The Language of Flowers Quiz for Experts | Homes & Gardens

Answer: Daffodil

Additional Information: Sadly though, the daffodil also speaks of unrequited love, so it would be best to make sure of the object of your affections before dashing off to pop the question.

Language of Other Flowers: An azalea represents womanhood and indicates fragile passion (I'd give that suitor a miss) or it says "Take care of yourself for me" which is definitely a more hopeful message. Sweet peas say "Thank you for a lovely time" and "It's been a blissful pleasure". They also mean goodbye however, so hopefully you wouldn't be receiving both messages in a bunch of these exquisite flowers.

Did You Know: The art of sending hidden messages in bouquets or posies of flowers is known as floriography. Meanings and messages have been attributed to flowers for thousands of years.

Answer: Begonia

Additional Information: One presumes, or hopes, that such a message was intended as a warning for its recipient to flee because his or her life was in danger, and not from a rejected, enraged lover. Flowers were used as language in the game of love for the most part, but they could also convey other meanings as well.

Language of Other Flowers: Other plants conveying meanings other than love include a bouquet of withered flowers. That meant rejected love, and how cruel it would be on the part of the sender to send same. A cactus means endurance, but what an unpleasant bouquet to receive. A great spiky cactus landing on the hall table indeed. Some have lovely flowers however. A bouquet of monkswood would be really frightening. It means "Beware - a deadly foe is near". An anemone means forsaken, whereas bachelor buttons mean single blessedness. Give up on that last one if you receive a bunch of those. You haven't got a chance. Geraniums mean stupidity or folly, and garlic - who sends garlic?! - means courage or strength. Garlic's flower is rather lovely though, but still, I'd be somewhat peeved, unless a chef (most definitely unlikely), if anyone sent me a bunch of garlic.

Did You Know: So ancient is the art of having flowers speak for us that it is also appears in the Bible. This is particularly so in the Songs of Songs, also known as the Song of Solomon, a truly exqusite work of romantic passion and love between a man and a woman. This lovely extract from the King James version of the Bible for example: "A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices: A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits."

Answer: Rose

Additional Information: The scent of a deep red rose is one of the blessings of nature, it really is. With its remarkable perfume that has never really been captured successfully in artificial scents, this symbol of love has a scent that can absolutely swamp a person with nostalgia and a sense of longing for the past as well.

Language of Other Flowers: The rose's other languages include the leaf itself. This means "You may Hope". A tea rose says "I'll remember. Always". That somehow seems rather sorrowful. A white rose speaks of innocence and secrecy, where the coral rose represents desire, and the lavender speaks of enchantment. The orange rose is fascination, a single rose means "I love you", and a rose without thorns represents love at first sight. There are many other romantic messages associated with the beautiful rose. It is truly the flower of love.

Did You Know: Interest in the language of flowers was at its height in England in the nineteenth century during the Victoria age. Passionate declarations of love and adoration, which could not be said aloud in that rather prim society, throbbed and pulsated through the language of lovely blooms. The peculiar thing though is that Queen Victoria herself was anything BUT prim. She was a turbulent, passionate woman deeply in love with her husband Albert, and discusses that love and passion quite openly in the lifelong diary entries she wrote every day of her life, from when she first held a pen.

Answer: Camellia

Additional Information: Depending on the colour of the many different flowers, the messages could change. A pink camellia, for example, says "I am longing for you", while its red counterpart assures its recipient that "You are a flame in my heart". The lovely camellia originated in Asia and made its way to the rest of the world from there. If a rose ever had a true rival, it would be this lovely bloom. Indeed, the camellia was once known as the Japanese rose. Fancy a cup of tea? Then brew up a few leaves of a camellia, for that was one of its utilitarian uses in Asia. It probably tastes revolting, but think of the romance of it all!

Language of Other Flowers: A nosegay of the lovely lavender expresses admiration, but also a wish for solitude. How confusing. The flower of the exquisite white heather expresses the hope that all your wishes come true, while holly hopes that you will find domestic happiness, hopefully with the giver. A favourite flower of mine, the lovely hydrangea, has a disappointing language though. It tells its recipient that she or he is heartless and frigid. Dear me, the story of my life. It also says "Thank you for understanding" which, surprisingly, is no consolation at all.

Did You Know: The great Shakespeare was particularly of incorporating flowers into his many plays and sonnets. He speaks of flowers over one hundred times in fact. In "Hamlet" for example, poor, sorrowful Ophelia talks of pansies, rosemary, fennel, columbine, rue, daisy, and violets, and discusses all their various meanings. I think she should have included the hydrangea to represent Hamlet. That gentleman wasn't very nice to his lady love at all.

Answer: Carnation

Additional Information: "A White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation" is a golden oldie number by singer Marty Robinson, dating right back to 1957. It tells of a lad all dressed up for the dance, but he's been stood up by the girl of his dreams. Carnations though usually have more positive associations than that. All up they generally mean fascination and divine love, while the pink one states "I'll never forget you". The red one says "My heart aches for you" or "I am filled with admiration for you". The purple one, however, tells the recipient that he or she is capricious. A carnation untinted by any other colours says "Yes". Don't you love that? If it's striped, sadly so, that carnation is a refusal of some kind, or the message "I wish I could be with you but I cannot". A yellow carnation states that the giver is disappointed and feels rejected, and the white carnation represents pure love, sweetness, loveliness and innocence. It is also considered a good luck gift to give to a woman.

Language of Other Flowers: Forget-me-nots represent true love and memories, which sounds a little sorrowful. A forsythia expresses anticipation, an ambrosia tells the lady or gentleman that love is reciprocated, the showy and flamboyant amaryllis indicates pride, but the sweet arbutus says simply "I love only thee".

Did You Know: During the 19th century when the language of flowers was at its most popular, ladies carried small floral dictionaries with them wherever they went, so as to interpret any hidden meanings in the many posies or nosegays they were given. These small bunches of blooms were also known as tussie-mussies and were dainty enough to be worn pinned on the clothing of one's lady-love. Not only, then, did the lady thrill and tremble as the lovely scents wafted up to her dainty little nose, her hopeful swain would be filled with delight to see his coded message of love so openly displayed.

Answer: Chrysanthemum

Additional Information: The chrysanthemum also represents cheerfulness and rest. A red one says "I love you" while a white one states that it speaks the truth. A yellow one, sadly, expresses the feeling that the giver is suffering from slighted love. Chrysanthemums, like many other flowers, also originated in Asia - no wonder their gardens are so lovely there - but it was first cultivated as a herb. It is known as one of the "Four Gentlemen" in Asian art. The others are the orchid, the bamboo, and the plum blossom. All four plants represent the four different seasons of the year, with the orchid being spring, the bamboo representing summer, the chrysanthemum standing for autumn, while the beautiful plum blossom is representative of winter.

Language of Other Flowers: Generally, the sweet little primrose tells one that she cannot be lived without, but the evening primrose informs her, somewhat tartly, that she is inconstant. Poppies, another favourite flower of mine, have several messages as well. Generally, they represent eternal sleep, which is a bit of a worry. I must take out a funeral plan. The red one speaks of pleasure, the white one represents consolation, and the yellow one, to my delight, endows wealth and success upon its recipient. Good news at last!

Did You Know: Renewed Victorian interest in the language of flowers springs originally from the courts of the Ottoman Empire in Turkey where the tulip blossom was first cultivated there way back in the tenth century. By the late 17th century, the craze for this plant had become a positive mania and its price accordingly shot through the roof. Because of the meanings attached to its many colours, this created an overall interest in botany and the language of all flowers altogether, which by the nineteenth century, was at its height. It was the age of breathtakingly lovely gardens.

Answer: Maidenhair

Additional Information: The maidenhair fern is one of the most delicate and lovely ferns to be found anywhere. To see it waving gently in a slight breeze is pure poetry. Most ferns can be found in rainforest areas, but looked after with love and care, they can grow anywhere. They do however, prefer rich, moist and well-drained soils, and if you provide that for this lovely fern, you will be amply rewarded by its lush and exquisite spread.

Language of Other Flowers: The exotic looking cyclamen, if given to anyone, speaks of resignation and farewell. The jonquil only asks to be loved. It also represents sympathy, and the return of affection or the desire for same. The stately gladioli assures its recipient that the giver is sincere, while the sweet gloxinia expresses love at first sight. Here's a strange one. If a gift of grass is sent to anyone, it expresses submission. How odd. Who would send a handful, or a rolled up turf, of grass? Although, one supposes, it could always be utilised in the front lawn.

Did You Know: Lady Mary Wortley Montague (1689-1762) first introduced the art of floriography to the western world. She was a fascinating character. Ignoring her father's orders to marry another suitor, she eloped with the young Montagu in 1712. At first the young couple lived quietly in the countryside, but then, as her husband rose through the ranks of society to become first an MP and then Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, she became renowned throughout English society as a beauty and wit. That wit landed her in hot water when someone, without her permission, circulated the court satires she had been privately writing. Seen as attacks on the Princess of Wales, she was promptly ostracised by polite society, whereupon she wisely decided to lead a quiet life for a while with her husband when he was sent to spend some time at the British embassy in Istanbul.

There to her surprise she noted that "nowhere else were women as free as they were in the Ottoman Empire". They in turn were horrified by her corsets and cried in horror that "husbands in England were much worse than in the East, for they tied up their wives in little boxes". When Lady Mary and her husband eventually returned to England, she took with her that interest in floriography she had garnered from the courts in Istanbul - and the knowledge of how they protected their families from the ravages of smallpox with a form of early inoculation, which Edward Jenner would later develop into a successful vaccine in 1798. Until her eventual death in 1762, Lady Mary's life continued to be as controversial and fascinating as its early beginnings.

Answer: Orange blossom

Additional Information: Orange blossoms were once also considered to be an aphrodisiac. That's rather appropriate for a wedding bouquet. Today this lovely blossom, considered a symbol of good fortune, is the state blossom of Florida in the United States. The orange blossom's delicately scented water is used as an ingredient in French and Middle Eastern cooking, and in the US where it is often found as an ingredient in scones and marshmallows. A a hot buttered scone would be perfect right now. All this gardening has made me hungry. In Spain the leaves of the orange blossom are used to make tea. Why, I'd even settle for a cup of that as well.

Language of Other Flowers: Lillies and hyacinths, both rather showy flowers, contain many messages. An orange lily represents hatred - how horrible - while a tiger lily speaks of wealth and pride. A yellow lily says "I am walking on air" but this colour also represents falseness. The exquisite lily-of-the-valley, however, has wholesome messages all the way along the line. It represents the tears of the Virgin Mary, a return to happiness, humility, and the message that "You have made my life complete". The purple hyacinth begs for forgiveness, its blue counterpart represents constancy, a red one indicates a playful mood, the yellow stands for jealousy, and the white hyacinth gently says "I will pray for you". Hopefully it wouldn't be received mixed in with monkswood though, for that is that plant, if you remember, that says "Beware - a deadly foe is near".

Did You Know: By the 1830s, the art of floriography had spread right throughout Europe and had made its way to the United States. There, hundreds of editions of the various books on the language of flowers were published during the remainder of the nineteenth century. One book alone, the 1848 "Poetry of Flowers" by Catherine Matilda Kirkland, was over 520 pages long.

Answer: Violet

Additional Information: The delicate little violet's messages are also faithfulness and "I'll always be true", while, if it's a white violet, it asks "Shall we take a chance on happiness?" Violets come in the colour of their name, and in blue, yellow, white and cream. There is one that is also bi-coloured with a combination of blue and yellow. One amusing fact about this sweet flower is that its scent contains a compound that, after one whiff of it, deadens the nerves in the nose until they've have time to recover. That would be a little like being knocked out with a feather. Violets can be eaten raw or cooked. How could they! In Australia they were once sold on one day of the year, Violet Day, in memory of all the fallen soldiers from that tragic conflict, World War I. To see them waving silently to us from their beds or fields today somehow makes that memory all the more poignant.

Language of Other Flowers: Gardenias represent beauty and secret love, the little daisy represents innocence, loyal love and purity, the delightful magnolia exudes nobility, and marigolds are given for their language of cruelty, grief and jealousy. That French coquette, the iris, says coyly "Your friendship means so much to me", and ivy represents wedded love, fidelity, friendship and affection - which is just a little bit confusing. You wouldn't know if you were receiving a proposal of marriage or being invited out for a beer.

Did You Know: Various countries have specific meanings for many of their individual plants, but the language of other flowers crosses international borders and is common to all. The mimosa plant, for example is a world wide representative of chastity. Do you know why? Because its leaves closed shop for the night or whenever it was touched.

Answer: Zinnia

Additional Information: Zinnias of all kind can also mean thoughts of an absent friend. The scarlet one represents constancy, the white stands for goodness, and the yellow is for daily remembrance. Native to the American continents, the zinnia flower is highly sought after by butterflies, and that's a lovely thing. There's nothing perhaps quite as picturesque as a butterfly hovering gracefully over a flower. Hummingbirds also love this colourful blossom

Language of Other Flowers: Mistletoe says "Kiss me" (you mad impetuous fool), and "We can surmount difficulties". This plant is looked upon as sacred in India, and the druids were rather partial to it as well. The little dandelion stands for faithfulness and happiness, dead leaves, depressingly, speak of sadness and sorrow, and the lovely tulip, which started everything off, comes with various messages for its many colours. Generally a tulip represents a perfect lover. It's to be hoped this was received by someone as a compliment and not sent by someone who considered himself an Adonis. Others include the red tulip, which is a declaration of love, a variegated one that states that you have beautiful eyes, and the bright yellow beauty that salutes the sunshine of your smile.

Did You Know: Many Victorian painters world wide also employed the symbolism of flowers in their works of arts to convey different themes as well. Even the stained glass windows of great churches incorporated flowers in those lovely creations. Christ for example, was often portrayed holding a white lily. That symbolises pureness, purity and majesty. The language of flowers was once very big business indeed, and for me, it has been a real joy writing this quiz on such lovely, lovely flowers.