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In
any event, as practiced by the Victorians, a floral communication
required careful contemplation since each element—the type(s)
of flowers, their colors, and their position in a bouquet—could
convey a message. Many lexicons and books were published to
help readers navigate the complexities of floriography, but
the meaning assigned to a particular flower varied from reference
to reference, and some flowers had several meanings. |
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Presumably, there must have been
some tragic results. Consider a suitor presenting his amour
with a tussie-mussie (a small, hand-held bouquet) made up of
a hydrangea ("thank you for understanding"), surrounded
by daisies ("loyal love") and snapdragons ("gracious
lady"). The take-home message could be, "Thank you
for understanding that you have my loyal love, my gracious lady."
On the other hand, that same trio could mean, "You heartless
(hydrangea) beast, I'll never tell (daisies) anyone about your
deception" (snapdragon). |
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