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Flower Encyclopedia
There are so many flowers in the world that there is a flower encyclopedia. To go through
them all would probably bore you to no end. Instead we will hit upon the meanings of
some flowers and some history of them.
Flowers have meanings all their own and most of us know what roses imply, but did you
know that the Primrose says" I can't live without you" or that the hyacinth means "please
forgive me". Flower meanings have been used throughout the years to convey messages
of every sort, but not just the flower itself has meaning. It also depends on the number of
flowers, the color of flowers, and groups of flowers. So there is a very extensive flower
language all of it's own. It is unfortunate that most of this language has been lost over the
years through its lack of use.
The language of flowers also has to do with how flowers are worn or presented. For
example, presenting flowers upright conveys a positive meaning, while if they are
presented upside down it means the opposite. If the flowers are tied with a ribbon to the
left it refers to the giver if it is tied to the right it refers to the receiver. Did you know that
flowers can also answer questions? If they are given from the left hand the answer is no,
but if given from the right hand it means the answer is yes.
Madame Charlotte de la Tour in 1819 wrote the first dictionary that was ever written on
flowers. It was a small book, but became extremely popular on the subject of flowers. In
the Victorian era, ladies used flowers to convey what they felt when their own language
could not be used. A bouquet that was called a tussie -mussies was a very valued gift. It
was a tiny bouquet of flowers wrapped in a doily and tied with satin ribbon. In 1884, a
whole book was printed on the language of flowers. In fact, that was the title of the book
and it was written by Jean Marsh. It was a very popular and well regarded book.
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