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Thursday, September 29, 2011

The Language of Flowers...

The last job I had before I became a stay home mom was as a co-owner of a flower shop with one of my longtime friends. While we did have many odd requests from people who had very strong opinions as to what particular colors of roses and carnations they wanted in the arrangement they were sending, it was only because they simply knew no names or meanings of all the countless other types of flowers.  


And to be honest with you we really didn't know the meanings either.  


I mean we could tell you that a red rose traditionally stood for love and a yellow rose for friendship but who didn't know that?  It never really occurred to me that each specific flower I placed in an arrangement had its own special meaning.  I simply put what I thought looked pretty together in there and it all worked out. 


Unless of course I had Billy Bob the aspiring florist show up and insist on exactly 5 roses, 3 carnations and a lily and half, in all different colors of the rainbow and some that simply did not exist in nature but that he just knew I would be happy to create for him with spray paint and watercolors.  Or Sharpies.  Or whatever it took...  


The customer is always right.  Even when he's way wrong.


But that's a story for another day.  Today I am going to talk about the flowers that would go into an arrangement that would best describe me.  


It's a writing prompt from Mama Kat this week and when I first read  it I simply thought I would describe the type of flowers I love the most but then I discovered a website (well more than one actually and some of the definitions vary) with the meanings of various flowers...


There would be Begonias for deep thoughts...

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Camellias for graciousness...
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A little Heather for solitude...
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Some Hyacinth for sincerity...
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A whole lot of Lisianthus for calming...
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Of course a bit of Sweetpea for shyness...
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And most importantly, 
and also one of my very favorites,
Magnolia for dignity.
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What would your flowers say about you?  




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Posted by Diane at 6:30 AM
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13 comments:

  1. deb dutySeptember 29, 2011 at 7:01 AM

    This is a beautiful post. I love how you described yourself in flowers.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Simply SuthernSeptember 29, 2011 at 8:26 AM

    Well there would definitely be a heap of Sweetpea in the basket.

    Throw in a bit Cosmos, Pink Tulips and a bit of Nasturtium, what ever that is.

    ReplyDelete
  3. BetsySeptember 29, 2011 at 8:27 AM

    I love this prompt... it was the one I chose as well. And I love magnolias. I'm trying to convince my husband to let me plant one in the back yard.

    ReplyDelete
  4. stephanyeSeptember 29, 2011 at 9:37 AM

    I would have yellow and white daisies, purple iris, kind of like the bouquet's at my wedding. I'm sure you could fill me in on what those flowers have to say about me. But.... I might not want to know:)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kathleen BasiSeptember 29, 2011 at 9:41 AM

    Oh, what a lovely set of meanings those are! I don't know what flowers "mean," either, but in every case I could see exactly what the great collective "they" mean.

    ReplyDelete
  6. katie eggemanSeptember 29, 2011 at 2:20 PM

    It is interesting that as a florist this wasn't something you knew much about. I liked learning about this. Visiting from Mamakat's

    ReplyDelete
  7. JenSeptember 29, 2011 at 5:02 PM

    I liked this post very, very much. To be honest, I have never thought about what flowers said about me. I am going to have to give some thought.

    Stopped by from Mama Kat's :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Liz MaysSeptember 29, 2011 at 5:44 PM

    I would have shyness too! I'd also like honesty, loyalty, and do they have one for self-conscious? ;)

    ReplyDelete
  9. JuliSeptember 29, 2011 at 9:42 PM

    Typically, I'd say a bouquet of yellow roses, with a few whie thrown in. :)

    But between you and me... I love lady slippers. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. JennaSeptember 29, 2011 at 10:17 PM

    that sounds like a lovely bouquet and a wonderful description of a person as well! great post!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Silver StrandsSeptember 29, 2011 at 10:50 PM

    Great post. Great blog! Now following :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. AiringMyLaundrySeptember 30, 2011 at 1:29 PM

    I had no clue flowers meant all of that. I'm just always happy to get some!

    ReplyDelete
  13. KatBouskaSeptember 30, 2011 at 10:12 PM

    I love that pretty much whatever flower you choose you end up with a beautiful meaning. :) None of the flowers mean "bastard" or anything like that. Nice!

    ReplyDelete

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