Language of flowers: Difference between revisions

Interest in floriography soared in [[Victorian era|Victorian England]], North America and France<ref>{{Cite web |title=Floriography: The History and Traditions of the Language of Flowers |url=https://www.byarcadia.org/post/floriography-the-history-and-traditions-of-the-language-of-flowers |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=www.byarcadia.org}}</ref> during the 19th century. Gifts of blooms, plants, and specific floral arrangements were used to send a coded message to the recipient, allowing the sender to express feelings of romance and courtship which could not be spoken aloud in Victorian society.<ref name="archive">{{cite book | url = https://archive.org/details/languageofflower00gree | title=Language of Flowers |first=Kate |last=Greenaway |location=London |publisher=George Routledge and Sons }}</ref><ref name="laufer">{{cite book |title=Tussie-Mussies: The Victorian Art of Expressing Yourself in the Language of Flowers |url=https://archive.org/details/tussiemussiesvic00lauf |url-access=registration |first=Geraldine Adamich |last=Laufer |publisher=Workman Publishing |year=1993|isbn=9781563051067|pages=4–25, 40–53 }}</ref> Armed with floral dictionaries, Victorians often exchanged small "talking bouquets" or "word poesy,” called nosegays or [[tussie-mussies]], which could be worn or carried as a fashion accessory.<ref name="laufer"/>{{rp|25, 40–44}} The word "nosegay" was used because the flowers would smell nice and the word "gay" meant ornament. These accessories were originally worn to mask the scent of the streets and body odor, and were often composed of fragrant herbs and flowers such as lavender, lemon balm and roses.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sproule |first=Rob |date=2021-10-06 |title=The Lost Language of Flowers: Victorian Floriography - Salisbury Greenhouse - Blog |url=https://salisburygreenhouse.com/the-lost-language-of-flowers-victorian-floriography/ |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=Salisbury Greenhouse |language=en-US}}</ref> During the 16th century, the purpose of the tussie-mussies changed. They were commonly gifted to a love interest. The meaning of flowers was determined by their cultural meanings along with legends and myths. In England and America, courses such as botany, painting flowers, and floral arranging became popular in education, especially for young women.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Adamich Laufer |first=Geraldine |title=Tussie Mussies The Victorian Art of Expressing Yourself in the Language of Flowers |publisher=Workman Publishing Company, Inc. |isbn=1563051060}}</ref> Tussie-mussies are still used in modern-day as corsages and boutonnieres.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Language of Flowers: History and Symbolic Meanings |url=https://www.rootwell.com/blogs/language-of-flowers |access-date=2024-03-06 |publisher=Rootwell Products Inc. |date=2016-07-05 |language=en-US}}</ref>▼

In the United States the first appearance of the language of flowers in print was in the writings of [[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque]], a French-American naturalist, who wrote on-going features under the title "The School of Flora", from 1827 through 1828, in the weekly [[Saturday Evening Post|''Saturday Evening Post'']] and monthly ''Casket; or Flowers of Literature, Wit, and Sentiment''. These pieces contained the botanic, English and French names of the plant, a description of the plant, an explanation of its Latin names, and the flower's emblematic meaning, therefore readers could select flowers appropriately to send a message.<ref name=":0" /> However, the first books on floriography were [[Elizabeth Wirt]]'s ''Flora's Dictionary'' and [[Dorothea Dix]]'s ''The Garland of Flora'', both of which were published in 1829, though Wirt's book had been issued in an unauthorized edition in 1828.▼