Joy’s Floral and Gifts Preparing for Another Busy Season

Spring has finally arrived in Nebraska, and the landscape has begun its leisurely transition from browns and grays to various shades of green.  Soon the early varieties of flowers will add their welcome colors to our world and we may decide that all that winter moisture had some value after all.  Spring is also the season of several events that traditionally call for special flowers: Easter, high school prom, Mother’s Day and Memorial Day.  All that most Nebraskans need to do is look outside in early spring to realize that the choice of local blooms is pretty limited.  Once again they must rely on the local florist to provide a wide selection of fresh flowers for that special occasion.  Joy’s Floral and Gifts is making preparations for this extremely busy time of year.

The practice of giving flowers has been a part of many cultures since the Middle Ages.  Beginning in the mid-1770s the practice of flower giving significantly increased when the English and French discovered an entire language of flowers while visiting Turkey.  The Turks gave different meaning to different types of flowers.  From this practice, Europeans created a specific meaning for every characteristic of a flower during the Victorian Era.  The Victorians did not believe in expressing emotion, but they found the language of flowers to be an acceptable form of expression.  Great detail went into giving meaning to everything about the flower.  A particular flower’s color, size, condition, even its placement in relation to accompanying blooms all conveyed meaning without uttering a word.

Victorian books and guides served as a decoder for both giver and receiver.  A message that we might today say with a card, or an email could be sent without a single word, provided that the receiver understood the meaning of the flowers and their characteristics.