Dress 24: The Language of Flowers

This weekend I went to a country craft market in Warragul.  One of the things I love about country markets is the fresh produce and home made things you can buy.  Tables of plump pies and ripe peaches look so much more appealing on a wooden trestle table with rolling hills as a backdrop than the florescent lights and fresh produce containers at Coles or Dagastinos or Tesco or Aldi or whichever supermarket you have in you corner of the world. 

 

The other wonderful produce you can buy at these markets is flowers.  They are usually in big bouquets and are cheaper than the city florists and flower boutiques.  On Sunday there was the usual flower man and he had buckets full of brightly coloured roses.  Red, pink, yellow and orange that looked like they were hand painted by fairies.  

  

One of the even more wonderful things about a market is that if you get there just before closing time they will be reducing the prices and you can get more for less!  We happened to get to the market with an hour or so to go and the flower man had upped his two bunches of roses for $10 to three bunches of roses for $10.  We decided to look a little more before buying some of the beautiful roses and when we did head back there he had an even better deal four for $10!

I brought the roses to work and placed them on my desk.  It’s always amazing the reaction you get with flowers.  Carrying them to work everyone on the train smiled at me and when I put them on my desk at work the questions started flying.  Of course the first comment is always your flowers are beautiful but then curiosity over comes people.  Is it your birthday? Is it from a boyfriend? Is it a special occasion?  Flowers conjure up so many questions!

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner it’s so interesting that we still express our emotions through the years and generations through such a simple thing as flowers.  Flowers can carry so many different messages: I’m sorry, I love you, Get well soon, Happy Birthday.  Even types of flowers carry different meanings and are appropriate for different occasions.  Rachel in New York has a tattoo of Rosemary flowers for remembrance. 

Kirsty has just introduced me to a book called the Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh who uses this concept of the meaning of flowers to guide a story of a woman.  The author says that while doing research for the book she was intrigued to find that flowers can carry so many different meanings, even for the same type of flower.  There are many books written on the interpretation of flowers.

Maybe it’s time the world started to speak in flowers.  Maybe a peace lily could help warring nations share something beautiful instead of sharing hate.  Even if it’s just a flower picked from the garden, a flower can make you feel special.  I don’t think flowers are ever given in hate.  If anyone knows of a hate flower please let me know!! 

So even if you’re not giving someone flowers for Valentine’s Day to express love and romance why not give someone a flower for any day just to see them smile.  Because every time I look at the flowers on my desk regardless of the reason they were given to me it has made me feel special all this week.

Dress 24: The Language of Flowers
Bought: A year and a half ago
Price Range: 39.95
From: The new De Janeiro in Melbourne CBD
What I like about it: I like the classi 1950's bring and sleeve style
Tag Info: Made in China, Luxx, 100% Polyester
Photo Credit: SACondon