘language of flowers’, the chrysanthemum has been assigned a range of meanings from wealth, abundance and strength of mind, to peace in adversity, cheerfulness, optimism and joy, and then there’s truth, honesty, love and slighted love, depending on the colour of the bloom!  

Despite this, there is no doubt that flowers have a language that evokes our emotions, inspired by their beauty, fragrance and individual associations with particular blooms.  We grow the flowers we love most, we choose them as gifts and for celebrations depending on the recipient, the situation, the occasion and the emotions we feel they convey, so we each have our own personal ‘language of flowers’.  The joy and happiness I associate with the red chrysanthemum has some overlap with several of the suggested meanings in the ‘language of flowers’, but my feelings of wonder and gratitude at the ability of nature to inspire these emotions are entirely my own.   

As in life, let’s continue to trust our intuition when it comes to choosing flowers, whether they are for ourselves or others, and just enjoy the visual feast of beautiful blooms, ad hoc meanings and emotional stories prepared for us in all those lovely books on the ‘language of flowers’, taking that which resonates and leaving the rest to the realm of interesting information.