The History Of Gifting Flowers

By Andy Halliway

Down the ages, human feelings have found great expressions through the custom of gifting flowers or bouquets. People often step into a florist shop to purchase flowers for all occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, to congratulate someone, to apologize, or just to lift one's drooping spirits.

It is believed that this tradition has roots in prehistoric traditions whose evidence has been dug up by archaeologists at archaeological sites. Ancient Greek mythology, Chinese folklore and history concerning the Romans and Egyptians all show that flowers had a very important role to play in their society. Gifting flowers was thought to be the most effective way to communicate one's thoughts in these cultures. In fact, in ancient Greek mythology, some flowers have even been bestowed with a divine status.

This tradition passed on to the Middle Ages, and France and England played important roles in keeping it alive. The modern tradition of giving a meaning to each flower is believed to have been brought to Europe after the French and the British experienced it in Turkey.

The Victorian period popularized this tradition of flower giving even more. As overt expression of emotions was considered objectionable during the Victorian era, the genteel Victorians cultivated excellent restraint in language and they balanced this control over language by their gesture of gifting flowers to convey emotions.

The general rules of giving flowers or bouquets were laid down during this era. To take an instance, buying a bouquet of red roses from a florist and presenting to your beloved upside down would clearly annoy her. This is because red roses which are otherwise associated with emotions of love can communicate negative emotions when they are presented to the recipient upside down. In fact, a large number of books were printed and circulated on the language of flowers in the'th century.

Time has not been able to erode this custom, and people in the present era still consider flowers to be the best means to show their emotions. Today we have reached a point where meaning is assigned to a lot of flowers, and rules and regulations in this tradition are more significant than they ever were. Presenting red roses is still seen as a passionate exhibition of love, and white lilies are believed to represent purity and beauty. A lone marigold flower is considered to be an expression of sorrow, whereas friendship is best expressed by a yellow coloured rose.

Flower gifting history continues to be written.There were times that a woman giving flower to a man is very improper. Today, it is very ordinary. Virtual flowers and Internet florists provide new means to deliver virtual or true flowers anyplace in the earth. Technological and scientific improvements allow for year-round blooms of every type of flower.

Any tract of land can be made suitable for cultivating any flower, thanks to modern science and technology. Any good Singapore flower shop will offer a multitude of flower varieties that are both local and exotic in nature, and are suitable for expressing your heartfelt emotions in the most elegant manner. - 33393

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