The Language of Flowers

When properly chosen and tastefully arranged, nothing says "I love you" like flowers. Love and romance and flowers go hand in hand. Yet we must exercise care to send the right message, using the proper flowers. Flowers are a form of flattery, and just the right bloom can bring out the best in a budding romance. It is not merely their appearance but their scent that works its magic and touches the soul. A woman's secret passion can be aroused by the luxuriant blandishments that words cannot impart, but flowers can.

Flowers have a language all their own. You cannot send a bouquet of flowers, without saying something very special with this simple act. Select the wrong flower, and the message you send may be quite different from the one you intended. Take for instance, the carnation. Send yellow or white carnations, and you express disdain. Send purple carnations and you indicate capriciousness or even fickleness. But choose the red carnations and the message is: "My heart aches for you!"

The lily can be a tricky flower. Sending white lilies to a funeral or even a wedding may be appropriate, but for purposes of romance the white lily is chilling, for it means purity, and it banishes away all lascivious thoughts. How different is the orange lily, whose very presence inspires passion and desire!

I know of one couple whose very marriage did not survive the wrong kind of lily. The woman's name was Lily, and her husband, hoping to please her, brought home white lilies on her birthday. Hurt, the wife rejected the gift. The husband concluded that his wife did not like flowers, and he never brought home any more flowers after that. But the wife was wounded by the type of flower that he chose. How different the outcome might have been had he chosen orange lilies!

Never send lime blossom, for it signals fornication, and means you hold the woman in low regard. Nor is lobelia a wise choice, since it signifies malevolence. Mint is the scent of suspicion and is to be avoided. And marigold means pain or grief.

For romance, there is none like the rose, but even here, one must take care. A red rose is for true love, but diluted into pink, it spells a passing passion. Red poppies signify pleasure, and white are harbingers of peace.

In courtship, it is important to mix passion with reverence. Neither too low a dose of passion nor holding the woman in too low a regard is desirable. Let her know that you desire her but that your intentions are honorable. The proper mix of flowers in a bouquet will spell the message that will win her heart.

You can find many places that will deliver flowers quite inexpensively. But remember this: flowers are an affordable luxury, and part of their charm comes from the fact that they serve no useful purpose, but are chosen for their beauty and their transience as an expression of your feelings. Therefore, exercise caution when choosing discount flower delivery.

Many florists today use flowers that carry no scent, for these last longer. But the delicate perfume of the flower is what arouses the passions of a woman, whether she is aware of this or not. Sending scentless flowers is a sterile gesture. It is well worth it to spend a little more for a flower whose scent is as potent as its petals are alluring.

In today's world, the perfume has been bred right out of the most affordable flowers. Flowers that are immune to the depredations of the bee or the worm alike, and that will not yield to frost nor wilt under the glaring sun, make for a tidy profit for the florist. But think when the one you love inclines her head expecting a heady aroma, how disappointed she will be to feel that your rose has neither thorn nor scent. Her senses unmoved, she will not yield.

Heritage flowers are the answer. They cost more, but they are worth every penny, for they carry the intoxicating aroma that will leave her head spinning, and her heart open. Choose a heritage florist, and love and romance will bloom.

Copyright Medora Trevilian All Rights Reserved