Flower Sharing Tradition
The tradition of sending flowers has been around for some time. Flowers are sent for various happy and sad occasions. However not everyone knows why, how and when this history of presenting flowers had begun.
It is possible that the history of sending flowers goes back all the way to the time of Adam and Eve. This is because flowers have always been colorful and beautiful, and presenting flowers was always a means of showing one’s love and concern for each other.
Different cultures have been sending flowers for different reasons. The ancient Greeks thought flowers to belong to god, and so considered them to be special. The Victorians sent flowers when they had to express more than admiration and love. In fact, sometimes, entire letters were written using only blossoms.
Different flowers have different meanings
Flowers held different meanings to different flowers where red roses were usually sent to express passion, coral colored roses were meant to express friendship and pink colored roses, for romance. It was the Turks who had actually developed a huge flower language which grew in popularity throughout Europe.
Using this flower language, secret lovers of the Victorian era used to send seemingly innocent bouquets to each other. The harshest period for lovers in this era was the Elizabeth period.
This period mainly affected the love lives of lovers and people of the upper and middle classes. And so to go around the official codes of behavior of the period, they had started sending flowers to convey messages to each other following the flower language.
Flower language has grammar rules
With different flowers having different meanings, it was possible to convey a message by constructing a good looking bouquet using matching flowers. Moreover this flower language had some ‘grammar’ rules that were changed depending on the arrangement and combination of the flowers.
A single red rose with white rose buds gave a different meaning than a single red rose. Even the size and scents of the flowers and the position of the bouquet giver gave different meanings to the message.
The way the bouquet was accepted also sent secret answers to sending flowers. Accepting a flower or bouquet with the right hand indicated a ‘Yes’ reply while the left hand indicated a ‘No’.
Flowers are sent for various reasons
Presenting an upside down flower meant that the literary meaning of the message should be interpreted in the opposite of the normal meaning of the flower. And giving a woman or man an upside down red rose indicated a strong sign of rejection.
What had started out as a means fo communication between secret lovers turned into a tradition of sending flowers to show signs of concern for one another. Today not only lovers, but well wishers, friends and colleagues send flowers on special days like birthdays and anniversaries, as a sign of acknowledgment for work well done and if anyone is not feeling well.
This is because the sight and scent of flowers helps a sick person recover faster from their ailments. Though the tradition of giving flowers is hundreds of years old, it is here to stay for many years to come as flowers and the need of showing affection will never die.