Flower Writing: How to Send a Message with Flowers

We all want a little adventure and intrigue in our day-to-day lives, but we think we're too busy for The Age of Romance. Romance isn't dead, and we can easily and quickly resuscitate it by using florigraphy.

Florigraphy, or "flower writing", has been used almost from the beginning of human history. It gives a meaning to nearly any flower or plant and allows us to use that language to send messages for any occasion. Keep in mind that it's easier than you think because we already use florigraphy in our everyday lives without realizing it.

We send congratulatory flowers to the parents of a new baby (Dittany of Crete - "Congratulations on your new family member"), brides carry elaborate bouquets down the aisle and wear orange blossoms ("I greet you as a bride"), a young man might buy his date a single red rose ("You are beautiful") to announce his amorous intentions, and, at Christmas time, we decorate our homes with garlands of holly ("Happiness in this home") and balls of mistletoe ("As many kisses as there are stars"). A sick friend might receive a basket of fruit (pears mean "comfort"), we take relatives and friends a gift of green plants or a fruit tree to celebrate their housewarming (a fig tree says, "May your family be prolific"), and we honor moms with cheerful springtime floral arrangements on Mother's Day (cinquefoil means, "For my mother, with love").

Our cooking sends messages of love with the herbs we use (the sweet basil in the spaghetti sauce says, "I love you") and there are messages in the perfumes we wear (gardenia means, "I'm in ecstasy!"), and the potpourris we use to scent our rooms (orange is "Everlasting love" and clove means, "You're so sweet).

Here's an example: Say a young man is taking flowers to his date. He'll have to decide what type of personality she has, what her outstanding traits are and what kind of a relationship it is. Suppose it's a first date and a mutual friend has introduced them. He might surprise her with a bouquet that includes an Austrian rose ("You are all that is lovely"), blue delphinium ("You are heavenly") and spring crocus ("You make me fell young and happy"). He could fill in the arrangement with a chrysanthemum ("Cheerfulness") and some baby's breath ("This is a festive evening").

For expressing less cheery feelings in a civilized way, say, to a loud-mouthed, lazy co-worker who has made your working life a nightmare and has just been promoted, send a congratulatory arrangement containing four Lancaster and York roses (even numbers are for unhappiness and these roses say, "We are at war", and some lovely bird's foot trefoil ("I will get revenge"). Present it with your left hand (which carries negative meaning in florigraphy) and a big smile. See how civilized? You might want to resist the temptation to fill in the arrangement with leaves from a poison ivy no matter how satisfying it might be.

If you'd like to build your own floral message, a tussie mussie is a wonderful way to package it. A tussie mussie is a small hand bouquet. The term comes from the combination of an Old English word meaning "a knot of flowers" and from the "muzzy", a word referring to the damp moss wrapped around the flowers' stems to keep them fresh. Tussie mussies were originally carried to cover odors and in the belief that certain herbs prevented the plague. The Victorians evolved tussie mussie construction into an art and applied their energy and creativity to gardening and the development of their own language of flowers.

During Victorian times, tussie mussies became popular, not only for lovers, but for men and women to use as genteel signals of friendship, allegiances and cheerful greetings. There were two kinds of tussie mussies - the formal and the informal.

The formal tussie mussie was a nosegay no more than six inches in diameter with concentric rows of flowers around a central flower. They were framed by large, showy leaves, like geranium or violet leaves at the base, and had a doily or piece of lace under the floral arrangement, usually with coordinating ribbons tied tightly around the stems under the doily.

Tussie mussies became so popular that holders specifically for them were created and are still made today. Most holders are either silver filigree or porcelain. They allow the recipient to either carry the bouquet, keeping it fresh, or as a type of vase or stand to display the flowers at home.

Informal tussie mussies were smaller, more casual arrangements worn by men and women. Tiny holders were worn at the wrist, in the hair or tucked into a lady's cleavage. Men wore them on their lapels. Antique lapel or brooch holders are available today (check out local antique stores or Victoriana websites).

To construct your own tussie mussie, you'll need a prominent flower to express the central idea of a bouquet's message, such as a chrysanthemum for cheerfulness, a pink rose for friendship and happiness, or a la France rose to say, "Meet me by moonlight". Around the central flower, you might add amethyst ("I deeply admire you") and peppermint ("Your friendship gives me pleasure"), or primrose ("I'm beginning to like you"). Then, in concentric circles around these, you add "filler flowers", such as baby's breath ("This is a festive occasion") or lavender ("You'll always have my loyalty"), ringed by a circle of herbs or spices like rosemary ("Memories of you will never fade from my heart") or sweet basil ("All my love"). Continue adding flowers until the bouquet is about six inches in diameter. The last ring should be large leaves.

Clip a small "x" in the center of a doily, then insert the stems of the bouquet through it.

Wrap the stems of the bouquet tightly with green florist's tape that you can pick up at most hobby or craft stores, then wrap them with colorful ribbon that complements the colors of the flowers you've selected.

The crowning touch, of course, is a handwritten note to accompany your tussie mussie. This part usually stumps frantic romantics, but here's a simple trick: just combine the meanings of the flowers to find sentiments you want to express. For example, if your bouquet combines a single, pink rose (This signifies our friendship"), white carnations ("An offer of loving friendship"), some marjoram ("Happiness") and peppermint ("Your friendship brings warmth to my life"), your card could read, "This little bouquet is a token of our friendship and how it brings warmth to my life".

So, slow down just a little and delight the object of your affection with some good, old-fashioned romance.

For more ideas and floral meanings, check out websites like vangelis.com, florigraphy.com, or books, like "The Language of Flowers", Pickston, Michael Joseph, Ltd., 1968.