Flowers can carry a message as well as add color to a garden. In the Victorian-era fashion known as floriography, people assigned sentiments to flowers and sent them in bouquets—but the meanings varied between books and customs. Use them as inspiration for a love-themed garden or gift, not as a universal code or a guide to how a plant grows.
What was the Victorian language of flowers?
Floriography is the practice of assigning meanings or sentiments to flowers and other plants. The popular printed tradition took shape in France: the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) identifies Charlotte de la Tour’s Le langage des fleurs (1819) as the first popular book on the subject. It set out about 300 meanings for use in bouquets, according to the RHS.
From the 1820s to the 1880s, lovers and suitors in Britain and America used flower bouquets to send encoded messages. The fashion grew as new plants became popular and remained in vogue into the early twentieth century. The RHS describes Kate Greenaway’s Language of Flowers (1884) as the last popular English book on the subject in the nineteenth century; after a decline, interest revived from the 1960s. Read the RHS history of the language of flowers.
This history does not mean Victorians invented all flower symbolism. Nor was there one definitive dictionary: meanings changed and expanded across books and customs, and some later lists grew so extensive that they included plants impractical for bouquets.
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What does each flower mean?
These are meanings recorded by the RHS, not universal definitions. The source identifies some as examples of flower meanings and records others among the flowers chosen for Catherine, Princess of Wales’s wedding bouquet.
| Flower or plant | Meaning recorded by the RHS | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Red rose | Love | RHS example of a flower meaning |
| Cattleya | Mature charms | RHS example of a flower meaning |
| Anemone | Withered hope | RHS example of a flower meaning |
| Lily of the valley | Return of happiness | Meaning associated with a flower in Catherine, Princess of Wales’s wedding bouquet |
| Sweet William | Gallantry | Meaning associated with a flower in the same bouquet |
| Ivy | Fidelity | Meaning associated with a plant in the same bouquet |
| Hyacinth | Constancy | Meaning associated with a flower in the same bouquet |
| Myrtle | Emblem of marriage and love | Meaning associated with a plant in the same bouquet |
The RHS’s school-gardening resource also presents garden pink (Dianthus) as pure love and roses as symbols of love and good fortune, with meanings that vary by color. These examples show how a particular resource presents symbolism; other flower dictionaries may differ. See the RHS school-gardening resource on flower meanings.
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How to use flower symbolism in a garden or gift
Choose the message before the plant
Start with a sentiment—love, fidelity, constancy, or happiness—and choose a flower whose meaning a named reference supports. If the association matters to the recipient, include a small note naming the source or explaining the meaning you intend. That makes your choice legible without suggesting there is a single agreed code.
Match the choice to the purpose
A bouquet, a perennial display, and a container planting are different projects. The symbolism can help shape a theme, but it cannot tell you whether a species will suit your climate, site, or season. The RHS school-gardening resource connects flower meanings with garden design and posies; it does not provide the species- and condition-specific planting advice needed to plan a particular planting.
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Check growing needs separately
Before buying seeds, bulbs, or plants, consult reliable horticultural guidance for the exact species and your conditions. Check the plant’s light, soil, hardiness, and planting season for your location. The meanings listed here are not evidence of cultivation requirements, and this article does not establish those requirements for the flowers in the table.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Further reading
For a dedicated reference, Jessica Roux’s Floriography: An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers is described by its publisher as a guide to historical uses and flower meanings. See the publisher’s book description.
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