A surprising language all their own

During the Victorian era, it became especially popular to attach significant meanings
to flowers and plants.
Also known as floriography, the language of flowers
was a very useful means of relaying important messages ...

Pine Cone (Pinus)  . . .  Conviviality, Life

Mullein (Verbascum)  . . .  Take courage

Poppy (Papaver)  . . .   Fantastic extravagance

Often, the meanings were positive and affirming,
but some were not - quite to the contrary, in fact.

Clematis (Clematis)  . . .  Poverty

Pansy (Viola)  . . .  Think of me

Lavender (Lavandula) . . .   Mistrust

The next time I assemble a bouquet I certainly won't be viewing the arrangement

in quite the same way as I did before reading this book  ...

The Language of Flowers, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, had been on my library "To Read" list

for so long I'd almost given up hope of getting my hands on it [perpetually checked out]

so I was ecstatic when I found a used copy at the thrift store.

It has been much loved with many dog-ears & now I can understand why.

Every now and again a book crosses my path which feels like its my

destiny to read.  The best writers can make their readers feel this way, I think.

Without giving too much away, the heroine of this story is Victoria, a young woman

who's been in and out of foster care her entire life but has one all-embracing solace ...
a deep love of plants.

As a child she learned this Victorian language of flowers -  an era when every blossom was

assigned a deeper meaning, then used as a way to express sentiment and romantic emotions
since more outward signs were restricted - and since Victoria can't [or won't]
express her emotions either, flowers become her vehicle.

That's only a tiny nutshell of a description ... the story is beautifully complicated.

Filled with symbolism and filled with historical references,

I've barely been able to put this one down.

Amaranth (Amaranthus)  . . .  Immortality

Victoria decides at one point to assemble her own reference collection,

 so she carefully & methodically teaches herself the parameters of photography [film, not digital]

and sets out to capture her subjects with great dedication & perseverence.

The book is set in the San Francisco Bay area of California

and she visits many spots familiar to me

such as the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park,

along with other locales I know and love oh so well [and miss to this day].

   

At the back of the book the author has included

Victoria's Dictionary of Flowers

and as I was perusing the list, recognizing many names of plants I've grown in my own garden

at one time or another,  I got the crazy idea to take a backwards gander at my own photo files

to see if I could find some items from Victoria's list.

If nothing else it would be a fun exercise in learning those elusive floriography terms.

I soon discovered flowers that one might expect to have, well, a more "positive"

emotion attached to them, 

but do not at all ...

like these two.

Currant (Ribes)  . . .  Thy frown will kill me

Rose, yellow (Rosa)  . . .   Infidelity

I just love books like this

where I'm introduced to a whole new way of looking and thinking

about something otherwise so familiar.

Rose, purple (Rosa)  . . .  Enchantment

Rose, pale peach (Rosa)  . . .   Modesty

Scabiosa (Scabiosa)  . . .  Unfortunate love

Dog (Canis lupus)  . . .  Undying devotion [my floriography]

oh hi.  how'd you get in here?

Just making sure you folks haven't fallen asleep in the petals yet ...

[chuckling happily]

Cherry blossoms (Prunus cerasus)  . . .   Impermanence

Of course, I'm a tad partial to the next one

Sweet pea (Lathyrus odorata)  . . .  Delicate pleasures

and as it happens, I have quite a lot of this next one in my garden.

Yarrow (Achillea)  . . .  Cure for a broken heart

Hmmm, what can it all mean?

I'm looking forward to spring and making that next bouquet ...

: : :

Wishing all of you who stop by here a most lovely season

of joy and beauty

P.S.   WAIT!  Have I got the holiday gift for you!   Just as I was finishing this book-related post, 

my masterful dye friend, India Flint, announced that she has put together a NEW BOOK ... 

In her words:

"it contains a technique you can do even in the smallest of apartments

and that I think you will want to do over and over again."

stuff, steep + store

Go see ~ there's a preview & you can buy it now ...  over HERE on Blurb.

I treated myself to the hardback  ;>]