The Language of Flowers - Part 4
Hello! Today I have the last of a 4 part series (see part one here, part two here, and part three here) where I'm looking in to the meanings and symbolism of various flowers and plants. This is a topic I've been interested in since I read the lovely book, The Language of Flowers, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, and its something I always keep in mind when making choices for my clients' branding and graphics. Today we're looking at Freesias, Stocks & Roses (all of which featured in our own wedding flowers too!).
Freesias
Freesias are a beautiful flower with multiple blooms along a single stem and soft, delicate fragrance. Freesias are particularly popular in wedding bouquets, button holes/corsages and table arrangements, and in the US they represent a seventh wedding anniversary.
Common meanings for Freesias:
- Thoughtfulness & Friendship - particularly when arranged in a bouquet of multiple colours
- Innocence and Purity - especially white freesias
- Trust - especially in Victorian times when flowers were often sent as hidden messages
- Thank you - particularly after someone has acted gracefully in difficult circumstances
- Relaxation & stress relief - due to their calming citrus scent
Stocks
Despite their very simple sounding name, Stocks are a particularly beautiful flower and have many hidden meanings behind them.
Common meanings for Stocks:
- Enjoying life, being content with life the way it is. Also a life full of happiness and success.
- Celebrations - house-warming, births etc.
- Unparalleled beauty - stocks make a particularly good wedding flower as they symbolise a husband believing his new wife to have a beauty which will not fade with age
- A connection with the World, finding Paradise on Earth.
Despite its beauty and general "showy" look, stocks in fact originate from the same family as turnips and mustard, which just goes to show that beauty can be found in the most unlikely of places.
Roses
If you ask almost anyone what emotion the Rose symbolises to them, they're most likely say "love". However, while this is true, there are also many other symbols of the rose, depending on its colour.
Rose meanings by colour:
- Red - Love
- Pink, Orange - Happiness
- White - Purity, Sympathy
- Yellow - Jealousy
- Peach - Friendship
- Crimson - Mourning
The rose has also had many different meanings throughout History and across various cultures:
- There are several connections between roses and numerology: In renaissance art, an 8-petaled roses signified renewal and rebirth, while in freemasonry three roses each represent light, love and life. An in Medieval Christianity a five petaled roses symbolised the five wounds of Christ.
- Roses are commonly associated with the Greek goddess of Love, Aphrodite, who is often depicted with roses on her head and around her feet and neck.
- In Tarot, roses symbolise balance, promise, new beginnings and hope, while their thorns symbolise defence, loss and thoughtfulness.
- In Roman times, a wild rose hung on a door meant that confidential matters where being discussed inside.
- There are lots of connections between roses and Christianity: the Virgin Mary, the blood of Christian Martyrs, and the Christian Saint Valentinus (which we now celebrate on Valentines day with a bunch of red roses)
- The rose is celebrated as the floral emblem of the United States and is the state flower for several states including New York & Georgia.
This is the last scheduled post in this series, but I may pick it up again later on, so I'd love to hear which other flowers you'd like to know more about, and any symbols I may have missed on the flowers I've already discussed! Get in touch via the comments below.
Thanks so much for following along so far!
