February 6, 2003

Flowers Translate into Specific Expressions of Love

Valentine's Day offers an opportunity to chase away the drab winter blahs by selecting flowers of a specific type and color to express your love, affection, thankfulness, friendship, and joy says Ron Smith, horticulturist with the North Dakota State University Extension Service. You can even use flowers to communicate to your favorite person of the day!

"Clearly, roses lead the field in expressions of the heart," Smith says. "For example, a single red rose means I still love you (passionately) while two roses of any color taped together signify commitment or forthcoming marriage. If one really wants to go all-out, a bundle of 50 roses translate into unconditional love!"

Pink roses communicate happiness, appreciation, admiration, friendship and sympathy. Lavender colored roses stand for love at first sight and enchantment. White and red roses mixed together signify unity. Peach colored roses convey excitement and desire - love is anxiously building up, but you must hurry to catch the romance. And of course, as with the tying of a yellow ribbon around an "old oak tree" used in an old popular song to signify remembrance of a loved one, so does the yellow rose convey the same message.

If roses are too expensive for your budget or you don’t like roses, don’t worry. "There are plenty of other flowers that can fill the communication intent," Smith says. "Carnations signify love and fascination for a woman. In particular, pink carnations say that ‘I will never forget you’ while red carnations convey love and admiration. The pink carnation has a strong religious significance in Christian legend, with these beautiful flowers springing up from where the tears of the Virgin Mary fell at the death of Jesus. Thus the pink carnation became the symbol of a mother's undying love and is now an established emblem of Mother's Day."

Daffodils and tulips are flowers that welcome us to spring weather, and a mixture of yellow daffodils with tulips communicate a happy, loving message. As most of us are delighted to see the sun on it's way back to the North Country, yellow daffodils say, "The sun is always shining when I'm with you." Red tulips indicate an irresistible love.

"Be careful in selecting your flower colors, as the recipient may know the meaning better than the sender," Smith says. Don't substitute yellow tulips if the florist doesn't have yellow daffodils, as the yellow tulips have a different meaning altogether, denoting a hopeless love with no chance of reconciliation."

Forget about the infamous "St. Valentine's Day Massacre" during the Capone era in Chicago, Smith advises. "Focus instead on love - it is something that there is never too much of."

"Love is like a lump of gold,
Hard to get, and hard to hold.
Of all the girls I've ever met,
You're the one I can't forget.
I do believe that somewhere above,
You were created for me to love.
You were chosen from all the rest,
Because it's obvious that I could love you best."

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Source: Ron Smith, (701) 231-8161, ronsmith@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Rich Mattern, (701) 231-6136, richard.mattern@ndsu.nodak.edu