Tulip Oval

Part of our Floriography card series, which uses the language of flowers to deliver a message.

Tulip: while each color of tulip has its own special meaning, in general, tulips represent romance, a declaration of love, adjustment, aloof, aspiration, charity, determination, elegance, grace, fame, imagination, importance, opportunity, resurrection, romance, sensuality, spiritual awareness, vanity, and wealth.

A classic Victorian-era text, The Language of Flowers, written by George Routledge and illustrated by Kate Greenaway, is one of many compendiums of flowers and their highly specific meanings. For the Victorians, obsessed with coded messages and rituals, flowers offered limitless potential for expressing hidden desires and intentions. Belladonna, or Deadly Nightshade, represented silence. Foxglove conveyed insincerity, Hibiscus was a declaration of delicate beauty, Motherwort signified concealed love, and Ambrosia a validation of love returned. Weeping Willow, a symbol of grief and loss, appeared often on gravestones and in Victorian mourning stationery and jewelry.

Wherever you see flowers in our work, know that we are paying homage to these rich traditions. Within every flower lies a meaning, a hidden message, and a reverence for nature.