March has arrived, and with it come a tidal wave of blooms! Flowers can be more than just a friendly face to the chilly writer, though. They can offer inspiration, and even theme your projects. The language of flowers, otherwise known as Floriography, is a cryptological means of communication through the use of flower arrangements. Forms of Floriography have been practiced in a wide spread of cultures over the years, and have even been used as symbols in the Hebrew Bible.
The true interest in Floriography came to us during the Victorian Age in England, when floral arrangements could suddenly be used to send coded messages of desire that were not to be spoken aloud in Victorian society. All you needed was a flower dictionary, and a couple of like-minded buddies to suddenly form "talking bouquets" (also known as tussie-mussies). While this tradition might have slipped from style as the years have passed, there's nothing quite so charming in current writing projects like a nod to ancient communication methods. Have a pair of lovebirds that cannot speak to one another? Stuck with two protagonists that cannot communicate past enemy lines? Unsure with how to make your gardener character the heroic hearthrob that he needs to be, or just plain curious about what certain flowers mean?
Fret not! I've compiled a list, taken from an original 1913 hand written book. Unfortunately no author is listed to give credit.