Secret messages in flowers
What secret message might your pick of flowers from the garden be sending? It depends on who you ask, finds Julia Atkinson-Dunn.
While on holiday a few years ago, I arrived at a tragic gap in my book lineup where I was finished, but my companions weren’t quite ready to share their reading options.
One friend dug out a bonus book from her bag, and I greedily lapped it up. The Language of Flowers by American writer Vanessa Diffenbaugh centred on a fragile young woman who adopted the Victorian system of communicating her thoughts and feelings by symbolically combining specific flowers in bouquets.
It was a terrific story, and I was instantly gripped by the romanticism of this secret language, immediately ordering two new books online to learn more.
Plants are symbolic and used to represent many places, traditions and cultural values. Nations and regions around the world have emblematic flowers and plants, as do some religions. There are multiple flowers assigned to birth dates and zodiac signs, and to mark various anniversaries over a lifetime.
Ma¯ oritanga holds the tı¯ ko¯ uka (cabbage tree) as a signal of independence while harakeke
(flax), with its strong outside leaves and fresh central growth, represents parents and their children.
Respected, important leaders are compared to the great to¯ tara tree, while ongaonga (a type of tree nettle) might be used to describe a difficult person, according to Te Ahukaramu¯ Charles Royal in Te Waonui a Ta¯ ne – Forest Mythology, written and published on teara.govt.nz.
In China, there is a system of messaging based on how many roses are gifted or positioned in a vase for display. A single rose signifies ‘‘you are my only love’’, eight stems ask ‘‘let us make up’’ and 77 is a proposal of marriage.
Although not native in India, marigolds are incredibly important in Hindu celebrations.
When used during weddings they represent the sun, channelling brightness and positive energy.
All in all, plants allow humankind to communicate outside of spoken language.
The natural world offers many powerful healing properties, however folklore also delivers more mystical advantages from the presence of different plants. For example, the chrysanthemum in Malta and Italy is considered bad luck when brought into the house, but in China it is thought to bring happiness.
Other beliefs from around the world include oriental poppy seed heads being gilded and worn to attract wealth. Popping a pod under your pillow is thought to bring on dreams that may answer life questions.
Making a wish on the first violet of the season will guarantee it comes true, and carrying or wearing a violet will protect against bad spirits. The examples are intriguing and endless.
In 19th-century Victorian England, a very poised and private society became swept up in the notion of unspoken messaging, giving detailed meaning and sentiment to the combinations of
In China, a single rose signifies ‘‘you are my only love’’, eight stems ask ‘‘let us make up’’ and 77 is a proposal of marriage.
flowers given or worn. Small posies, commonly known as ‘‘tussie-mussies’’, were used as ‘‘talking bouquets’’, offering silent but multilayered messages when gifted or simply paraded.
Known as floriography, the complexity of specific meanings led to entire dictionaries being written, often with conflicting information. This led to constant miscommunication no doubt, jilting lovers at every turn.
For example, a combination of peonies, feverfew and sage could be used to send wishes of good health. However, an individual peony could also represent romance, female fertility, wealth, and hope for a good marriage. When investigating further, the common peony could nod at unrealised desires, anger, shame, life, and loyalty – among many other things.
I’d go as far as to conclude that bouquets were probably best sent with a glossary.
I also stumbled across the Doctrine of Signatures. Emerging in ancient Greece, and explored further by European alchemists, herbalists and philosophers, this concept focuses on the idea that plants resembling human body parts can be used to treat problems in those body parts. That meant walnuts benefited the brain, avocados the uterus, tomatoes the heart, and grapes and berries the lungs. Ever looked closely at a cross-section of a slice of carrot? This was perceived as an eyeball.
Even in my own little world, some plants hold a little magic and whimsy for me.
Rosebuds and rosehips, raspberries on the cane, twiggy stems of wintersweet, and the tendrils of flowering jasmine evoke fond childhood memories and a sense of ceremony when I bring them inside to enjoy.
In floriography, roses generally gravitate around affairs for the heart (with differing meanings depending on colour), raspberries hint at temptation or scornful beauty, wintersweet indicates faithfulness, and jasmine indicates cheerfulness and wealth. Some hits and misses there that I will happily pick and choose from, if ever the need arises.
Julia Atkinson-Dunn is the writer and creative behind Studio Home. You can join her on @studiohomegardening or studiohome.co.nz