Throughout history, lovers have given flowers to each other as a token of their longing, devotion, and love. The language and meaning of flowers has evolved through the years.
When choosing a flower as a gift, consider how special the flower is to your lover and what message it communicates. Use our guide to the language and meaning of flowers to make sure your meaning is crystal clear.
ALMOND, FLOWERING: Hope.
ANEMONE: Forsaken, expectation.
APPLE BLOSSOMS: Good fortune.
ASPARAGUS FERN: Fascination.
AZALEA: Love, romance, first love, fragile passion, temperance. It is also the Chinese symbol of womanhood.
BAMBOO: Strength, loyalty, steadfastness.
BEGONIA: Be cordial, fanciful nature, beware.
CACTUS: Endurance, warmth.
CALLA LILY: Magnificent beauty. Associated with the sixth wedding anniversary.
CARNATION: Fascination, distinction, divine love, woman, yes. Also the birthflower for January.
CARNATION, PINK: A woman's love, I'll never forget you, mother's love.
CARNATION, RED: Alas for my poor heart, admiration, my heart aches for you, friendship, pride, fascination.
CARNATION, WHITE: Innocence, faithfulness, sweet and lovely, pure love, ardent love, good luck. These lovely flowers have lasting qualities, and are often handed out on Mother's Day to symbolize the purity and strength of motherhood. They were handed out at the first Mother's Day service in 1908.
CARNATION, YELLOW: Disdain, rejection, you have disappointed me.
COSMOS: Modesty. Associated with the 2nd wedding anniversary.
CYCLAMEN: Resignation, good-bye.
DAFFODIL: Regard, rebirth, new beginnings, unrequited love, you're the only one, chivalry, eternal life. Associated with the tenth wedding anniversary. Also the birthflower for March.
DAHLIA: Instability, dignity, forever, good taste. Associated with the fourteenth wedding anniversary.
DAISY: Innocence, loyal love, I'll never tell, purity, love that conquers all. Associated with the fifth wedding anniversary.
DAY LILY: Coquetry, Chinese emblem for mother. Associated with the twentieth wedding anniversary.
FLEUR-DE-LIS: Flame.
FORGET-ME-NOT: True love, hope, remembrance, memories.
FREESIA: Innocence, thoughtfulness.
FUSCHIA: Taste. Associated with the third wedding anniversary.
GINGER: Strength, safe, pleasant, warming, comforting.
GLADIOLUS: Strength of character, remembrance, infatuation, splendid beauty, give me a break, I'm really sincere, flower of the Gladiators, admiration, tells recipients that they pierce the heart like a sword. Because the gladiolus has blade-shaped leaves, the name comes from the Latin word gladius which means sword. Also the birthflower for August.
HYACINTH: Sport, play, games, rashness, flower dedicated to Apollo.
HYACINTH, BLUE: Constancy.
HYACINTH, PURPLE: I am sorry, sorrow, please forgive me.
HYACINTH, RED OR PINK: Play.
HYACINTH, WHITE: Loveliness, I'll pray for you.
HYACINTH, YELLOW: Jealousy.
IRIS: Wisdom, Fleur-de-lis, emblem of France, valued friendship, faith, hope, valor, my compliments, passion. Associated with the twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.
IRIS, BLUE: Faith, hope.
IRIS, PURPLE: Wisdom, compliments.
IRIS, YELLOW: Passion.
IRIS, WHITE: Purity.
JASMINE, WHITE or INDIAN: Amiability , I attach myself to you, sensuality, attachment.
JASMINE, SPANISH: Sensuality.
JASMINE, YELLOW: Grace, elegance.
LAVENDER: Devotion, happiness, success, luck, distrust.
LEMON BLOSSOMS: Faithful love.
LILAC: Youthful, humility, confidence.
LILY: Majesty, wealth, pride, innocence, purity.
LILY, WHITE: Purity, modesty, virginity, majesty, it's heavenly to be with you. The white lily is linked to Juno, the queen of the gods in Roman mythology, by the story that while nursing her son Hercules, some excess milk fell from the sky creating the group of stars we call the Milky Way, and lilies were created from what milk fell to the earth. The Easter lily is also known as the symbol of the Virgin Mary.
LILY, ORANGE: flame, I burn for you.
LILY, YELLOW: I'm walking on air, false, gay.
LILY OF THE VALLEY: Return of happiness, purity of heart, sweetness, tears of the Virgin Mary, you've made my life complete, humility, happiness, love's good fortune. The legend of the lily of the valley is that it sprang from Eve's tears when she was kicked out of the Garden of Eden. It is also believed that this flower protects gardens from evil spirits. Also known as the flower of May.
LOTUS BLOSSOM: Estranged love.
MAGNOLIA: Dignity, love of nature, nobility.
MIMOSA: Sensitivity.
MISTLETOE: Kiss me, affection, to surmount difficulties, sacred plant of India.
NARCISSUS: Egotism, conceit, self love, self admiration, formality, stay as sweet as you are. Also known as the birthflower for December.
ORANGE BLOSSOMS/FLOWERS: Purity, innocence, eternal love, marriage and fruitfulness, fertility, pure loveliness, chastity.
ORCHID: Rare beauty, love, refinement, beautiful lady, Chinese symbol for many children, mature charm, beauty, long life. Associated with twenty-eighth wedding anniversary
PALM LEAVES: Victory, success.
PEACH BLOSSOMS: Captive, unequalled qualities, longevity.
PEAR BLOSSOMS: Affection.
PEONY: Bashfulness, shame, happy life, happy marriage, good health, prosperity. Associated with the twelfth wedding anniversary.
PETUNIA: Resentment, anger, don't despair, your presence soothes me.
PINE CONE: Conviviality, life.
POPPY: Eternal sleep, oblivion, imagination. Associated with ninth wedding anniversary.
POPPY, RED: Pleasure, consolation.
POPPY, WHITE: Consolation, sleep, rest.
POPPY, YELLOW: Wealth, success.
PRIMROSE: Happiness, satisfaction, I can't live without you.
PRIMROSE, EVENING: Happy love.
RHODODENDRON: Danger, caution.
ROSE: Love, passion, perfection. The rose was named for the Latin word rosa which means red. It has been a symbol of love since ancient times. Associated with the fifthteenth wedding anniversary. It is also known as the birthflower of June.
ROSE, BURGUNDY: Beauty within.
ROSE, CORAL: Desire.
ROSE, DARK CRIMSON: Mourning.
ROSE, HIBISCUS: Delicate beauty.
ROSE, LAVENDER: Love at first sight, enchantment.
ROSE, LEAF: You may hope.
ROSE, MOSS: Confessions of love.
ROSE, ORANGE: Fascination, display feeling of enthusiasm.
ROSE, PEACH: Desire, gratitude, apprecation, admiration, sympathy, modesty.
ROSE, PINK: Happiness, appreciation, admiration, friendship, sympathy.
ROSE, DARK PINK: Thankfulness.
ROSE, LIGHT PINK: Grace, gladness, joy, perfect happiness, please believe me, gratitude, admiration, gentility.
ROSE, RED: Love, passion, respect, courage, I love you, beauty, pure and lovely, prosperity.
ROSE, DEEP RED: Un-selfconscious beauty.
ROSE, SINGLE, FULL BLOOM: I love you, I still love you, new love.
ROSE, BUD, SMALL: Pure and lovely, beauty and youth, a heart innocent of love, confession of love.
ROSE, THORNLESS: Love at first sight.
ROSE, WHITE: Innocence, purity, secrecy, I am worthy of you, silence, friendship, truth, virtue, girlhood, humility spiritual love, but of the soul, reverence, charm, happy love.
ROSE, WHITE, DRIED: Death is preferable to loss of virtue.
ROSE, YELLOW: Joy, friendship, true love, decrease of love, jealousy, try to care, freedom, slighted love, shows "I care", gladness.
ROSES, BOUQUET, MATURE: Gratitude.
ROSES, RED & WHITE TOGETHER: Unity, flower emblem of England.
ROSES, YELLOW & RED TOGETHER: Happiness, congratulations.
ROSES, YELLOW & ORANGE TOGETHER: Passionate thoughts.
SNOWBALL: Bound.
SNOWDROP: Hope.
SUNFLOWER: Follows the sun as it grows, adoration, haughtiness, devotion. "I don't think there's anything on this planet that more trumpets life that the sunflower. For me that's because of the reason behind its name. Not because it looks like the sun but because it follows the sun. During the course of the day, the head tracks the journey of the sun across the sky. A satellite dish for sunshine. Wherever light is, no matter how weak, these flowers will find it. And that's such an admirable thing. And such a lesson in life." - Chris's (Helen Mirren) comment in the movie, "Calendar Girls."
TULIP: Perfect lover, frame, flower emblem of Holland.
VIOLET: Modesty, faithfulness, innocence, understated beauty, you're in my thoughts. 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.
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