Flowers and Their Meanings
Good Morning , friends!
We’re honing in on Valentine’s Day and love is in the air. For me, love is in the air because TODAY is one of my bestie’s birthday (Happy Birthday Amanda!) and TOMORROW is Lorenzo’s 6th birthday (Happy Birthday little muffin!).
Given that my parent’s owned a flower shop for over 20 years, I am semi-well versed in flowers and have always enjoyed helping my friends with their floral needs in wedding planning. I was much younger when they closed the business, but I still retained enough knowledge to be helpful. I thought I’d share a quick post with you about the main flowers you see around Valentine’s Day, their meaning, and the general meaning implied behind the flower colors.
Let’s take a look…
I reviewed several different sites to cross reference the meanings and even stumbled upon a post on Almanac.com stating that in the Victorian era, flowers were used to deliver messages that couldn’t be spoken out loud and could even answer a yes or no question depending upon which hand was used to hand over the flowers, or which side the bow was tied on, of if the flowers were delivered upside down it would convey the opposite (negative) feelings. It’s pretty interesting how something we can easily take for granted as a simple symbol of sentiment has deep rooted history and meaning much more intricate than a simple “I love you” or “Happy Birthday” or “Thinking of you”.
I’ve listed the more popular flowers (especially at Valentine’s Day) below to keep this simple, but if it interests you to read further about more flowers then take a look at this site (click here).
1) ROSES - Roses are wildly popular year round and especially at Valentine’s Day to express love, deep desire, and devotion. However, roses carry different meaning depending upon their color.
Red roses symbolize (passionate) love, beauty, and romance.
Pink roses symbolize gratitude, appreciation, and admiration.
White roses symbolize innocence, humility, purity, or youthfulness.
Yellow roses symbolize friendship and joy.
2) TULIPS - Tulips are another popular addition to Valentine’s Day flowers both because it’s (almost) spring time so they’re in season but because they symbolize “perfect love”.
Red tulips symbolize romance.
Pink tulips symbolize care and happiness.
Yellow tulips symbolize happiness and joy.
3) LILIES - Lilies are a beautiful and fragrant flower and come in a variety of colors (types). Lilies hold different meaning depending on the type of lily chosen, however the most common meaning is purity, fertility, life and rebirth (think of the Easter Lily).
4) RANUNCULUS - Ranunculus are my favorite flowers. They come in a variety of colors and are very delicate flowers, but goodness their blooms are every bit of exceptional. They symbolize being charm and attraction as if you’re mesmerized by the person you give them to. (I did not know this. 😊)
5) ORCHIDS - Orchids are a popular flower to add to arrangements or to give as a potted plant. Their blossoms symbolize rare and delicate beauty, love, luxury, strength. It is said to give someone an orchid means you admire their strength and femininity.
6) HYDRANGEAS - Hydrangeas are always lush and beautiful to me. They can symbolize gratitude, heartfelt emotion, and even boastfulness depending upon the culture.
7) PEONIES - Peonies are another one of my favorite flowers and they’re definitely an expensive addition to any arrangement. They can symbolize love, honor, happiness, romance, beauty, and wealth.
Do you have a favorite flower and/or a favorite flower color? Do you typically send or receive flowers for Valentine’s Day? Comment below!
My favorites are orange ranunculus, all peonies, and orange roses. 😍 At the end of the day though, I love them all and firmly believe the carnation is an underrated superstar. They are very fragrant, have beautiful petals, and grow in a variety of colors. That’s free food for thought. 😉
Wishing you all a great Monday!
XOXO
