Victorian love values for Mothering Sunday
This Mothering Sunday (March 30, 2025) children will be able to REALLY say it with flowers.
Flowers have been given meanings for centuries. The Romantic poets such as Keats and Wordsworth were responsible for promoting them, but it wasn’t until the Victorian era that a social code for flowers was devised.
In the 19th century flowers were used as a secret code between lovers, relatives and friends with each gift of a plant or bouquet bearing a specific message.
The Victorians created a ‘language of flowers.’ Lists were put together showing meanings for each flower and plant. Coded bouquets became all the rage.
For example, if you want to give your mum an extra special message of love you could buy her a honeysuckle, which stands for the mutual bond between you or a pot of pansies that represent the shared thoughts of close friends.
In fact, many flowers have messages that originated in the language of flowers that dates back several hundred years prior to the Victorian era. It was a method of communication ‘without inking the fingers’ that originated in Turkey in the 1600s.
Mother’s Day can be traced back to the spring celebrations in ancient Greece that were in honour of Rhea, Mother of the Gods.
But it wasn’t until the 1600s that the English started celebrating Mothering Sunday on the fourth Sunday of Lent. The event was in honour of the England’s mothers.
During this period people who worked away from home, often as servants, were allowed to take the day off and spend it with their mothers. A special Mothering Cake was brought to provide a personal touch.
Today it is traditional to give mums boxes of chocolates, houseplants and bouquets of flowers.