The Language of Flowers: Ideas for Your Special Day

We’re a week into February now, so that means Valentine's Day is fast upon us. Have you made your plans yet? Who are you planning to spend the day with? What do you have planned? Many of those with a significant other would spend days if not weeks planning in advance how to perfectly express their love to their beloved on this special holiday. This practice has led to the increased commercialization of the holiday, as could be seen from all the advertisements every year around this time on how this or that is the best gift to represent your love. 

Candies or sweets had topped Statista's 2017 survey of "The Most Popular Valentine's Day Gifts In The United States" with greeting cards coming in second and flowers only coming in third, which makes quite a bit of sense. Sweets are, well, aside from being a compliment (like “you’re just as sweet”), food is a great way to build and nourish relationships. As for greeting cards, they are lasting physical evidence of the sentiment from the giver that can be used to remind and remember. It’s no wonder that flowers are in third, even though they have long been a popular Valentine's Day gift. While it is difficult to say which of the top three would be the best for you and your companion, nothing is more romantic and sets the mood the best than flowers. So for those who want to make the day truly special, consider scouting what your beloved’s favorite flowers are, or, for a more subtlety, consider the bouquet design from what you want to express to them. 

Floriography: The Language of Flower

Floriography is the language of flower, or specifically, the language behind flowers. Every flower would have one or several different meanings attributed to them, which is often determined by the type of flower, the color of the flower, or both. How each flower can be interpreted (like all languages) depends on context, region, and period, but the general trend nowadays is towards the Victorian British versions with some individual folk differences here and there. At the root, language is about communication, so floriography makes a great option for those who would like a more subtle, romantic way of expressing those words of love and endearment that may be difficult to actually say aloud. So in this blog, we’ve taken some time and compiled a list of some flowers that can be a starting point for your perfect confession. 

Azaleas are typically deciduous and grown as ornamentals because of their showy, funnel-shaped, two-lipped fragrant flowers. Azalea's flower language includes “take care of yourself for me”, temperance, and fragile passion.

White heathers, which are far less common than lilac and purple heathers, are native to South Asia and Europe and are distinguished by small white flowers with a wonderful fragrance that grows on mountain cliffs or in colorful fields. Heather's flower language includes protection and “wishes will come true.”

Holly, known as the birth flower of December celebrants, is an important part of the Christmas tradition, not only because it is used to decorate homes in the winter, but also because it plays an important role in Roman Saturnalia festival rituals. While holly flowers are pleasantly scented and actinomorphic, their alternate leaves are toothed or spiny. Holly berries, on the other hand, are poisonous to humans, cats, horses, and dogs. Holly's flower language translates to "defense" and "domestic happiness."

Hyssop, a member of the mint family, has scented leaves with a camphor-like sweet, fresh, and aromatic scent. From summer to fall, hyssop flowers are characterized by a vast array of purple, pink, white, or purple-blue flowers. Hyssop's flower language is associated with “sacrifice” and “cleanliness.” 

And then, of course…

Roses, which are native to the Northern Hemisphere's temperate regions, and, as everyone knows, are well armed with thorns of various shapes and sizes. The number of petals vary from 5 to several layers of maybe 5s and are typically grown for their stunning fragrance or just the visual of their gorgeous flowers, which can range from white to various shades of yellow, pink to dark crimson and blue. Because of the range of colors, roses can be said to be one of the flowers with the most meanings, since each color can have its own meaning or more. So we’ll just include a few common favorites here:

• Pink – gratitude, grace, admiration, and joy
• Orange – enthusiasm and passion
• Yellow – friendship (one of the only colors of roses that do not have any romantic meaning associated with them)
• White – innocence, purity, reverence, “I’m thinking of you”
• Red – “I love you” (in most if not all languages)

So? Any ideas for your Valentine’s Day? Or maybe you would like to research more into what other flowers can help you perfect your confession? Either way, we at airDefender hope to wish you a very Happy early Valentine’s Day no matter who or how you plan to celebrate, since we’re quite certain you’ll be busy before and during that day. However… For those who want to at least partially celebrate with us, keep an eye out on our social media for a surprise. See you there!

Sources:

Staff. The Language of Flowers. Aggie Horticulture, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/publications/flowers/flowers.html

Staff. Modern Floriography: The symbolic meaning and language of flowers. Bloom&Wild. https://www.bloomandwild.com/floriography-language-of-flowers-meaning