Script Florist

Flower and Florist advice for writers.

[scriptflorist]

This Blog is currently on Hiatus

Welcome to our blog!

Here we have a compliation of links for you to better help find some resources on our blog, since we answer so many flower language questions. The google sheet is pretty much our best friend when it comes to the Victorian flower langauge, for any other you can check out our tags.

Flower Language  Source

Victorian Flower Language Google Sheet, containing the material of the following books

Wirt 1831

Shoberl 1839

Waterman 1840

Edgarton Mayo 1843

The Flowers Personified 1847

Dumont 1853

Language and Sentiment 1866

Tyas 1869

Greenaway 1884

Diffenbaugh 2011

The Victorian Bazaar

Flower Language Tags

Chinese flower language

Hanakotoba

German flower language

Spanish flower language

Hawaiian flower language

Victorian flower language

Do florists know the language of flowers?

Origin of flower meanings

Other Tags

feelings of love

Disclaimer

This blog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods are not responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences of using this advice for real world situations or in any way that said advice was not intended.

[scriptflorist]

are you still around?

Hello!

The answer is, kind of.

I've been meaning to make a post about this and your ask finally nudged me into clearing some time, so thank you. And I'm sorry.

Mod Jana and I are both extremely busy right now, so this blog will be on an indefinite hiatus. I will try to clear out the asks in our inbox and drafts as I am able, but it will probably be very slow, and I don't know when we'll be able to reopen.

Thank you to all our followers.

~Mod Den

[scriptflorist]

Would you be able to create a directory of tags?

Heya charlyce,

We’ll see what we can do about it. Just generally speaking it’s definitely a good idea. Also if there are any tags anyone would like to know (or whether we’ve had asks on a certain topic) you’re always welcome to ask away.

– Mod Jana

Disclaimer

This blog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods are not responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences of using this advice for real world situations or in any way that said advice was not intended.

[scriptflorist]

hello! i was curious about the meaning of the lily of the valley in victorian flower language. i see that some places the meaning is "return to happiness" while others list it as "return of happiness." could i use both meanings interchangeably, or is the second meaning the correct/most accurate one?

Hi there,

according to our google sheet lily of the valley has the following meanings

lily of the valley

return of happiness (shoberl 1839; waterman 1840; the flowers personified 1847; tyas 1869; diffenbaugh 2011)

the heart withering in secret (edgarton mayo 1843)

modesty (durmont 1853)

sweetness, tears of the virgin mary, happiness, humility (victorian bazaar)

None of these is more true/right/correct than the others. Unless perhaps your story plays during the 19th century in one of the above mentioned years. Otherwise pick the one that suits your story best, as it’s anybody’s guess what book/list your character might encounter and what is potentially written in there.

– Mod Jana

Disclaimer

This blog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods are not responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences of using this advice for real world situations or in any way that said advice was not intended.

[scriptflorist]

Hmm, thanks for offering that character template thing, but I actually don't need all of that extra stuff. I just wanted to associate flowers for those few important qualities rather than everything else, it's basically a description of the character in a nutshell.

Follow up to this ask:

Hi there,

thanks for getting back to us, alright then, just wanted to make sure it wasn't missed. The following plants could fit your character.

aconite (Crhistmas) - wit

ash tree - greatness, grandeur

bladder nut tree - frivolous amusement, frivolity, amusement

camellia (red) - unpretending excellence

clematis - mental beauty, artifice

fool’s parsley - silliness

goat’s rue - reason

hawkweed - quick-sightedness

kennedia - intellectual beauty

love is a mist - perplexity

mignonette - moral and intellectual beauty, your qualities surpass your loveliness/charms, “without pretension to beauty possesses qualities which command profound respect and affection”

plum (wild) - independence

ragged-robin - wit, dandy

sumach  (venice) - intellectual excellence, splendor

walnut - intellect, stratagem

This is mostly focused on his intellect because there just isn’t a somehow established floral equivalent of someone who’s Like That and we don’t want to stereotype either. Oblivious isn’t represented either, and the closest thing to weird the Victorian flower language has to offer is silly.

– Mod Jana

Disclaimer

This blog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods are not responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences of using this advice for real world situations or in any way that said advice was not intended.

[scriptflorist]

Hi, do you know of any flowers in the Hanakotoba, Japanese flower language for courage, friendship and kindness?

Hi sailorrose!

That should be doable, all of them sound like feasible flower meanings.

begonia - kindness, happy days, confession of love, unrequited love

begonia (white) - kindness

bindweed - friendship, bonds, affair

bouvardia - friendship, exchange, passion

bugleweed/ajuga - strong friendship, comfortable home

camellia - modest kindness, pride

dogwood - friendship

edelweiss - courage, precious memories

geranium - true friendship, trust, respect

goldenrod - encouragement, prevention, precaution, warning

golden lace/ominaeshi - kindess, beauty, ephemeral love

gypsophila - kindness, innocence, pure heart, happiness

lilac - friendship, modesty, memories

mangles sunday/rhodanse - endless friendship, unchanging feelings

magnolia/kobushi - friendship, loveliness

mimosa (acacia) - friendship, secret love

rose (yellow) - friendship, jealousy, attention faded

soft windflower/nirinsou - friendship, cooperation, never leave

spirea/kodemari - friendship, elegance

thyme - courage, activity

wisteria/fuji - kindness, welcom, never leave, drunk in love

wood sorrel - mother’s kindness, shining heart, joy

begonia - kindness, happy days, confession of love, unrequited love

Hope these help!

– Mod Jana

Disclaimer

This blog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods are not responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences of using this advice for real world situations or in any way that said advice was not intended.

[scriptflorist]

Any flowers for a character who is eccentric with a lot of weird quirks, perhaps just downright insane sometimes. A very very smart character with knowledge way beyond any human, yet 5 year old normal humans sometimes point out things they miss.

Sure, we can do that. One question though before we proceed, since you’re already looking for something so specific. Can we interest you in filling out our character template? It has a lot more questions and was specifically designed for asks like this, so you guys can give us as much info as possible about your character that we can then use to find flowers and plants to associate with them.

– Mod Jana

Disclaimer

This blog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods are not responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences of using this advice for real world situations or in any way that said advice was not intended.

[scriptflorist]

I know this isn't flower language per se so feel free to ignore, but do you know anything about tree symbolism? I'm interested in the willow tree specifically

Trees are not flowers, but they are included in the Victorian flower language. If not as a whole then their branches, flowers or fruits. Is that what you’re looking for with tree symbolism? Or are you looking for actual symbolism based on trees?

– Mod Jana

Disclaimer

This blog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods are not responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences of using this advice for real world situations or in any way that said advice was not intended.

[scriptflorist]

Has the US not Americanized Victorian flower language like pratically everything else? While researching for my story I figured that'll be the case but apparently not? A good chunk of my story deals with some differences between British/American characters and those who are in a bit of both cultures.

You know Nonny, surprisingly not. I can see why you’d think that, but it’s kind of the other way around. A lot of other flower languages have happily taken a page (or sometimes the entire book) from the Victorian flower language. It’s kind of the flower language. It’s potentially more British than American even.

The one big thing that has continuously been able to make it take a hit however is cultural differences, because meanings go out the window if certain flowers are designated funeral flowers, or are only given at other specific occasions and never outside of those.

So flower language may be an unexpected bonding experience for your characters with the caveat of some cultural differences. Differences also may depend on where they get their flower meanings from and if something changes over the years or between the editions of the books. A lot of times despite changes the meanings stay thematically in the same lane though.

– Mod Jana

Disclaimer

This blog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods are not responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences of using this advice for real world situations or in any way that said advice was not intended.

[scriptflorist]

Is there any difference in special ocassion flowers like Valentine's Day or Christmas between the US and Australia solely because of the weather but not anything actually cultural. (Or does that actually go hand in hand?) Trying to put in differences between two characters who live in different places, but they're kinda of minor characters though.

There is indeed a different between what’s available in the US and Australia, solely because of the fact that seasons are offset by six months between the northern and southern hemisphere. Which means that while both holidays happen in February and December, it will be winter for both in the US but summer in Australia at the same time. (And technically, where exactly the characters live in either country considering regional differences).

Summer is generally the best time get a wide variety of plants and cut flowers, albeit Australian summer may not be the best to grow all of them.

Valentine’s Day is pretty international at this point, which means that while there may be cultural differences the basis premise is very much the same everywhere. And Christmas is much the same, while the weather has a more invisible influence as it dictates what can and can’t be done outside, where things have to and can take place but also the clothes which are worn at the time.

So there is a difference and an influence, and it is somewhat culturally dictated, but there is still no one-size fits all answer since there are more factors than just the weather which determine how either is celebrated. It does play a pretty big and potentially underestimate role though.

– Mod Jana

Disclaimer

This blog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods are not responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences of using this advice for real world situations or in any way that said advice was not intended.

[scriptflorist]

I'm trying to find plants that are toxic to animals (any, but at least the size of a rat) but not people? If my character is a botanist that does breeding, how possible would it to be to cultivate a plant that's extra toxic and put in in the yard to deter stray animals?

That is, unfortunately not quite how toxic plants work since they generally require ingestion for the poisonous effect to kick in. Which means your character would have to figure out how to breed a variety that gives off a scent that is off-putting for the animals in question to begin with. Which may come with the side effect of humans also finding that off-putting.

This is not to say your character’s plan is impossible in fiction of course, just that it’s something they would have to specifically create to work in that specific way. (And not to go on a tangent but all of this also kind of depends on whether these animals learn as a generation or teach others of their kind of whether each of them has to learn on its own to stay away, so technically this question is a two-way street and one lane is how does the plant function? and the other is how does the animal function?, which then joins at how do they influence each other?).

Many natural toxic defences from plants have been adapted as spices by humans, most notably chilli, but also coffee, which is not a spice but is also naturally intended to keep the plant from being eating by animals. Just happened not to work on humans.

This reminds me however, of something a classmate of mine told me during my apprenticeship because she worked for a floristry pretty much next to a graveyard and they were taking care of several graves of course due to that. Their ideal repellent against wild animals was a fine layer of bone dust, which was explained to me basically smells like a bad omen to the wild animals. That of course may be a bit extreme, so another method to deter a stray deer from eating grandma’s arrangement would be to place something that smells like human at the site since wild animals tend to shy away from that scent. This, and it cannot be stressed enough, however really only works on animals who are not used to humans at all.

To answer your question, it would be a very fictional way of solving your character’s dilemma. However a pretty fun one and it definitely wouldn’t make me put the book down.

– Mod Jana

Disclaimer

This blog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods are not responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences of using this advice for real world situations or in any way that said advice was not intended.

[scriptflorist]

I have a character who is quite a bit of a slob and barely takes care of their garden and just lets plants grow wild. When would that be an actual problem? In any aspect, but especially causing trouble with neighbours or the public?

Depends on a few things, for starters what kinds of plants do they have in their garden and are they actually using the garden? If there are a lot of hardy plants and those that grow like there’s no tomorrow if left unsupervised, then it might become a problem before they ever wanted it to be, especially if they’re regularly using the garden.

The latter type of plants could also quickly become a problem for neighbouring gardens, the repercussions of that however depend on where your character lives and what actions their neighbours choose to take. How they have to maintain their garden and whether there are repercussions for it also depends on where they live and type of rules for it.

The problems would start when they cannot use their garden anymore like they might have previously, and if not then, they could start any moment from when other people could potentially take action against how they are keeping their garden based on whatever legal document allows them to do this, simply because what your character is not doing bothers them. The public tends to be like that after all sometimes.

If your character, however, is allowed to keep the garden however they like, even if that means having it overgrown and uncared for, unless other people’s gardens aren’t affected by this, then there is little anyone can do about it and the problems might not ever start.

So the true question is, where do they live and what are the rules for that place.

– Mod Jana

Disclaimer

This blog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods are not responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences of using this advice for real world situations or in any way that said advice was not intended.

[scriptflorist]

Hello. I'm filling a character's backyard with dwarf/miniature plants, flowers, trees, and shrubs to give the illusion that in a photograph of the place may appear to someone that everything is giant when it's only standard human sized. I'm trying to go for a sense of scale of 1:2. Any good ideas, perhaps with specific species? One thing I'm dead set on is various sunflower varieties that are from 1-3m tall but gives the illusion that they're 3-6m tall. Thanks a lot.

That’s a fun idea. And going for dwarf species is definitely going to help since they will require less pruning in terms of height, however to solve your character’s sunflower dilemma there are other tricks. And one thing that generally limits a plant’s growth is space for roots, this would however require some test growing in pots until your character knows the exact size that allows them to grow their sunflowers at the ideal height. From there on out they could then add encased flower beds to their garden, so they’re basically just adding a flower tub in the right size and their desired material to make sure the sunflowers only grow up to a certain height. Which only leaves the question of whether they want those flower beds above ground or not and how they can make either happen conveniently.

This can be done with other plants too.

Also with anything that is a shrub potentially going for small flowered species, even if they’re not dwarves, and just keeping them short enough will likely have the desired effect. This can be done with more than shrubs, since the primary indicator here for how tall your character looks is the visual scale of comparison. (Like an adult in front of a doll house).

Realising just now that I might have read the sunflower bit wrong, but keeping the above since the methods can be used by your character still, but would like to kindly ask how tall your character is that they can tower over a 3m sunflower? That’s almost 10’ for any of you not well-versed in metres.

If they are in fact not over 3m, then their illusion would require some sort of indicator for how tall these plants are supposed to be in the pictures because most people likely do not know how tall sunflowers can really be compared to humans. There are, after all, sold in much shorter lengths more than often. This does not however mean they have to put an actual scale, as this could also be achieved by including a visual marker of which people can eyeball the height off. (Consider a fence or building that matches the height of the flowers, but over which the character clearly towers when they normally might not).

– Mod Jana

Disclaimer

This blog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods are not responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences of using this advice for real world situations or in any way that said advice was not intended.

[scriptflorist]

LOL I'm not the OP just an anon responding to the hospital gift ask.

Follow up to this ask.

Thank you for clarifying, that was unfortunately not clear. Sorry for mixing you up.

– Mod Jana

Disclaimer

This blog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods are not responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences of using this advice for real world situations or in any way that said advice was not intended.

[scriptflorist]

I read some posts saying mixed up designs don't work together, but I'm trying to style a garden with mixes of both Indian and Chinese style for an interracial couple. It's set in the modern day US and the house is very much colonial style. What would work together and what wouldn't fit and should be separate?

That entirely depends on what and how it’s mixed together since designs often take a page from architectural time periods (or dynasty periods in China). And there is just a lot that would clash by default, there are however also ways of mixing them of course, but this has to be done with regards to what actually looks good together more than strictly adhering to one specific style and layout.

E.g. no layman would likely be able to tell apart a mix of baroque and rococo, but also mixing Greek with Roman and Egyptian styles can look very odd if carelessly thrown together and potentially take away from some of the pieces.

If your characters are trying to mesh only the super intricate and detailed designs of their cultures gardening styles chances are there will be too much going on for the eye to really enjoy what they’re looking at. And the other way around if they are only focusing on the big and showy parts of it none of it will really stand out in the end either.

Floristry is an art showcasing how pretty flowers are, but there has to be a balance to it. And carelessly mixing two styles of flower arrangement usually leads to things getting lost.

What is important to your characters when designing their garden? The actual flowers or the design? Something specific they want to replicate that may not take up the whole garden? What is it that they adore about the different styles? What are their personal preferences for their garden even if their partner couldn’t care less?

So they can have their Chinese-Indian garden, they’ll just have to look at what they want and consider how to make it look cohesive and not disjointed, by establishing a visual theme.

– Mod Jana

Disclaimer

This blog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods are not responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences of using this advice for real world situations or in any way that said advice was not intended.

[scriptflorist]

This is less of a flower specific question and more of a writing question but what do you think of authors who mention direct references to which flower language was used? I’m working on a fanfic that has uses the hananokotoba flower meanings. The original work is an anime & Japanese mobile game so I’m hoping the Hananokotoba meaning is sort of implied. But outside of your blog and the Hananokotoba website, I’m not sure if they will encounter the meaning I intended or if they may encounter the Victorian meaning instead which has a much different meaning (even the Hananokotoba website has a single English page thats lists all its flowers with the Victorian meaning by default though it doesnt say its that meaning. And you have to either read Japanese or use google translate the flower’s detail page to see its different Victorian and Hananokotoba meanings). I’m thinking maybe I should mention the flower language or even the exact meaning I used, or would be considered faux pas for spelling it out to the reader? Sorry if this different from the usual asks but I would like to know you or your followers’ thoughts. Thank you.

There is no real right or wrong in answer to this question. Instead, it’s more of a question whether it fits your writing style, the story or the narrator, so let’s break this down.

If your writing style is very detailed to the begin then it might look out of place not to mention which flower language the meaning comes from, and perhaps even how the character knows in the first place.

However even if your writing style usually isn’t chock full of details about every little bit of information perhaps it is very relevant to the story or the specific scene, and can be included based on that.

The third reasoning here relies entirely on the narrator or the scene and potentially the character’s knowledge if they are separate entities. What it comes down to is whether the narrator knows, and whether they know for certain or are just guessing – the information can then be included with regards to that.

And unless you know all of your readers that well or can draw from experience with previous fics, there is likely no way of knowing whether they will like being given that information. However based on the average person’s flower language knowledge, which is practically non-existent, there is a good chance they will appreciate it if you volunteer the information.

Also, if you have a specific meaning and flower language in mind, especially for a flower which has multiple, stating it will largely be beneficial to the understanding of your story and scene. There is something to be said here about foreshadowing but we’re not writing your story, so of course there is the possibility that you have left enough clues beforehand to leave the meaning unequivocal at the point of the appearance of the flower. And now it’s becoming an issue of context. Has your story provided the context it needs to be understood without specifically spelling it out?

– Mod Jana

Disclaimer

This blog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods are not responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences of using this advice for real world situations or in any way that said advice was not intended.

[scriptflorist]

How can my characters greenhouse fruit trees? Especially tropical fruit. Would it be insanely costly in a tiny space like all that effort for just..a single mango tree they're planning to grow 40 feet tall

They really just could if they want to and have the means. Greenhouses are specifically defined, among other things, by having a regulated climate which can specifically accommodate plants that would not survive outside the greenhouse. And if your character’s desire is a mango tree and they’re willing to dedicate their time and effort into growing it then there really is nothing that speaks against it.

Costs may vary depending on whether they have a greenhouse which can accommodate the mango tree or it still has to be billed. Also on whether they are paying someone to look after their tree because they may have 2 black thumbs and no green one, and the electricity and heating bill keeping the climate in your character’s greenhouse stable. Since it is unlikely to run solely on batteries. Not to say that it can’t, but cold is the one thing plants don’t tend to be forgiving about so a power outage at the greenhouse could do some serious damage to your characters hard tree raising work and the fruits it’s supposed to bear.

Ultimately the question is what fruits your character wants to grow and how the plants would have to be accommodated to ensure that they’re actually getting fruits and they’re not just raising fancy trees.

– Mod Jana

Disclaimer

This blog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods are not responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences of using this advice for real world situations or in any way that said advice was not intended.