For the past few years I have been really interested in Floriography otherwise known as ‘the language of flowers’.
I first discovered the concept of floriography when I was watching an episode of the murder mystery drama ‘Rosemary and Thyme’. ‘Rosemary and Thyme’ is about two women who set up a gardening business together and who inadvertently end up stumbling across murders whilst landscaping people’s gardens, and who work together to discover the murderer. In one particular episode Rosemary Boxer and Laura Theme solve a murder using a book of floriography. I then went on to watch a historical documentary which mentioned the use of floriography.
Floriography is the sending of secret messages through coded arrangements of flowers.
The practice of floriography is thought to have originated from the court of Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire in the 1600s, and was first introduced to the people of England by Mary Wortley Montagu in 1717. The language of flowers became particularly popular amongst the Victorians, (between 1837 and 1901), during the reign of Queen Victoria.
The Victorians used floriography in the form of small bouquets called ‘ tussie-missies’ or ‘nosegays’ to covertly flirt with people that they fancied. Victorians were able to tell if their romantic overtures were well received by the way in which their crush held the bouquet upon receipt. For example, if the bouquet was held at heart level then this signified that their crush reciprocated their feelings. However, if the bouquet was held downwards then this let them know that they had been rejected.
When practicing the art of floriogiraphy some flowers can take on a new meaning depending on the number given. For instance, a single daffodil is said to bring bad luck, whereas a bunch of daffodils symbolises good luck.
A modern example of the use of floriography was seen in the arrangement of flowers that the Duchess of Cambridge chose to make up her wedding bouquet when she married Prince William. Katherine chose flowers such as the lily of the valley which signifies trustworthiness, myrtle which represents hope and love, hornbeams which symbolise resilience, and field maples which mean humility and reserve.
Fascination with the language of flowers has inspired me to create a series of watercolour pencil flower paintings/greetings cards based around floriogiraphy. In the first painting all of the flowers signify love and romance in some way and the second painting depicts flowers that symbolise friendship. I am currently working on a third flower painting in which all of the flowers represent sympathy and loss.
When researching the meanings of flowers to add to my paintings I felt that some of them had really touching and beautiful sentiments. For instance, stocks mean ‘you’ll always be beautiful to me’, red carnations mean ‘deep love and passion’ and chrysanthemums mean ‘friendship’, ‘loyalty’, ‘devotion’, cheerfulness and longevity’.
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