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Saturday, February 26, 2011

flowers are also often given to represent our emotions.

From Flowers to Valentines Flowers to giant sized California Mothers Day Flowers, Mothering Sunday traditionally falls on the second Sunday in May each year, and is often used as the opportunity to tell mothers everywhere how much their children appreciate all their hard work and dedication. In addition to many gifts traditionally given such as cakes and other presents related to Mother’s Day, flowers are also often given, particularly as May is a time of year when they are often in bloom and many varieties can be found online or at a local florists.
Ordering Mothers Day flowers is now often done online due to convenience and ease of delivery. Choosing which blooms to include in a bouquet of Mothers Day flowers can be confusing, however aside from the traditional blooms which are given (Pink carnations), there are many other varieties which signify pride, strength of character and motherly love, which can often be found on websites referencing Victorian floral symbolism. The use of carnations as Mothers Day flowers comes from Anna Jarvis, who founded the first Mother’s Working Day in the United States to celebrate motherhood, a day which later developed into Mother’s Day as we know it now. Along with bouquets, many gifts are also given including soft toys and cards.
Another notable festival where flowers are given is Saint Valentines Day. Although traditionally red roses are given as a token of romantic affection, again there are many other varieties which can be used traditionally to symbolise a whole range of different loves –unrequited love, secret love –even platonic love, however roses are generally the most popular. White roses signify unending devotion to someone, lilac roses are used to symbolise love at first sight, red roses of course signify passionate romance, and yellow is used to represent friendship.
Saint Valentines Day has become one of the major days of business for florists, confectionary companies and greetings card manufacturers, many of which exist mainly due to the rush of consumer interest which takes place on the 14th February.
Choose carefully which Valentines flowers to give and that alone might make enough of a statement, as flowers are traditionally given as tokens of love and adoration. Valentines flowers can come in many forms; a huge bouquet, for example, or a single traditional bloom. Mixing and matching the flowers which send the message you wish to convey is the perfect way to send a truly romantic gift and to really make a statement.
Of course, Valentines flowers are not the only gifts which can be given on Saint Valentines Day. There are many other options including chocolates or stuffed toys which are also traditionally given, but if you already know your Valentine’s favourite flowers, then regardless of their meaning, your choice of bouquet is bound to leave you smelling of roses, or orchids, or lilies, or chrysanthemums…

Flowers have been offered for many different reasons.

From Flowers to Valentines Flowers > to giant sized California Mothers Day Flowers, Traditionally, flowers have been offered for many different reasons, denoting a wealth of human emotion such as love, friendship and apology. Offering bloomsas symbolic tokens is an ancient tradition, which was popularised in Britain in Medieval times when lovers could not display their affection for one another publicly. In strict Victorian times, this was given further significance, with many books being written on the topic.


Saint Valentine’s Day and Mothers Day are two notable festivals where floral gifts are given, with carnations usually given as Mothers Day Flowers and red roses being the traditional Valentines flowers we see in shop windows each year.
For something a little different this year however, why not consider taking some inspiration from the Victorians and giving your loved one your own specially “coded” bouquet?
Valentines flowers are pretty much restricted to bunches of a dozen roses by tradition, but why not add a twist to this? Alstromerias signify devotion, while anemones mean unfading love. For an unrequited valentine, offering a dahlia denotes love which may not be returned by the person who receives the flowers, but acknowledges it nonetheless. Similarly, gardenias are used to signify a secret love. If your Valentine is a little more on the platonic side however, you can still show them you care by sending a bunch of roses –that is to say, yellow roses, which are used to signify friendship.
Mothers Day flowers are given in all kinds of forms. Perhaps you want to tell your mum how proud of her you are? Then amaryllises are the perfect flowers to give. Gerbera Regard Gladioli are a way of telling someone that they are generous and strong in character, a perfect sentiment for Mothers Day,while poinsettias, traditionally offered as Christmas flowers, mean good cheer.


The act of giving flowers has been used traditionally for many thousands of years, and each culture attributes different meanings to certain blooms, so while carnations may well be the original Mothers Day flowers, in Mexico they mean something quite different –in fact they are used to celebrate the lives of deceased loved ones in the Day of the Dead!
Valentines flowers are traditionally sent to the object of the lover’s affections in secret, without the recipient knowing who has sent them. However, the actual gifting has changed over the years, with bouquets being sent directly to the house or place of work, or even given to the person’s Valentine in person. Another popular method of gifting has come in the form of singing telegrams, which were made popular in post war America. This unusual method of greeting your Valentine and wishing them a happy Valentines Day involves someone who will be sent to your loved one with a personalised song who can then offer them the bouquet.

Emotional connections people have made to flowers throughout history.


From Flowers to Valentines Flowers to giant sized California Mothers Day Flowers,The practise of giving flowers as gifts has a long established history. Offering floral gifts has come to be associated with a wide range of messages –they are traditionally given as tokens of love in romantic relationships, particularly as Valentines flowers, as Mothers Day flowers for Mothering Sunday, to friends and family when they are taken ill, as floral tributes to mark the passing of a loved one, and for many other reasons besides.
Nearly every country has some form of floral gifting in its culture, and not unlike most traditions, the beginning of floral gifts was quite different from what we see today.
In prehistoric times, different herbal and medicinal properties were often attributed to various types of flowers. As well as this, they had emotional implications too, even for our ancestors. Remnants of petals have been discovered in several grave sites by archaeologists, which suggests that offering floral tributes to the dead is a one of the oldest living traditions there is.
Several thousands of years after this, there is evidence of floral gifting seen in Chinese writings and ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, as well as in Roman and Greek mythology, and by the Middle Ages, floral gifts provided lovers with a medium of showing affection towards one another in public when strict guidelines were in place which meant even holding hands could be reported to the church. Certain blooms had different meanings attached to them, meaning that couples could exchange romantic messages in coding.

In a sense then, these were the first examples of anything similar to the Valentines flowers given today.
It is not well known how Valentines flowers came to be associated with St. Valentines day, however there is much romantic mythology surrounding the bloom which is predominantly associated with it; the red rose. One myth from Greek and Roman mythology stems from the myth of Aphrodite and Adonis, respectively the goddess of beauty and the god of love. When Adonis was slain, Aphrodite rushed to her lover, scratching herself on a rosebush and turning it red.
The gifting of Mothers Day flowers stemmed from the founder of Mothering Sunday, Anna Jarvis, who made carnations the first type of bloom to be offered to mothers, as these were her own mother’s favourites. Jarvis organised the first Mother’s Work Days in 1858 to aid the improvement of community standards. This was also an integral part in the early stages of feminist activism, and in 1872, Julia Ward Howe devoted a special day for mothers which centred on the central themes of happiness and peace.
Since then, both Mothers Day flowers and blooms offered on Valentines Day have become widely commercialised, but it is interesting to see nonetheless the emotional connections people have made to flowers throughout history.