August 5, 2025 • 10 mins
In floriography, flowers and other plants are associated with meanings or sentiments (like physical emoji) -- but could you really send a message with a bouquet? Learn about the fad of floriography in Victorian England in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/cultural-traditions/floriography.htm
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brainstud a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff Laura
vogelbam here. Floriography, the association of flowers with special virtues
and sentiments has been a practice from antiquity to the
present day. Ancient Chinese flower calendars established the tradition of
(00:22):
associating seasonal flowers with meanings, beginning in the seventh century BCE,
a making January's winter flower the plum blossom, a symbol
of beauty and longevity. By the seventeen hundreds, the concept
of salaam, the Turkish language of flowers and objects, found
its way to Europe, further establishing the idea of associating
flowers with meanings. The eighteenth century religious visionary and Madman
(00:48):
poet Christopher Smart wrote, for there is a language of flowers,
for there is a sound reasoning upon all flowers, For
elegant phrases are nothing but flowers. Smart's use of the
terminology language of flowers is likely the earliest literary record
of the informal phrase. By the early eighteen hundreds, the
(01:10):
language of flowers was commonly recognized in Europe, and many
devotees of the tradition had begun hand copying lists of
flowers and their symbolic meanings. Are you a friend on
the outs who wants to skip the drama of a
face to face then place a lemon verbina plant on
your bestie's front stoop for forgiveness. Or maybe you're a
vocabulary challenged suitor who feels some kind of way present.
(01:34):
You're someone special with the heliotrope bouquet for infatuation. Practically
any emotion or black thereof, from apathy represented by Candy
tuft to zeal represented by elderflower can be conveyed with
a just right arrangement for the article. This episode is
based on How Stuff Work. Spoke with Susan Loy, an
(01:56):
American artist and calligrapher, whose award winning book Flowers the
Angels Alphabet is a standard reference for floral dictionaries and
the Victorian language of flowers. She said the idea of
a symbolic language of flowers made its way to Victorian
Europe and North America through a cross cultural migration of
ideas and lore from China, Japan, Turkey, Greece, and Rome.
(02:19):
The Victorian language of flowers is primarily a literary tradition
that grew out of the genre of sentimental or gift
flower books, which had its roots in the literary almanac,
an annual publication, often a New Year's gift book that
included a calendar. Literary almanacs were particularly popular around Europe
and the United States from the eighteen twenties through the
(02:41):
eighteen sixties. The language of flowers books that grew out
of the tradition were sort of dictionaries of flowers, including
associated meanings or sentiments, illustrations of the flowers, botanical information
and lore, poetry about the flowers or those associated sentiments,
and perhaps a floral calendar. Some even included a fortune
(03:04):
telling game called a floral oracle. Modernly, lots of juicy
stuff has been written about the repressive strictures of a
stilted era that led daring lovers and blossoming romantic hopefuls
to employ the Victorian language of flowers as a secret,
encoded form of communication. Lore has it that a single
flower or cryptic bouquet could express hidden desires, forbidden longings
(03:28):
and erotic imaginings. One dare not speak out loud. During
a time when etiquette loomed large over the tufted velvet
love seat and decorums sucked all the oxygen out of
the parlor. What claustrophobic Victorian couple wouldn't opt for a
midday meander through the garden of flower dictionaries in hand.
But here's the thing, Lloy explained, there is very little
(03:52):
evidence that ordinary people in the Victorian era actually used
the language of flowers as a means of communication. This
is a myth that has been propagated by the writers
and editors of Language of Flowers books. Artists, designers, florists, marketers,
and writers are more likely to have used and continue
to use floriography. Many of the Language of Flower books
(04:13):
in my personal collection state in their introductions that Victorians
used the language of flowers in their courtship, but neither
historians nor I have found much evidence that they actually did.
One exception is the use of language of flowers in nosegays,
which originated in medieval times. During Victorian era, nosegays were
called tussy mussies and sometimes included flower symbolism. From the
(04:36):
language of Flowers, it turns out there wasn't even a
single cohesive language. Alloy's research suggests that somewhere between four
hundred and six hundred Language of Flowers books were published
during the Victorian era. As she said, many of the
writers and editors copied each other's dictionaries, so there is
some agreement regarding flower meanings. Individual flower associations, however, are
(05:00):
not universal, and there is not one lexicon of agreed
upon meanings even within a single culture. As symbolic flowers
and their lexicons are often tied to the geography and
customs of a given region, this really only makes sense.
Many of the flowers in the lexicon are wild flowers,
others are garden flowers, some are florist flowers, meaning that
(05:22):
access to specific blooms is kind of a big deal. However,
there are lots of common themes like love, beauty, and friendship.
Often the meanings were expressed in personal statements. For example,
a sentiment expressed by Virginia Creeper was I cling to
you both in sunshine and shade, or listed under peach
(05:45):
your qualities like your charms are unequaled. There were lots
of nuances. Ivy was said to symbolize friendship or lasting
friendship because of its clinging habit, while periwinkle indicates early
and sincere friendship. Snowdrop connotes a friend in need or
a friendship inadversity, while zynia represents thoughts of absent friends.
(06:07):
Some of the meanings have negative connotations, and the Victorian
writers tended to associate these with yellow flowers, such as
the daughter for meanness or a yellow rose for jealousy.
Some of the writers included chapters on the special meaning
assigned to the arrangement of flowers. For example, subtle signals
might have been sent if a particular flower were worn
(06:27):
in the hair or in a corsage. Lloyd said, usually
the original meaning would be reversed if a flower is
worn upside down. One poet and floriography maven of her day,
Katherine H. Waterman Esling, wrote in eighteen thirty nine, the
language of flowers has recently attracted so much attention that
(06:48):
an acquaintance with it seems to be deemed, if not
an essential part of a polite education, at least a
graceful and elegant accomplishment. The long lived language of flowers
craze was ushered in from eighteenth century Constantinople via Lady
Mary Wortley Montague in travel letters that she mailed to
her friends. In Europe. A Montague, a feminist poet who
(07:10):
was married to the English ambassador to Turkey, accompanied her
husband to his post in seventeen seventeen and became captivated
by the customs there. In a letter to her friends
back home, she wrote, there is no color, no flower,
no weed, no fruit, herb, pebble, or feather that has
not a verse belonging to it. And you may quarrel, reproach,
(07:31):
or send letters of passion, friendship, or civility, or even
of news without ever inking your fingers, Allois said. Montague's
Turkish Embassy letters were published in seventeen sixty three, shortly
after her death, and made her famous. The letters described
Turkish life, including the salaam, the Turkish language of flowers
(07:51):
and objects undemonic system where flowers or objects rhyme used
as an aid for memorization. Examples don't translate well well
because of the rhyme, but an example in English might
be pair, do not despair. Although Salam is an ammonic system,
it became known in Europe as a system of associating
flowers with sentiments. Probably the most famous and influential floriography
(08:16):
book is by the well known writer and illustrator of
children's books, Kate Greenaway, who lived in England from eighteen
forty nine to nineteen oh one. Her book The Language
of Flowers, first published in eighteen eighty four, has been
translated into many languages and continues to be reprinted to
this day. Even if Victorian's thought and spoke about floriography
(08:37):
more than they actually put it into practice, it's interesting
to think about the movement as a pre digital version
of emoji culture, Lois said. Many of the contemporary flower
emoji sentiments could be found in a typical Victorian Language
of Flowers dictionary. Like the Victorian Language of Flowers, flower
and plant emoji symbolism often relies on a characteristic of
(08:59):
the plant for its significance, which is to say that
just as sending an emoji of a peach, chili, pepper,
or eggplant doesn't literally mean that you're thinking about produce.
Victorians were finding ways to express themselves figuratively. In the
eighteen nineties. The Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde famously
(09:20):
asked his friends and advocates to wear green carnations, which
he hinted would simultaneously signify homosexuality, while meaning nothing at all.
When How Stuff Works spoke with Loy back in twenty twenty,
they asked her to create a hypothetical bouquet that expresses
the language of flowers for our current times, and I
(09:41):
think it's still pretty applicable. She said that she would
include balm for cure, coltsfoot for justice, mint for virtue,
nistertium for heroism, dogwood for honesty, oak for honor, olive
for peace, pimpernel for change, pomp and rose for kindness,
stuf our flower for reciprocity, time for courage, and white
(10:04):
chrysanthemum for truth. But Lloy said this bouquet represents qualities
that we need more of in our contemporary world. Today's
episode is based on the article red Roses Are Yellow,
Every Flower has a Secret Meaning on how Stuffworks dot Com,
written by Carrie Tatreu. Brain Stuff is production by Heart
(10:26):
Radio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com and is
produced by Tyler Klang. For more podcasts my heart Radio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
Welcome to brainstud a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff Laura
vogelbam here. Floriography, the association of flowers with special virtues
and sentiments has been a practice from antiquity to the
present day. Ancient Chinese flower calendars established the tradition of
(00:22):
associating seasonal flowers with meanings, beginning in the seventh century BCE,
a making January's winter flower the plum blossom, a symbol
of beauty and longevity. By the seventeen hundreds, the concept
of salaam, the Turkish language of flowers and objects, found
its way to Europe, further establishing the idea of associating
flowers with meanings. The eighteenth century religious visionary and Madman
(00:48):
poet Christopher Smart wrote, for there is a language of flowers,
for there is a sound reasoning upon all flowers, For
elegant phrases are nothing but flowers. Smart's use of the
terminology language of flowers is likely the earliest literary record
of the informal phrase. By the early eighteen hundreds, the
(01:10):
language of flowers was commonly recognized in Europe, and many
devotees of the tradition had begun hand copying lists of
flowers and their symbolic meanings. Are you a friend on
the outs who wants to skip the drama of a
face to face then place a lemon verbina plant on
your bestie's front stoop for forgiveness. Or maybe you're a
vocabulary challenged suitor who feels some kind of way present.
(01:34):
You're someone special with the heliotrope bouquet for infatuation. Practically
any emotion or black thereof, from apathy represented by Candy
tuft to zeal represented by elderflower can be conveyed with
a just right arrangement for the article. This episode is
based on How Stuff Work. Spoke with Susan Loy, an
(01:56):
American artist and calligrapher, whose award winning book Flowers the
Angels Alphabet is a standard reference for floral dictionaries and
the Victorian language of flowers. She said the idea of
a symbolic language of flowers made its way to Victorian
Europe and North America through a cross cultural migration of
ideas and lore from China, Japan, Turkey, Greece, and Rome.
(02:19):
The Victorian language of flowers is primarily a literary tradition
that grew out of the genre of sentimental or gift
flower books, which had its roots in the literary almanac,
an annual publication, often a New Year's gift book that
included a calendar. Literary almanacs were particularly popular around Europe
and the United States from the eighteen twenties through the
(02:41):
eighteen sixties. The language of flowers books that grew out
of the tradition were sort of dictionaries of flowers, including
associated meanings or sentiments, illustrations of the flowers, botanical information
and lore, poetry about the flowers or those associated sentiments,
and perhaps a floral calendar. Some even included a fortune
(03:04):
telling game called a floral oracle. Modernly, lots of juicy
stuff has been written about the repressive strictures of a
stilted era that led daring lovers and blossoming romantic hopefuls
to employ the Victorian language of flowers as a secret,
encoded form of communication. Lore has it that a single
flower or cryptic bouquet could express hidden desires, forbidden longings
(03:28):
and erotic imaginings. One dare not speak out loud. During
a time when etiquette loomed large over the tufted velvet
love seat and decorums sucked all the oxygen out of
the parlor. What claustrophobic Victorian couple wouldn't opt for a
midday meander through the garden of flower dictionaries in hand.
But here's the thing, Lloy explained, there is very little
(03:52):
evidence that ordinary people in the Victorian era actually used
the language of flowers as a means of communication. This
is a myth that has been propagated by the writers
and editors of Language of Flowers books. Artists, designers, florists, marketers,
and writers are more likely to have used and continue
to use floriography. Many of the Language of Flower books
(04:13):
in my personal collection state in their introductions that Victorians
used the language of flowers in their courtship, but neither
historians nor I have found much evidence that they actually did.
One exception is the use of language of flowers in nosegays,
which originated in medieval times. During Victorian era, nosegays were
called tussy mussies and sometimes included flower symbolism. From the
(04:36):
language of Flowers, it turns out there wasn't even a
single cohesive language. Alloy's research suggests that somewhere between four
hundred and six hundred Language of Flowers books were published
during the Victorian era. As she said, many of the
writers and editors copied each other's dictionaries, so there is
some agreement regarding flower meanings. Individual flower associations, however, are
(05:00):
not universal, and there is not one lexicon of agreed
upon meanings even within a single culture. As symbolic flowers
and their lexicons are often tied to the geography and
customs of a given region, this really only makes sense.
Many of the flowers in the lexicon are wild flowers,
others are garden flowers, some are florist flowers, meaning that
(05:22):
access to specific blooms is kind of a big deal. However,
there are lots of common themes like love, beauty, and friendship.
Often the meanings were expressed in personal statements. For example,
a sentiment expressed by Virginia Creeper was I cling to
you both in sunshine and shade, or listed under peach
(05:45):
your qualities like your charms are unequaled. There were lots
of nuances. Ivy was said to symbolize friendship or lasting
friendship because of its clinging habit, while periwinkle indicates early
and sincere friendship. Snowdrop connotes a friend in need or
a friendship inadversity, while zynia represents thoughts of absent friends.
(06:07):
Some of the meanings have negative connotations, and the Victorian
writers tended to associate these with yellow flowers, such as
the daughter for meanness or a yellow rose for jealousy.
Some of the writers included chapters on the special meaning
assigned to the arrangement of flowers. For example, subtle signals
might have been sent if a particular flower were worn
(06:27):
in the hair or in a corsage. Lloyd said, usually
the original meaning would be reversed if a flower is
worn upside down. One poet and floriography maven of her day,
Katherine H. Waterman Esling, wrote in eighteen thirty nine, the
language of flowers has recently attracted so much attention that
(06:48):
an acquaintance with it seems to be deemed, if not
an essential part of a polite education, at least a
graceful and elegant accomplishment. The long lived language of flowers
craze was ushered in from eighteenth century Constantinople via Lady
Mary Wortley Montague in travel letters that she mailed to
her friends. In Europe. A Montague, a feminist poet who
(07:10):
was married to the English ambassador to Turkey, accompanied her
husband to his post in seventeen seventeen and became captivated
by the customs there. In a letter to her friends
back home, she wrote, there is no color, no flower,
no weed, no fruit, herb, pebble, or feather that has
not a verse belonging to it. And you may quarrel, reproach,
(07:31):
or send letters of passion, friendship, or civility, or even
of news without ever inking your fingers, Allois said. Montague's
Turkish Embassy letters were published in seventeen sixty three, shortly
after her death, and made her famous. The letters described
Turkish life, including the salaam, the Turkish language of flowers
(07:51):
and objects undemonic system where flowers or objects rhyme used
as an aid for memorization. Examples don't translate well well
because of the rhyme, but an example in English might
be pair, do not despair. Although Salam is an ammonic system,
it became known in Europe as a system of associating
flowers with sentiments. Probably the most famous and influential floriography
(08:16):
book is by the well known writer and illustrator of
children's books, Kate Greenaway, who lived in England from eighteen
forty nine to nineteen oh one. Her book The Language
of Flowers, first published in eighteen eighty four, has been
translated into many languages and continues to be reprinted to
this day. Even if Victorian's thought and spoke about floriography
(08:37):
more than they actually put it into practice, it's interesting
to think about the movement as a pre digital version
of emoji culture, Lois said. Many of the contemporary flower
emoji sentiments could be found in a typical Victorian Language
of Flowers dictionary. Like the Victorian Language of Flowers, flower
and plant emoji symbolism often relies on a characteristic of
(08:59):
the plant for its significance, which is to say that
just as sending an emoji of a peach, chili, pepper,
or eggplant doesn't literally mean that you're thinking about produce.
Victorians were finding ways to express themselves figuratively. In the
eighteen nineties. The Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde famously
(09:20):
asked his friends and advocates to wear green carnations, which
he hinted would simultaneously signify homosexuality, while meaning nothing at all.
When How Stuff Works spoke with Loy back in twenty twenty,
they asked her to create a hypothetical bouquet that expresses
the language of flowers for our current times, and I
(09:41):
think it's still pretty applicable. She said that she would
include balm for cure, coltsfoot for justice, mint for virtue,
nistertium for heroism, dogwood for honesty, oak for honor, olive
for peace, pimpernel for change, pomp and rose for kindness,
stuf our flower for reciprocity, time for courage, and white
(10:04):
chrysanthemum for truth. But Lloy said this bouquet represents qualities
that we need more of in our contemporary world. Today's
episode is based on the article red Roses Are Yellow,
Every Flower has a Secret Meaning on how Stuffworks dot Com,
written by Carrie Tatreu. Brain Stuff is production by Heart
(10:26):
Radio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com and is
produced by Tyler Klang. For more podcasts my heart Radio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
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