Sunday, May 26, 2013

Vintage View Sunday: The Language of Flowers


 One unifying theme I noticed with last week's party goers was the use of flowers. 
Whether we bring them indoors or enjoy them outside, May is the time when the 
fields and yards and hills are alive with flowers, and they are universally loved.
Did you know that flowers have been used for hundreds of years 
Beverly Seaton's Book is now on my must-read list!
The practice of "selam" in Turkey was discovered by British aristocrats and written about
 in letters from Lady Mary Wortley Montagu in the 1700s. Girls inside Turkish harems 
would send flowers to lovers outside.  The flowers didn't have specific meanings, 
but rather rhymed with words that had meaning or were familiar to the pair.  
The cultivation of flowers and the study of botany became popular in England and 
France in the 1800s.  Eventually the use of flowers was interwoven with nearly every
 aspect of life--church services, weddings, dances, funerals, and daily wear.  
And in true overboard form, Queen Victoria ascribed meanings to flowers and 
thus began the craze for the language of flowers.  It is reported that even Kate Middleton chose specific flowers for her wedding bouquet based on their traditional meanings.

Last week Magali from The Little White House on the Seaside stenciled white roses (heart unacquainted with love, innocence, secrecy) on a vintage aqua pot and filled it with the most divine flowers that I'm calling lily of the valley (return of love, happiness, sweetness, tears of the Virgin Mary, humility). (I think they are really some type of wild rose. :-)

Stefanie from Rose Petals and Rust also shared an aqua pot filled with many flowers including tulips, which indicates a declaration of love, perfect lover, fame.

Debbie-Dabble shared her gorgeous azalea bush, which has been given the meanings, 
temperance, fragile passion, womanhood:

Mrs.Olsen filled a hotel silver pitcher with lilacs, first emotions of love.

And Brittany from The Rococo Roamer filled a vintage enamelware jug with 
gorgeous pink roses, which means grace and joy.

I have just grazed the surface of this wonderfully rich topic of the language of flowers, but I hope it has brought new knowledge to you as it has to me. On this Sunday, I wish you much grace and joy as you reflect on the beauty in flowers that God has put all around us!

If you were featured, please grab my button from the left sidebar and post on your blog.
I can't wait to see what you link up this week!
Laura

And now on to the next Vintage View Sunday party! 
Please link anything vintage, old post or new!



10 comments:

Unknown said...

Love it. So great to be featured this week. Thanks for including my post!

-Brittany Ruth

Debbie-Dabble Blog and A Debbie-Dabble Christmas said...

Laura,
Thanks so much for the feature!!
I gave you another big Shout Out in my last post that I just linked up.....
We will get this party growing....


Thanks so much for hosting!
Wishing you a great holiday weekend!

Hugs,
Deb

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson said...

Laura, I did not think of this post for your party. So glad you stopped by. It's always a pleasure to be featured by you! Every time I visit I feel that I have had a wonderful lesson in history. I have learned so much from you. Even an old dog can learn new tricks. lol! Now that I think of it flowers are perfect for your party. Many of them have been passed down for ages. Some of my Iris starts came from my mother and many others from my previous homes. Thanks so much for hosting. Love your new party. The other features are wonderful. I loved Magali's vases and Debbie's Azalea!
hugs,
Jann

stefanie said...

thanks for the feature!!!

Magali@TheLittleWhiteHouse said...

Thank you so much for the feature!

Magali@TheLittleWhiteHouse said...

I forgot! Your button is on my side-bar and I hope it'll bring more people to your great party (not that I'm a big blog or anything...)

Nellie's Cozy Place said...

HI again Laura,
Loved all your floral picks, they were all so beautiful. I can see you are a lover of flowers as well.
They just make my heart sing, as they are just one more of the unique and
amazing creations from our Heavenly Father, love that he leaves all these lil love notes around for us.

So now what is the theme of your party or does it change weekly??

Looks like fun..........
Blessings, Nellie

Day before Michelle said...

The flowers are all gorgeous :)

I just love having fresh blooms in my house, and am replanting my flower garden this year.

Celestina Marie said...

Hi Laura, what a wonderful party and I will make note for next week to participate. Loved the features of gorgeous flowers and the meanings.
Is the party going to be about flowers each Sunday or does it change?
Thank you for stopping by and your kind comment. Have a great week.
Hugs!!

Unknown said...

Flowers are playing important role in wedding functions even also during love proposals.After break up,It would help to convince our lovely person.
Send Flowers in Delhi