Secret Language of Flowers

Until the big day nobody but the floral designers knew what flowers Kate Middleton would carry in her bridal bouquet. Designers all over the world speculated on what type of flowers the bride would choose for her wedding day - there was nearly as much guessing and predicting about the bridal flowers as there was about the wedding dress, veil and jewelry. Kate chose a simple bouquet of four different white flowers, each with special floral meanings and family significance.

Kate's bouquet was a simple shield-shaped wired gathering of myrtle, lily-of-the-valley, sweet William and hyacinth designed by Shane Connolly. Each flower holds meaning for the Royal Family, the Middleton family and in the Language of Flowers.

The flowers in Kate's bridal bouquet were carefully selected for their meaning to the families:

Lily-of-the-valley - Return of happiness (remembrance of Diana)
Sweet William - Gallantry (how romantic!)
Hyacinth - Constancy of love
Ivy: Fidelity; marriage; wedded love; friendship; affection
Myrtle: The emblem of marriage; love

The myrtle sprigs came from a plant at Osborne House, Isle of Wight planted there by Queen Victoria in 1845, and from a plant grown from the myrtle used in HRH Queen Elizabeth II's 1947 wedding bouquet.

A Brief History of Royal Wedding Flowers

Queen Victoria's wedding took place in February and her bouquet included white snowdrops. The beloved Queen Mother carried a a bouquet of fragrant lily-of-the-valley.

HRH Queen Elizabeth and Princess Diana both carried lovely bridal bouquets made up of white orchids. Some predictors thought Kate would carry white roses grown in a fair trade nursery and imported to England. A sprig or two of myrtle was also (correctly) anticipated - it's been a tradition to include a bit of this hardy green vine with white or purple flowers in Royal Wedding bouquets for generations because it represents security and a happy marriage.

A rose is a rose is a rose - or is it? A bouquet of roses has different symbolic meanings, depending on the color of the roses and their condition.

For example, most lovers and others realize the symbolic reference of red roses (I love you) and dead roses (I have no love for you at all). Other color rose buds and blossoms bear hidden meanings far from kindness or affection. Most flowers bear secret messages: poppies (remembrance), hemlock (you will be my death!), laurel and ivy leaves (glory and friendship); lilies (purity), violets (modesty) and carnations (widely varying significance based upon color - from fascination to rejection).

Flower symbols are familiar to us as gifts of beauty or hospitality, although their original meanings are very old . Some flower symbols date back many centuries and we find them in literature and visual arts from long ago.

Van Gogh understood the symbolic meaning of sunflowers ...

The practice of floral symbolism (florigraphy) or the language of flowers was extremely fashionable during the Victorian age, when there was great interest in the special meanings and messages conveyed by flowers given from one person to another. Flowers were often used to convey messages or thoughts that were socially unacceptable or forbidden at the time. There were also presumed curative properties and mystical powers associated with different flowering plants, blossom colors, scents and varieties of herbaceous plants.

The symbolic meaning behind flowers, herbs and plants is entwined in our traditions, superstitions and culture. Before you order flowers for your next special occasion or to send to Mom or a sweetheart, research the flower symbol meanings for the blossoms in your favorite floral arrangement or bouquet - you may discover a hidden message you didn't intend to send.

Photo: Hawaiian plumeria blossom, macro image. I managed to coax a home grown plumeria to blossom only once in our cold Pennsylvania garden. I captured the image - but not the heady fragrance - in this photograph.

Depending on the color, columbine blossoms can represent good or less than friendly intentions. I love this variety and photograph it often in my back yard garden.