Valentine’s Day brings back so many wonderful memories…. remember as kids getting your Valentines ready to take to your school friends – weighing each word carefully. And of course, how exciting (and sometimes a bit scary) it was to anticipate what valentines would be given to you. Even the container used for transporting your valentines was important!
My Valentine’s Day memories as a florist are filled with beautiful flowers, blurry eyes, and fatigue from working long, long, very long days helping others express their love. It was beautiful work highlighted by coolers filled to the brim with roses and other gorgeous flowers often on bitter cold midwest February days – much like today!! Working side-by-side with my florist friends was such great fun too. Things got quite giggly after midnight during holidays!
VALENTINE’S DAY TRIVIA
- Passing out Valentines is a 600-year-old tradition.
- Candy hearts were originally medical lozenges.
- In 2019 Americans spent 20.7 billion for Valentine’s Day
- The Chocolate Box has been around for more than 140 years.
- Teachers are the number one recipient of valentines.
Read more from the original article by Woman’s Day Here.
I also read that approximately 250 million roses are grown for Valentine’s Day — about 45% of those roses are red.
Yes, like no other flower, the red rose says LOVE.
THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS
I am so very fascinated by the Victorian practice of conveying your feelings with flowers and herbs.
The Victorians were serious about their flowers and even developed a “love language of flowers” that included herbs, shrubs, roses and more. Don’t you just love that! These arrangements were often given in a small nosegay called a Tussie Mussie.
FLORIOGRAPHY
From The Language of Flowers by Kathleen M. Gips … a fascinating pamphlet I have had for years. Kathleen has another book, Flora’s Dictionary, that is available on Amazon here.
“The language of flowers was universally understood in the East and the herbal symbolisms recognized and practiced in Europe for centuries, but it was not until the 1800’s that floral dictionaries were written to help the public communicate in the language of flowers. This romantic ‘floriography’ became especially popular in the Victorian era starting with the reign of Queen Victoria in England (1840). Dozens of floral dictionaries were available in England, America and Europe.
Floral language was thought to be created to symbolize the most delicate sentiments in a ‘silent eloquence’ that would be a language better than writing.“
Mothers of the Victorian era were directed to teach their daughters religion and the art of making a well-made bokay. Talk about your priorities for home schooling! 🙂 Yes floral dictionaries would be a must! Many finishing schools offered instruction in botany and ‘floriograpy.’
We didn’t call it ‘floriography’ but my children were collecting flowers and making bokays to deliver in their wagon from a very young age. Such great fun!
RESOURCES
Tussie Mussie — The Victorian Art of Expressing Yourself in the Language of Flowers by Geraldine Adamich Laufer. (HERE) It is an excellent resource.
ON MY WISH LIST…
Floriography: An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers by Jessica Roux (HERE)
BOKAY DAYS…
One of my greatest joys is sharing bokays from my garden – all the flowers I share come from my heart and say I care about you and want you to have a special day. But, the fascinating list the Victorians gave us could sure add a special touch to our bokay sharing. More about Bokay Days here. Let’s all hope and pray that this summer we can get back to having people in our gardens. If not we will do what we did in 2020 … masked and socially distanced deliveries.
HOT CHOCOLATE BOMBS
Yes, I am still on the Hot Chocolate kick. Hot Chocolate Bombs have been the rage lately. I have seen so many social media videos of people pouring steaming hot water or milk over a HC Bomb to have it explode with chocolate, marshmallows and all sorts of yumminess. Mr. G loves chocolate so for his Valentine’s present, I ordered “bombs” from a friend who makes the most wonderful sweet treats. If you are local, contact SWEET TREATS BY JANESE here.
SOME OF MY FAVORITE HERBS & FLOWERS WITH THEIR MEANINGS….
- Basil: Best Wishes
- Black Eyed Susan: Encouragement
- Daisy: Beauty, Innocence
- Parsley: Joy
- Pink Carnation: Gratitude
- Rosemary: Remembrance
- Lavender: Devotion
- Lily of the Valley: Sweetness
- Lemon Verbena: Enchantment
- Red Rose: I love you, desire
- Pink Rose: Appreciation
- Yellow Rose: Friendship (Can also mean jealousy 😳)
- Lavender Roses: Love at first sight and enchantment
- Zinnia: Thoughts of absent friends
FROM ME TO YOU…
I am virtually putting together a Tussie Mussie for you. It includes pink roses, pink carnations with a touch of rosemary, basil and lemon verbena. 😘
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY FRIENDS!
Until next time …
Wishing you and your family a happy Valentine’s Day as well!
all the best to you. xo
Such a very sweet blog today. And it brought back memories for me as I attended an all chocolate tea with everything chocolate and even a harpist who played music. The chocolate tea was held in an old Victorian historic home. I use to subscribe to the magazine, “Victoria,” many years ago. And a friend and I attended another Victorian event where we made tussie mussies with the white paper lace doilies. Today I was out shopping and saw many beautiful fresh floral arrangements for Valentine’s Day. I purchased some Forbidden Chocolate ice cream by Friendly’s. It tastes just like a Hershey’s chocolate Kiss candy. I also purchased a new variety of apples called Envy, and they are delicious! There were hearts on the bag of apples. Loved seeing your past Bokay Days with your beautiful roses in bloom. Found my hubby the perfect Valentine’s card and have already made brownies this week, but they are all gone. It is really special that we can celebrate these holidays. Happy Saint Valentine’s Day to you and yours!
Your “Victorian” memories sound so lovely. Special memories indeed. Enjoy your ice cream – it sounds divine!
lovely blog post, I just bought a book on the language of flowers! I’m currently doing a stitch class on the language of flowers, we do one flower each month. Did you see Enola on Netflix? As for herbs and tussie mussies, I have several books that I love on the subject. Your posts are always so thoughtful and informative. I haven’t heard of chocolate bombs but I’m going to check it out. I’ve been on a hot chocolate kick lately
So nice to hear from you. The stitch class sounds fun. Have a steaming cup! Enjoy!
I have not seen Enola but will look for it! Keep looking for Chocolate Bombs. You will love them! xo
Teresa – What a lovely Valentine’s post. I used to have many roses in my garden, but we had to move to the lower elevations where we old folks didn’t have to drive for more than a half hour to go shopping. In our new home, with very wet garden space you can understand that I can only have few roses in our small dry spot. They are doing well! I was given a review copy of a new book, ROSA: The Story of the Rose by Peter Kukielski. He is a great rose gardener too and I think you will like this book. It is not a how-to, but wonderful history with beautiful illustrations. He has other books inlcuding Roses Without Chemicals, a man after my own heart.
I am a big fan of Peter Kukielski! He has taught us much about sustainable growing for sure. So glad your roses are doing well in their dry spot! Enjoy!