Atlanta Flower Delivery

So, considering we only just celebrated the great day dedicated to romance known to man--Saint Valentine's Day--there may be a few of us that have fresh flowers perched on our desks, reminding of our devoted sweethearts or perhaps keeping us wondering about a secret admirer.





While it is widely accepted that a fragrant bouquet signals admiration and affection from the giver to the receiver, many of us do not fully appreciate how omnipresent flower arrangements have become in our culture. Major events such as weddings and funerals are marked by the abundance of flowers. But how did gifting them become such a prominent tradition, and what does it all really mean?





You may be surprised to learn that the acting of giving flowers dates back thousands of years. History does not seem to give us a specific era or country of origin for the custom, but ancient Egyptian and Chinese inscriptions, among others, use floral symbolism and ancient artistry depicts the giving of garlands or other arrangements in various settings.





The language of flowers which has evolved over long centuries was actually initiated during the Middle Ages, which was the high period of courtly love. Though romance was highly idealized, the Church and the culture placed heavy restrictions on courtship.





So the exchange of flowers on special occasions allowed lovers to develop a sort of secret code to send messages that allowed them to fence out suspicion and discovery. In some parts of the world, the flower language would even be used to communicate with military officers because they were harmless and widely understood.





The exchange of messages through flora was much more complex than it is today. Every detail mattered--for example, if a question had been asked, and flowers were used to formulate the response, then the receiver would indicate their answer by which hand they used to present the bouquet.





If they held it in their right hand, the answer to the previously posed question was "yes," and as you can probably guess, if the flowers were held in their left hand, the answer was "no." Similarly, if flowers were presented upright, the message being sent was a positive one, while if they were given upside-down, they message was overtly bad news.





Over the course nineteenth century, several books were released on the subject of the flower language, which helped to supercharge the enthusiasm for flower gifting in Europe and the United States throughout the Victorian Age.





However, during this period, the language evolved further, with even some flowers taking on the opposite meaning of what they had previously indicated. These changes still represent the symbolism we recognize today.

If you need to find an Atlanta flower shop so you can send your loved ones a special message, be sure to check out A Daisy A Day (http://adaisyaday.com). Art Gib is a freelance writer.

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