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Valentine Flowers Speak of Love

Imagine having an intimate conversation with someone you love. Now imagine how that conversation would occur without speaking, or even writing. Imagine finding someone you’d very much like to know better. Suppose they’re interested in you as well. Imagine getting that relationship off the ground without using words of any kind.

That was the situation in Victorian England for much of the 1800′s. Due to the strict social etiquette of the time, extreme discretion was required. Conversations of a romantic nature were strictly off-limits. But emotional expression cannot be denied for long. Symbolism and meaning became attached to everyday objects and gestures, and especially to flowers.

As a result, secret meanings were given to every type and color of flower. Bouquets became secret messages. An exchange of flowers became a conversation without words. The way the flowers were presented and the way they were accepted also added meaning. Many secret messages were romantic in nature, but some were rejections or insults.

Together with the language of flowers, small bouquets, known as tussie-mussies, became a secret way to declare intentions and make refusals, acceptances and rejections. Flowers allowed Victorians a way to express their emotions and thoughts without speech or writing.

As the symbolism grew more complex, many details of the secret codes were written down. Eventually dictionaries and even books were written to clarify the meanings and to help people better create and understand the messages.

The Victorians weren’t the first to use flowers to express emotions. Many cultures including the Greeks, the Persians, and the Japanese had a flower language. While the exact meanings of flowers have changed over time to meet the needs of culture, the desire to express thoughts and emotions through flowers has remained to this day.

Flowers were an important part of the courtship process in many cultures over the centuries. These elaborate and lengthy rituals would bewilder our modern culture, but led directly to the prominent use of flowers in our modern culture. Flowers are an important part of many holidays such as Easter, Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day.

We still use flowers to express our thoughts and emotions, although not in quite the same way as the Victorians. For Valentine’s Day this year, rather than sending your loved one a simple “I love you” with roses, why not try a bouquet of mixed flowers with a hidden message? Search for the “language of flowers” online for ideas. Include a note about the hidden meaning of the flowers in the bouquet. Be sure to order your Valentine’s Day flowers in advance to ensure a timely delivery.

Need Valentine flowers delivered to Tampa? A-Bow-K Florist http://www.a-bow-kflorist.com can deliver fresh flowers and gifts to those you care about in Tampa and neighboring communities. Be sure to order early.

January 31 2010 | Gardening | No Comments »

The Everlasting Beauty Of A Silk Rose

We all like roses, but what can we do if we are allergic to them, or if they are just too expensive? There is an option of having gorgeous roses in your home without breaking the bank – “replica roses,” these silk roses are just as beautiful as fresh ones, except that they’re even better in many ways. They last indefinately, they won’t cause allergies, they don’t need to be watered, and you can’t kill them.

How can you use replica roses? Replica roses can be used anywhere you’d use fresh roses. Give them to loved ones for anniversary presents or birthdays, say, “I’m thinking of you,” to friends or family with a single rose, or present a bouquet of silk roses to a sick friend in the hospital and cheer him or her up.

Replica roses have other benefits, too. Because hospitals are increasingly asking visitors not to bring in fresh flowers or live plants, fake roses can provide this type of gift to raise spirits without upsetting the hospital. And if you think this “no fresh flowers” rule is simply frivolous, think again. In fact, fresh flowers can bring in bacteria, too, which can be risky to patients in the hospital. Therefore, many hospitals have simply outlawed fresh or live flowers or plants. Silk or fake flowers can provide the same great things as fresh flowers can, without any of the drawbacks.

And even though live roses are lovely, let’s face it; they’re expensive and they die very quickly. However, there are things you can do to make them last longer, and you can dry them, but silk roses stay stunning for good, and you only have to buy them once. You or your loved one could buy yourself a new replica rose (or several of them) in a different color every single day or for every special occasion, until you have every color in the rainbow. You can’t do that with fresh flowers, since they die very quickly and you have to get rid of them.

Finally, a lot of us know we’d love to keep fresh flowers in the house but we simply can’t because our cats or dogs will eat them. Funny as we might think that is, it can be very annoying when we get a bouquet of fresh flowers only to risk losing them because they’re going to be eaten, or having to put them aside where they aren’t even going to be seen or enjoyed so as to stow them away from the “monsters.” However, you won’t have that problem with replica roses, since animals won’t be attracted to and therefore won’t eat them. You can keep them and enjoy them without concern of having them damaged. Indeed, you can have them for years to come.

The short story is that silk roses are very cost effective – and very romantic, beautiful, uplifting, for a many reasons – even as they’re a great substitution to fresh cut roses, if you’re someone who likes to keep these types of flowers in your home.

April 02 2009 | Gardening | No Comments »