Do you want to offer something nice to a friend who just received bad news?
Do you want to show a family member that you miss them despite the distance? Or, do you want to give your lover a pleasant surprise to remind him or her how much you care?
For all those occasions, flowers are the best things you can get. They are nature’s way for us to connect with our emotions. Thus, we use traditional flowers to get across messages that we can’t say with words.
Today, you can use flowers for all occasions. In this guide, we’ll discuss those times when you may need flowers and which ones to use.
Keep reading below to find out which flowers mean what, when they’re appropriate, and more.
1. Flowers and Their Messages
The tradition of giving flowers began early in the history of man. In ancient Rome and Egypt, giving flowers was common among lovers, friends, and rivals. Our understanding of the flower language in Western culture stems from ancient beliefs.
Most flowers have shared meanings across cultures. However, different cultures may interpret the meanings of specific flowers in other ways. Thus, you need to know the meaning of flowers before you give them to a person from another culture.
Flowers and Colors
We also associate flowers with emotions and meanings as we do with colors. Again, let’s take the rose as an example. Today, roses bloom in a variety of colors.
The typical red roses signify love, beauty, and passion. White roses mean purity and innocence while pink represent grace and appreciation. Lavender roses can mean love at first sight, while yellow roses can mean joy and friendship.
You’ll notice that most colors carry similar meanings despite the type of flowers. For example, white flowers often share the meaning of purity and innocence.
If you want to offer monthly flowers to a potential life partner, you can give flowers in various colors. Use them to represent how your feelings for him or her are developing. You can also use flower arrangements to show more than one of the many emotions you feel.
With that said, let’s jump into the various flowers you can give for various occasions.
2. Flowers for Lovers
Can you imagine a relationship devoid of gifted bouquets or single roses? Often, when you think about things to give a romantic partner, flowers come to mind. Here, we’ll discuss the flowers best given to romantic partners on special occasions for couples.
First Date Flora
Turn an awkward first date around by arriving with a bouquet for your date. The good thing about flowers is that there are a ton of them that are perfect as first-date gifts. That includes carnations, daisies, and sunflowers, and more.
Carnations symbolize beauty and pride. If you’re a long-time admirer of your date, get a red carnation for them to show them your admiration. A dwarf sunflower stands for adoration and pink rose also stands for admiration.
Valentine’s Day Blooms
Before the coronavirus crisis came to a head, retailers expected to earn at least $20 billion in sales. The traditional flower for this worldwide event is the rose. No matter what the color, roses symbolize love.
If you want to stray from tradition, there are many other options to pick from.
If you have a limited budget, pick red chrysanthemums to show love. Peonies are also a great choice since they represent romance. Some people even believe that peonies bring good luck to the receiver.
Are you still in the early stages of a romantic relationship with someone? Primroses are perfect for those who have only begun dating. You can also give farm-fresh florals for Valentine’s Day for fondness and playfulness, like carnations and daisies.
Wedding Flowers
The bride’s wedding bouquet and flower décor are staple wedding elements. Most of the flowers used for weddings echo the color scheme of the event or remain white. Again, you’ll find that roses are the popular choice here.
Other traditional flowers for weddings include gardenias, hydrangeas, amaryllis, and calla lilies. They represent perseverance, joy, elegance, and determination. Look for flowers that symbolize good fortune to the couple like peonies.
Add lily of the Valley to the bride’s crown or bouquet for humility and purity. Sweet pea flowers mean blissful pleasure. Express everlasting love with baby’s breath flowers embedded in the bride’s bouquet.
Anniversary Blossoms
Did you know that the iris is the traditional flower for 25th wedding anniversaries? It symbolizes faith, wisdom, and valor. It’s also the flower for a hopeful and eloquent relationship.
If you’re only reaching your tenth anniversary, decorate a bouquet with daffodils. They say daffodils will give 12 months of good luck and happiness to a relationship. Let’s not forget about the exotic messages that orchids give for a wild and exotic love.
No relationship is perfect, but you can declare your perfect love with tulips. They’re elegant and affordable too.
For people whose love language is receiving gifts, flowers are the ultimate gifts to show love.
3. Flowers for Friends and Family
You don’t need to attach romantic emotions to every bloom or bouquet you give. Sometimes, flowers can show platonic love. Between family and relatives, flowers are a display of familial love.
Blooms to Say “Get Well Soon”
Is a friend trying to survive an illness? Do you have a loved one who got caught in a bad accident? Give them flowers to encourage them to stay strong and to remind them that you care.
Blooms with bright colors are a great way to give life to a dreary hospital room. Brighten their day with colors like orange, yellow, and pink. Lift their spirits with daisies, pansies, or spring-time flowers like peonies.
Receiving and seeing flowers improve our moods. Receiving flowers trigger brain chemicals like oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin. In turn, their improved moods can make the injured or sick feel better in a flash.
Birthday Blossoms
Let your friends know you’re thinking about them and remember their birthdays. Send them forget-me-nots to let them know that you still remember them. You can also offer geraniums to denote the comfort and friendship you find in each other.
One of the best flowers for birthday parties includes pink carnations. They symbolize gratitude for another year. Jasmine, for its grace and elegance, makes a great choice for celebrants in their senior years.
Other flowers to consider putting in a bouquet are sunflowers, wattle, and marigold. You can also use birthday flowers in line with the recipient’s birth month. Don’t forget to include the birthday celebrant’s favorite blossoms in the bouquet.
Flora for Friendship Day
Can’t find a reason to send your best friend flowers? Friendship Day is one good reason. It’s the best time to include trinkets or photos of your favorite memories in the package.
The traditional flowers include 13 long-stemmed roses. This signifies the promise of a friendship of a lifetime. Include camellia to show admiration or pink carnations to display your appreciation.
Congratulatory Flowers
Has a friend or family member finally gotten a dream job? Has a sibling received news for her acceptance as a scholar at her dream university? Did a dear friend beat cancer after a long battle?
Big and small victories deserve big and small celebrations. Celebrate a baptism, graduation, or engagement. Send flowers to acknowledge and rejoice for a new baby, new home, new job, or promotion.
Yellow flowers represent joy, success, and new beginnings. Vibrant orange blooms are symbols of happiness and hope for recipients. Green flowers embody health, good fortune, renewal, and life.
Flowers for Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day is yet another popular holiday for flowers. Mothers, whether blood-related, adoptive, or otherwise, all deserve to receive a bouquet. Studies show about 57% of females and 73% of male respondents plan to order a bouquet for their mothers.
Pick your mom’s favorite flowers for this day. If they don’t have one or you don’t know, get daylilies. They represent devotion, love, and “mother”.
Lily of the Valley flowers represents sweetness and pure love. Give your mom a sweet smile with bright blooms like yellow tulips and sunflowers. Send white flowers to remember your sweetest childhood memories with her.
Flowers for Father’s Day
They don’t always show it, but dads want to know we appreciate them too. Send traditional flowers of love like red and white roses. To keep the bouquet bold and strong, don’t add ribbons or other fillers.
You can also celebrate Father’s Day in your father’s memory. Pin a white rose on the breast of your shirt or jacket. Better yet, get a simple boutonniere that you can wear every year for Father’s Day.
Apology
Not all gifts are those of celebration. Sometimes, you first need to acknowledge your mistakes and express an apology. Flowers are some of the most genuine gifts to pair up with a personal apology.
Use white colors to express sincerity. Blue flowers like hyacinths symbolize peace. In this case, you are “making peace” with the disagreement.
The best flowers to say sorry include Lily of the Valley, gerberas, roses, and orchids. Tulips and carnations also make good apology flowers.
4. Traditional Flowers for Holidays
You don’t need fancy vacations to celebrate holidays with your loved ones. Give flowers for a humble and simple holiday gathering. If you’re away from home, send flowers, so loved ones know they’re always in your thoughts.
Blossoms for Easter
The classic Easter flower is the white lily for its symbol of love and hope. Daffodils represent chivalry, love, and respect. However, these aren’t the only flowers you can send during this Christian holiday.
Other spring flowers in vibrant colors make great Easter flowers too. You can also use azaleas for their vivid color and elegance. Hyacinths in pinks, purples, and whites are popular but avoid yellow hyacinths.
Halloween Flowers
Flowers aren’t typical to Halloween parties. However, certain flowers can make great décor, costume add-ons, and props. This is the season when flowers in darker colors become popular.
Dark red, blue, and purple flowers are the top choices for Halloween. You can see these dark blooms in gothic or skull-themed vases. Flowers in fall colors are popular picks for ornaments like pumpkin vases.
Note that you don’t need to limit yourself with autumn colors. Don’t be afraid to buy pink carnations or roses for parties with specific themes.
Thanksgiving Buds
Again, you’ll find that fall-colored blooms are the popular pick during Thanksgiving. Mums, daisies, and carnations make a great bouquet for the year’s Thanksgiving hosts. You can also get Peruvian lilies, which symbolize the warmth of gatherings.
Christmas Blooms
When we say Christmas flowers, you likely already have a few in mind. You’ll find that you thought of them in typical Christmas colors, too. The popular Christmas flowers include:
- Poinsettias
- Amaryllis
- Hydrangeas
- Carnations
- Roses
- Holly
Some flowers have more specific meanings.
Winter jasmine symbolizes purity, modesty, and “gift from God”. Holly means everlasting life. Red poinsettias represent the Star of Bethlehem and the blood of Christ.
New Year’s Eve Flowers
Flowers with associations to renewal are popular picks for New Year’s Eve gifts. Daisies in yellow and white colors are prevalent as bouquet pieces. Baby’s breath flowers are also common in these bouquets for their sign of festivity.
10. Funeral Floras
As we mentioned, flowers don’t always need to represent good times. We also use them in times of grief and sorrow. After all, using flowers is natural for us to connect with our intangible human emotions.
Across cultures, you’ll find that flowers play a part in many funeral practices. In the US, the common practice is to present funeral flower displays in bouquets or various shapes. Some create crosses or hearts.
When you’re sending sympathy flowers, you need to be more careful with what you pick. You want to avoid inappropriate flowers and colors. Common sympathy arrangements include gladioli, lilies, and orchids.
Use red roses for respect, love, and courage.You can also give farm-fresh florals for Valentine’s Day for fondness and playfulness, like carnations and daisies.
Learn to Speak in Floral
That is our in-depth guide on the various traditional flowers apt for every occasion.
Note that you don’t always need a reason to send flowers to someone. Use flowers to show small acts of kindness. Remember that kindness finds a way to get back to you.
We hope you learned a lot about flowers and their meanings from this guide. If you want to see more, check out our other content on flowers and arrangements.

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