Down the ages, human feelings have found great expressions through the custom of giving flowers or bouquets. Flowers and bouquets have acted as excellent presents for birthdays and anniversaries, and are also helpful in making personal gestures like communicating heartiest congratulations, making apologies or simply making someone happy.
Some people believe that this custom began way back during prehistoric times with excavators finding its evidence at ancient sites. History, legends and tales going back to ancient China, Greece, Rome and Egypt display flowers to be an undeniable part of social customs. Gifting flowers was thought to be the best way to convey one's thoughts in these civilizations. The ancient Greeks even considered some flowers to be related to divinity.
The Middle Ages saw a furtherance of this custom, and France and England were chiefly responsible for transferring this tradition down the ages. The modern tradition of giving a meaning to each flower is thought to have been brought to Europe after the French and the British witnessed it in Turkey.
Flower gifting gained much significance among the Victorians who widely indulged in this custom. As blatant expression of emotions was frowned upon during the Victorian era, the genteel Victorians practised great restraint in language and they balanced this control over language by their gesture of presenting flowers to convey feelings.
This period saw the rolling out of guidelines for gifting flowers or bouquets that we use today. For example, a bouquet of red roses bought from a florist would evoke a rather unfavourable reaction form your beloved if you presented it to her upside down. The reason being that while red roses symbolize love, gifting them upside down exhibits resentment. In fact, the 19th century witnessed a lot of books published on the topic of language of flowers.
This custom has come down the centuries, and now people around the world participate in the act of gifting flowers to communicate their emotions. In the present age, the custom of giving flowers or bouquets is rich in different connotations, and rules and regulations concerning the propriety of the act have acquired tremendous importance. An elegantly presented bouquet of red roses is believed to express love while lilies symbolize purity and grace. A lone marigold flower is regarded as an expression of grief, while friendship is best expressed by a yellow coloured rose.
Science today has enabled us to grow countless varieties of flowers anywhere in the world. If you live in Singapore, and step into any Singapore flower shop, you will be overwhelmed by the sheer variety of flowers available that can depict almost any human emotion. - 29954
Some people believe that this custom began way back during prehistoric times with excavators finding its evidence at ancient sites. History, legends and tales going back to ancient China, Greece, Rome and Egypt display flowers to be an undeniable part of social customs. Gifting flowers was thought to be the best way to convey one's thoughts in these civilizations. The ancient Greeks even considered some flowers to be related to divinity.
The Middle Ages saw a furtherance of this custom, and France and England were chiefly responsible for transferring this tradition down the ages. The modern tradition of giving a meaning to each flower is thought to have been brought to Europe after the French and the British witnessed it in Turkey.
Flower gifting gained much significance among the Victorians who widely indulged in this custom. As blatant expression of emotions was frowned upon during the Victorian era, the genteel Victorians practised great restraint in language and they balanced this control over language by their gesture of presenting flowers to convey feelings.
This period saw the rolling out of guidelines for gifting flowers or bouquets that we use today. For example, a bouquet of red roses bought from a florist would evoke a rather unfavourable reaction form your beloved if you presented it to her upside down. The reason being that while red roses symbolize love, gifting them upside down exhibits resentment. In fact, the 19th century witnessed a lot of books published on the topic of language of flowers.
This custom has come down the centuries, and now people around the world participate in the act of gifting flowers to communicate their emotions. In the present age, the custom of giving flowers or bouquets is rich in different connotations, and rules and regulations concerning the propriety of the act have acquired tremendous importance. An elegantly presented bouquet of red roses is believed to express love while lilies symbolize purity and grace. A lone marigold flower is regarded as an expression of grief, while friendship is best expressed by a yellow coloured rose.
Science today has enabled us to grow countless varieties of flowers anywhere in the world. If you live in Singapore, and step into any Singapore flower shop, you will be overwhelmed by the sheer variety of flowers available that can depict almost any human emotion. - 29954
