The Meaning of Flowers

People have given meanings to flowers throughout history. Check here for some of your favorite flowers to see what they represent.

"The flowers of Yorkshire are like the women of Yorkshire. Every stage of their growth has its own beauty, but the last phase is always the most glorious. Then very quickly they all go to seed." - From John Clarke's (John Alderton) ungiven speech in the movie, "Calendar Girls."

AMARYLLIS: Pride.

AMBROSIA: Love is reciprocated.

APPLE BLOSSUMS: Good fortune.

ASPARAGUS FERN: Fascination.

ASTER: Variety, elegance, daintiness.

AZALEA: Love, romance, first love, fragile passion, temperance. It is also the Chinese symbol of womanhood.

BABY'S BREATH: Innocence.

BACHELOR BUTTON: Single blessedness.

BEGONIA: Beware.

BELLS OF IRELAND: Good luck.

BIRD OF PARADISE: Magnificence.

BLUEBELL: Humility, constancy.

BUTTERCUP: Childishness.

CACTUS: Endurance.

CALENDULA: Grief, jealousy.

CALLA LILY: Magnificent beauty.

CAMELLIA: Gratitude.

CARNATION: Fascination, distinction, divine love, woman, yes.

CATTAIL: Peace, prosperity.

CHRYSANTHEMUM: Cheerfulness, optimism, rest, truth.

CLEMATIS: Clever, intellectual. Associated with the eighth wedding anniversary.

CORNFLOWER: Delicacy.

COSMOS: Modesty. Associated with the 2nd wedding anniversary.

CROCUS: Cheerfulness, abuse not.

DAFFODIL: Regard, rebirth, new beginnings, unrequited love, you're the only one, chivalry.

DAHLIA: Instability. Associated with the fourteenth wedding anniversary.

DAISY: Innocence, loyal love, I'll never tell, purity. Associated with the fifth wedding anniversary.

DANDELION: Faithfulness, happiness, love's oracle.

DAY LILY: Coquetry, Chinese emblem for mother. Associated with the twentieth wedding anniversary.

DELPHINIUM: Big-hearted, fun.

FERN: Sincerity, magic, fascination, confidence, shelter.

FIR: Time.

FORGET-ME-NOT: True love, hope, remembrance, memories.

FORSYTHIA: Anticipation.

FOUR-LEAF CLOVER: Good luck, be mine.

FOXGLOVE: Insincerity.

FUSCHIA: Taste. Associated with the third wedding anniversary.

GARDENIA: You're lovely, secret love, joy, sweet love, good luck.

GERANIUM: Stupidity, folly, comfort, gentility. Associated with the fourth wedding anniversary.

GINGER: Strength.

GLADIOLUS: Strength of character, remembrance, infatuation, splendid beauty, give me a break, I'm really sincere.

HEATHER: Admiration, solitude, beauty.

HOLLY: Foresight, defense, domestic happiness, enchantment.

HOLLYHOCK: Ambition, fruitfulness. Associated with the thirteenth wedding anniversary.

HONEYSUCKLE: Bonds of love.

HYACINTH: Sport, play, games, rashness, flower dedicated to Apollo.

HYDRANGEA: Thank you for understanding, frigidity, heartlessness, heartless.

IRIS: Wisdom, Fleur-de-lis, emblem of France, your friendship means so much to me, faith, hope, valor, my compliments. Associated with the twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.

IRIS, BLUE: Faith, hope.

IVY: Fidelity, wedded love, friendship, affection, marriage.

JASMINE: Amiability , I attach myself to you, sensuality, attachment.

JONQUIL: Sympathy , love me, affection returned, desire.

LADY SLIPPER: Capricious beauty.

LARKSPUR: Fickleness, ardent attachment, levity, lightness.

LAVENDER: Devotion.

LILAC: Youthful, humility, confidence.

LILY: Majesty, wealth, pride, innocence, purity.

LILY OF THE VALLEY: Return of happiness, purity of heart, sweetness, tears of the Virgin Mary, you've made my life complete, humility, happiness.

LOTUS BLOSSUM: Estranged love.

MAGNOLIA: Dignity, love of nature, nobility.

MARIGOLD: Affection, cruelty, grief, jealousy. The marigold was called Mary's Gold by early Christians who placed garlands of marigolds by statues of the Virgin Mary.

MINT: Virtue.

MISTLETOE: Kiss me, affection, to surmount difficulties, sacred plant of India.

MORNING GLORY: Loves you. Associated with the eleventh wedding anniversary.

MOSS: Maternal love, charity.

MYRTLE: Love, Hebrew emblem of marriage.

NARCISSUS: Egotism, conceit, self love, self admiration, formality, stay as sweet as you are. Also known as the birthflower for December.

NASTURTIUM: Conquest, victory in battle. Associated with the fortieth wedding anniversary.

OLEANDER: Caution.

OLIVE BRANCH: Peace.

ORANGE BLOSSUM: Purity, innocence, eternal love, marriage and fruitfulness, fertility.

ORANGE, MOCK: Deceit.

ORCHID: Rare beauty, love, refinement, beautiful lady, Chinese symbol for many children, mature charm, beauty, long life.

PALM LEAVES: Victory, success.

PANSIES: Receipient is being thought about. The flower's name comes from the French word pensée which means thought or remembrance. Associated with the first wedding anniversary.

PEONY: Bashfulness, shame, happy life, happy marriage, good health, prosperity. Associated with the twelfth wedding anniversary.

PEPPERMINT: Cordiality.

PERIWINKLE: Friendship.

PETUNIA: Resentment, anger, your presence soothes me.

PHLOX: Unanimity.

POPPY: Eternal sleep, oblivion, imagination. Associated with ninth wedding anniversary.

PRIMROSE: I can't live without you.

QUEEN ANNE'S LACE: Haven.

RANUNCULUS: You are radiant with charm, radiant charm.

RHODODENDRON: Danger, caution.

ROSE: Love, passion, perfection.

ROSEMARY: Remembrance, purity, rebirth.

SAGE: Virtue.

SNAPDRAGON: Deception, gracious lady, presumption.

SPEARMINT: Warm sentiment.

STAR OF BETHLEHEM: Purity.

STATICE: Sympathy, remembrance, success.

STOCK: Lasting beauty, bonds of affection, promptness, you'll always be beautiful to me.

SUNFLOWER: Follows the sun as it grows, adoration, haughtiness.

SWEET PEA: Lasting pleasure, good-bye, departure, blissful pleasure, thank you for a lovely time, I think of you.

SWEET WILLIAM: Gallantry, smile, finesse.

THYME: Activity.

TULIP: Perfect lover, frame, flower emblem of Holland.

VIOLET: Modesty, faithfulness, innocence, understated beauty. Worn by the ancient Greeks to induce sleep and to calm tempers. Associated with the fifieth wedding anniversary. Also known as the birthflower of February.

WATER LILY: Purity of heart.

WEEPING WILLOW: Mourning.

WHEAT: Friendliness.

ZINNIA: Thoughts of absent friends, in memory of an absent friend.

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