No custom helps in communicating human emotions in a more effective way than giving flowers or bouquets. Flowers and bouquets have come to be used for several purposes, from wishing well to someone on his or her birthday or anniversary to conveying an apology, or even to just cheer up someone.
Some people believe that this custom began way back during prehistoric times with archaeologists finding proof of its existence at ancient sites. Traditional Greek mythology, Chinese folklore and history surrounding the Romans and Egyptians all display that flowers had an indispensable role to play in their society. In these cultures, it was believed that emotions could find their most suitable expression through the giving of flowers. Greek mythology is filled with mentions of certain flowers that were thought to be representations of gods and goddesses.
The Middle Ages saw a furtherance of this tradition, and France and England were mainly responsible for transferring this tradition down the ages. The present tradition of assigning a specific significance to each flower was imported to the West from Turkey, from where the French and the British acquired it and spread it in Europe.
Flower gifting gained much prevalence among the Victorians who greatly indulged in this tradition. Demonstrating feelings in words and before everybody was against the tradition during the Victorian era, and therefore people used subtle ways to express their feelings in the form of gifting flowers or bouquets.
The Victorians devised a lot of rules for giving flowers or bouquets and stuck to them with great zeal. For example, a bouquet of red roses bought from a florist would generate a rather unfavourable reaction form your beloved if you presented it to her upside down. The reason being that while red roses stand for love, giving them upside down exhibits resentment. In fact, a large number of books were printed and circulated on the language of flowers in the 19th century.
Time has not been able to erode this custom, and people in the present times still consider flowers to be the best means to express their feelings. Today we have arrived at a stage where meaning is attributed to a lot of flowers, and rules and regulations in this tradition are more significant than they ever were. Giving a bouquet of red roses is believed to be an expression of love, whereas lilies are considered as representing attractiveness and purity. On the other hand, a yellow rose represents friendship while a single marigold depicts grief.
Flower giving history continues to be written.There were times that a woman giving flower to a man is very improper. Now it no longer registers as out of the ordinary. There are also other means of delivering flowers. Virtual or real flowers are instantly ready through the Internet. Through advancement of science and technology, flowers can now easily bloom all year-round.
Any tract of land can be made suitable for growing any flower, thanks to modern science and technology. Any good Singapore flower shop will offer a plethora of flower varieties that are both local and exotic in nature, and are appropriate for communicating your heartfelt feelings in the most elegant manner.
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