He got you roses…
There’s a subtle message in those flowers. Like all languages, meanings evolve and change over time, and the story of that evolution is fascinating to me. The cool thing about roses is the meaning changes with the color. Each color has a different meaning.
Here is the meaning of roses, according to color:
- “As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.” -John Green, The Fault in Our Stars
Red: love, and romance. (Duh.) Also, courage and congratulations. A single red rose means “I love you.”
Burgundy: unconscious beauty
“He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words.” -Elbert Hubbard
White: silence (also: marriage, which strikes me as very telling), spirituality, and new starts. White roses can also mean purity, innocence, silence, secrecy, reverence, humility, youthfulness, ”I am worthy of you”, and heavenly
Pink: gratitude, appreciation, grace, perfect happiness, admiration, gentleness, “Please Believe Me”
“I had the most beautiful dream, and then I fell asleep in your arms and my dream turned lovelier still.” -Richelle E. Goodrich
Lavender: love at first sight, enchantment
“I feel too much. That’s what’s going on.’ ‘Do you think one can feel too much? Or just feel in the wrong ways?’ ‘My insides don’t match up with my outsides.’ ‘Do anyone’s insides and outsides match up?’ ‘I don’t know. I’m only me.’ ‘Maybe that’s what a person’s personality is: the difference between the inside and outside.’ ‘But it’s worse for me.’ ‘I wonder if everyone thinks it’s worse for him.’ ‘Probably. But it really is worse for me.” -Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Yellow: (a fascinating history) Yellow roses have meant all of the following, in this order: friendship, jealousy, infidelity, apology, a broken heart, intense emotion, dying love, extreme betrayal, promise of a new beginning, welcome back,and remember me. They now commonly symbolize joy.
Blue: The unattainable, the impossible
“Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.” -Shel Silverstein
Orange: Enthusiasm, Desire, Fascination
“Profound desire, true desire is the desire to be close to someone.” -Paulo Coelho
Enjoy your Valentine’s Day roses. They display love in such beautiful ways.