The language of flowers (floriography) is a way of communicating through the use of flowers. Gifts of floral arrangements were used to send coded messages to the recipient, allowing the sender to express feelings which often could not be spoken aloud in Victorian society. You can build or decode a bouquet below, using flowers and meanings from an 1846 book titled “The Bouquet: Containing The Poetry and Language of Flowers”, written by “A Lady”.

Flowers are love’s truest language; they betray,

Like the divining rods of magi old,

Where priceless wealth lies buried; not of gold,

But love, strong love, that never can decay!

I send thee flowers, O dearest! and I dream

That from their petals thou wilt hear sweet words,

Whose music, clearer than the voice of birds,

When breathed to thee alone, perchance, may seem

All eloquent of feelings unexpressed – P. Benjamin.