The Victorian Language of Flowers was used for decades to relay feelings that people had a hard time expressing or were too embarrassed to share. Each flower has its own meaning and each color further explains the emotions they arise. The flower we will be looking at today is the Petunia. This flower has five petals that are all fused together to make a vibrant, trumpet-shape. In past folklore, it is said that newlyweds should have petunias in their new home to help them settle into this change of life. In the Victorian Language of Flowers, the Petunia symbolizes anger, disdain, and resentment.
My Nanny—my mom’s mom—loved flowers. She had a huge green thumb, and she carefully tended to her flowers in her garden. I remember being little and running around so excited to water the flowers with the hose. She turned her entire backyard into a gorgeous garden with all the colors you could imagine. I think this is part of why I feel so closely tied to them, because in reality, it’s a connection to her. For my mom, it was petunias in particular that reminded her of my Nanny. They both shared a love for this flower, so much so that it was the main occupant of the garden in front of my house, as well as my Nanny’s.
After a long day in the city, my mom and I sat in Grand Central waiting for our train. We bided our time by skimming through my new Language of Flowers book and playing a guessing game with a variety of different flowers. My mom asked what petunia symbolised, and when I flipped to the page, I saw her thinking about it. I read her the description of “Anger; Disdain; I’m not proud; Not as proud as you are; Resentment; Your presence soothes me”, to which her response was nearly spitting out her drink all over the table. She exclaimed that the flower reminded her of her mom, and was stunned that something that brought her so much fondness could mean something so wretched. In the end, we wound up in a puddle of laughter as we compared deep personal meanings and the more mainstream idea of these topics.
Since then, I’ve taken note of some of the things that have secret meanings to me. While petunias mean the stark opposite, they symbolize my family’s tradition of gardening on Mother’s Day, just so that my mom can feel that connection to her mom as she sees the petunias grow.
I’m not completely positive of who reads these articles, but it always piques my curiosity. I would like to know if there is any flower that has a special tie for you, or if maybe there’s a meaning of a flower that you would like explored? If so, please email me at cdeans@stevens.edu. I would love to hear your thoughts!
