Understanding The Meaning Of Flowers

By Simon Crowther @prestigeflower

When the time comes to send flowers, no matter the occasion, it always involves a fair amount of thought.  When you consider the fact that different flowers carry different meanings, it makes choosing the perfect bouquet that much more important.  As you continue reading, you too will start to understand why a flower delivery consisting of red roses is really only suitable for your partner or spouse.

Love

It’s fairly common knowledge that the color red is easily associated with love and passion.  It’s also fair to assume that most of us associate the rose with a message of love and a bouquet of red roses is often the most popular choice for romantic occasions like Valentine’s Day and anniversaries.

For those who believe this type of arrangement to be a bit too common for their liking, there are many other options.  You could choose red tulips or chrysanthemums, for example, to make that flower delivery a little different but just as special.

Friendship

When you want to send flowers to a dear friend, no matter what the occasion, your main goal is to demonstrate friendship and caring.  Hence, a bouquet of red roses or other red flowers would not be suitable.  While most people will complete rule out roses as an option, the yellow rose does in fact represent friendship and is the most popular flower to send for Friendship Day. The yellow rose is simple yet bright and elegant.  It will brighten up any room and it’s the kind of flower that will always be appreciated. 

Strength

There comes a time for all of us when a dear friend or loved one is in the hospital or having to deal with various problems.  It is often difficult to really be there for them and demonstrate your support while giving them their space at the same time.  It’s these very moments that call for a fresh flower arrangement to give them the strength they need during tough times.  A great flower to include in your bouquet is the gladiolus.  It’s name comes from the Latin word, gladius, which means sword and it is also the flower associated with the ancient gladiators.  Other than gladiolus flowers, you could also ask your florist to create a bouquet with snapdragons.  They get their name due to their appearance.  They resemble the face of a dragon and carry a meaning of strength.

Hope

The iris gets its name from the Greek word for rainbow and holds the meaning of hope.  If you want to send flowers to a friend in order to encourage them, you could order a bouquet that includes both purple irises and yellow roses.  They are also a popular choice when it comes to funeral flowers.

Sorrow / Apologies

The hyacinth is associated with regret and, once you understand the myth behind this flower, it’s easy to see why. Hyacinth was beautiful, young and loved by Zephyrus (the West Wind) as well as Apollo.  Apollo and Hyacinth were enjoying a game of discus one day.  After Apollo threw the discus, Hyacinth went to fetch it.  Zephyrus became jealous and blew the discuss off course and killed Hyacinth.  Apollo, however, refused to let Hyacinth’s spirit go and he made a flower from his blood that had spilled.

While these are the most common messages that we send with flowers, there are a number of other occasions that also call for a flower delivery.  It is also important to remember that, when sending an international flower delivery, different countries may have slightly different meanings attached to certain flowers and when you order flowers for delivery in the UK, you might choose differently than if you were sending a bouquet to somebody in China.