Last weekend I went to the Carver County Fair for the first time ever. Which, considering I've lived somewhere in this county for most of my life, is pretty sad. Anyway, I entered the Flower Arranging Contest that was sponsored by the Carver County Horticulture Society. There were ten contestants and each of us had the same type and number of flowers. We had fifteen minutes to arrange them into a bouquet, and we would be judged by our fellow fair-goers. Here is what I came up with:
At the time I was pleased with it. But when I looked at the pictures when I got home, it suddenly seemed kind of sloppy. (I mean, what is that goldenrod on the right doing?!) So I re-arranged it to this:
Much better. Especially with the orange gladiolus blooming - it makes the orange carnation make sense.
This recent focus on floral arrangements reminded me of a blog topic that has been sitting around on the back burner: Victorian Flower Meanings.
The Victorians were big on symbolism and attributed elaborate meanings to a host of cut flowers. It's fascinating to see how the Victorians viewed flowers that today we simply think are pretty. Take the hydrangea, for instance. You and I might see a lovely puff ball; but in the Victorian era the hydrangea declared the recipient heartless or frigid. Ouch.
So, what does my hastily-assembled bouquet say?
Chrysanthemum in general - Cheerfulness under adversity
Yellow Chrysanthemum - Slighted love
Carnation mixed colors - Pride & beauty, Health & energy
Yellow Carnation - Disdainful rejection
Pink Carnation - "I'll never forget you"
Gladiolus - Sincerity
(Leather) Fern - Fascination
Solidago - Success
Statice - Loyalty
Wow. A few mixed signals there. But one of the sources I found lists Yellow Chrysanthemums as indicating a Secret Admirer, and Yellow Carnations as Cheerfulness. So, if we change these in the list above, this is quite a lovely and meaningful bouquet! (A heck of a lot better than disdainful rejection).
If you want to assemble your own bouquet and declare your undying love and devotion (lilacs, rose of sharon, yellow tulips) or drive home your disdain and rejection of an unsavory suitor (hemlock, narcissus, lots of basil) visit these sites to find the flowers to say it perfectly.
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