Flowers have long held a special place in Valentine’s Day celebrations, and have been associated with various people, ideas, and emotions throughout history. Lilies, for example, generally symbolize purity (especially white ones), and roses are linked to physical love and passion. In 19th-century England, flowers were used to hold entire conversations, as people sent bouquets back and forth. Small bunches of flowers, herbs, lace, and ribbons, called tussie-mussies, were frequently sent to friends, family, and lovers to convey messages – mostly positive, but occasionally with darker meanings. We’ve collected a few flowers today for you, along with their symbols, and included explanations and definitions of the associated words.

Daffodils: Unrequited Love
The word requite means “to pay or return what is due” and the word unrequited means “not returned in equal measure.” To “be quit” used to mean “to pay one’s debt in full” – all of these words come from the Latin root quies, meaning “calm, peace, at rest.” In a sense, if there is an imbalance, things are not at rest because they are not equal (think of an old-fashioned scale with more weight on one side than another). Unrequited love is love that is not returned to the same degree, if at all.

Yellow Roses: Infidelity
Yesterday we looked at the word fidelity, and today we have its opposite. Infidelity is not being faithful and loyal to your partner or spouse. The connection with the color yellow may have come from the old notion of the four “humors,” where yellow indicated bile (i.e. bitterness, jealousy, sour feelings).

Plum Blossoms: Longevity
It’s interesting that plum blossoms which, like other early spring flowers can quickly be shredded by wind and rain, symbolize longevity. Longevity means “a long life,” as can be clearly seen by its Latin roots longus (“long”) and aevum (“life”). Note that this word doesn’t necessarily refer to actual age, but rather anything that is long-lasting.

Wheat: Prosperity
From the Latin roots pro- (“for” or “according to”) and spere (“wishes, hopes”), the word prosperity is used to refer to good fortune, riches, wealth, and success – literally, all of the things that a person might wish for.

There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance; pray, love, remember: and there is pansies, that’s for thoughts. – Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 5