The Language of Flowers

David Kithcart [reporting]: So you’ve decided to get flowers for your special somebody for Valentine’s Day. It’s a good idea. But what color do you get? What kind do you get? Does it matter? There’s a lot to chose from. At Norfolk Wholesale Floral, Sandy knows a thing or two about the unspoken "language of flowers".

Kithcart: Sandy, now everybody knows that red roses are the favorite for people to give on Valentine's, but you have a lot of different flowers in here. Tell me something about what these mean.

Sandy: We have the red roses which mean love. You would want to send these to somebody that you’re definitely in love with.

Kithcart: And you know that they’re in love with you.

Sandy: Yes. So we have the love. Then we have yellow tulips, which mean hopelessly in love. The reason why the flowers have the meanings is: back in Victorian times, they weren’t able to express these emotions in words. So they would use flowers as their language to tell what they were feeling for someone.

Kithcart: So it was more of a genteel time.

Sandy: Yes. They actually selected certain flowers to say what they wanted them to say... We have red carnations. They mean admiration, so you also admire them.

Kithcart [reporting]: The stargazer lilly represents ambitious love.

Kithcart: So would that mean that you intend to actually do something about this in terms of marriage or…

Sandy: Yes. Longer commitment

Kithcart [reporting]: Roses, which symbolize love, also have different meanings based on their color and maturity. Red and white roses together stand for unity. White roses represent purity; pink is for happiness, and orange roses signify desire. The traditional meaning of a yellow rose was jealousy, but these days yellow roses symbolize friendship or joy. If the feelings weren’t mutual, flowers were used to communicate that message as well.

Sandy: I wouldn’t give anybody the snapdragon. That means no. So unless you’re angry with somebody, I don’t think I'd give them the snapdragon.

Kithcart: Now how much do people understand all these meanings?

Sandy: Not at all, not at all.

Kithcart: But it would be a nice thing if people knew. Then they gave a person the flower, and they explained what they gave them -- like maybe in a card or something. That gives me an idea about my wife. I’d better make sure I do the right thing