What Can You Learn from Victorian Floriography?
What if the flowers in your garden were quietly teaching you resilience, patience, or even the art of letting go?
It might sound whimsical, but the Victorians believed flowers were messengers. Direct expression was frowned upon in that age. So they developed floriography—a language of flowers. It communicated what words could not. Roses whispered love. Ivy promised fidelity. Daffodils carried the joy of unequalled love.
These meanings weren’t only romantic gestures. They were metaphors, shortcuts to reflection, insight, and growth. That’s where the connection to personal development begins.
Anything Can Teach Us Something
Years ago, when I led a team of training professionals, I played a game with them. I would send out a random “subject” and challenge them to ask: What could this teach?
One day, the subject was simple: “A worm on a sidewalk after a rainy day.”
The team came back with brilliant answers:
- Tenacity – the worm’s persistence to survive outside of its natural environment.
- Resilience – weathering the storm and continuing forward.
- Adaptability – finding a way to keep moving even when the path is uncertain.
That exercise wasn’t about worms (thankfully). It was about paying attention. The ability to look at anything like nature, objects, or experiences is a powerful skill. You can cultivate this skill by drawing meaning from what you observe.
Lessons Hidden in Flowers
Take flowers. They’re easy to admire and often overlooked beyond their beauty. If we pause, their Victorian meanings can spark reflection:
- Willow Tree: In floriography, the willow symbolizes grief and is a reminder of flexibility. Willows bend instead of breaking, a lesson in adaptability for all of us.
- Oak Leaves: A sign of strength and endurance. What’s your “oak” right now, the part of you that holds steady under pressure?
- Violets: Often associated with faithfulness. They remind us that quiet presence can be as powerful as bold expression.
These meanings reflect qualities we might want to grow into, or aspects of ourselves we’ve forgotten to honor.
Why It Matters
You don’t need to be a Victorian scholar to practice floriography. You only need curiosity. When you notice the world differently, you start noticing yourself differently.
We can learn from anything. A flower. A worm. Even the challenges that feel inconvenient or uncomfortable.
The skill is about cultivating awareness. When you train yourself to see metaphors in the everyday, you open a pathway to resilience, clarity, and authenticity.
A Practice You Can Try
Here’s something simple you can do today:
- Pick a flower (or tree, plant, or even an ordinary object around you).
- Look up its symbolic meaning or even assign your own.
- Ask: How does this theme show up in my life right now? What lesson is it inviting me to learn?
Even five minutes of reflection can shift your perspective.
Tools for Going Deeper
This practice of learning from the everyday is woven into HG People workbooks, reflection books, and journals:
- Rooted and Real – A workbook for self-discovery and alignment with your true self.
- Flower Power: 30 Days of Reflections Based on Victorian Floriography – A journal that uses the symbolism of flowers to spark growth, mindfulness, and insight.
Both were created with the belief that anything can be a lesson if you pay attention. Coming soon, a book to reflect on life utilizing the symbolism of trees. Bookshelf – HG People
Bringing It Back to You
What’s one object, flower, or symbol around you right now? Pause and ask: What might it be teaching me?
You may be surprised how much wisdom is waiting in the ordinary.
If you had to choose a flower or any natural symbol to represent your current season, what would it be? Why did you choose it?
*Links to HG People Books are affiliate links.
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