The language of flowers

Last time you gave someone a bunch of flowers, did you stop to wonder what you were telling them?

It's not just the 'I love you' of red roses: flowers have a whole language of their own. Refined Victorian gentlemen would give their lady loves a 'tussie-mussie' (posy) full of cryptic messages to tell her what politeness wouldn't allow him to say out loud, from primroses ('eternal love') to the striped carnation of rejection.

There are dozens of floral gifts to choose from in our garden centre, from small posies to larger floral arrangements, as well as plants whose flowers have secret meanings. So when you next pick a floral gift, give some thought to the hidden messages you could send:

For a wedding: Camellias for devotion, sunflowers for loyalty and adoration, and red poppies for eternal love and affection

For a friend's birthday: buttercups for riches, celandine for joys to come, and pear blossom for lasting friendship

To say sorry: broom for humility, a peony for shame and rue for regret.

For a bereavement: Campanulas – 'thinking of you'; borage for courage, and cypress for sorrow.

Please ask the staff in our garden centre in Athlone for more information.