need help with a college course, i need to find out as much as possible on victorian flowers. can you help.?

Answer 1

The answer provided by "damsel36" was partly paraphrased and partly copied and pasted from this website:

http://www.angelfire.com/ar3/townevictorian/flowers.html

For more information, a Yahoo search for "victorian flowers" (include the quotation marks in the search box) yields 39,500 results. If you do the same search, and are willing to spend a little time exploring, I'm sure that you will quickly find the information you seek.

Good luck with your search.

Answer 2

The Language of Flowers


The practice of attaching sentiment to flowers was not created by the Victorians. The ancient Greeks and Oriental cultures did so centuries before. However, it was the Victorians who elevated it into an art form known as the "Language of Flowers."

In an era when etiquette and propriety were of utmost importance, a listing of flowers and their corresponding sentiments could be found in all the popular household manuals and social guide books. It was Charlotte de la Tour who penned the first flower dictionary in 1819 Paris entitled, Le Language des Fleursand, which became a favorite reference on the subject. Then in 1879, Miss Corruthers of Inverness, compiled an entire book, which served as the emblem for flower symbolism throughout England and the United States.

"To modern enthusiasts, no feature of Victorian popular culture appears more charming, more cozy, more absolutely Victorian, than the language of flowers." - Beverly Seaton, author of The Language of Flowers, A History.


By giving names to various flowers, shrubs and plants, a bouquet of flowers and leaves may be selected and arranged so as to express much depth of feeling - to be truly a poem. And while a bouquet could imply several thoughts, so could a single flower or greenery, and any article that carried the scent of a particular flower, like a handkerchief or letter, conveyed the same message.

To arrange a flower to express a positive meaning, then the flower should be presented upright. However, if the same flower were presented upside down, then the meaning would be the opposite. Add a ribbon and tie it to the left, and the meaning referred to the giver; the right referred to the recipient. Flowers were also used to answer questions. If they were handed over with the right hand, the answer was "yes"; with the left hand, the answer was "no".


"Sweet flowers alone can say what passion fears revealing," noted the poet Thomas Hood (1799-1485) in his poem The Language of Flowers.

During the 1890's the "Language of Flowers" could provide amusement and entertainment at social gatherings as well as convey more serious emotions. A pleasant diversion on a summer evening was achieved by setting aside an hour for "floral conversation." The hostess would scatter large assortments of flowers and plants about as table-top decorations, and from these guests would select the blossom that conveyed their thoughts or feelings.

Listed below are some of my garden favorites and their corresponding sentiments.

Apple blossom - Preference
Balm - Sympathy
Basil - Hatred
Calla lily - Feminine beauty
Damask rose - Bashful love
Fuchsia - Humble love
Gardenia - Transport ecstasy
Hyacinth, purple - Sorrow
Lilac - First emotion of love
Mint - Virtue
Nasturtium - Patriotism
Pansy - You occupy my thoughts
Parsley - Festivity
Ranunculus - You are rich in attractions
Rosemary - Remembrance
Rue - Disdain
Sage - Esteem
Snowball - Thoughts of heaven
Tulip - I declare war againist you
Violet - Faithfulness
Zinnia - Thoughts of absent friends

These are just a few of the things I found, when typing in a search engine Victorian ERA Flowers.

In many victorian paintings I see, it is common to see a large mix of english garden florals, roses, hydrangea, etc.