Flowers for Valentine's Day

Giving flowers on Valentine's Day is a longstanding tradition that shows, love, passion, friendship, and romance. There is a wide variety of flowers to choose from, with roses being by far the most popular due to their stunning warmth and beautiful blossoms. Carnations, daisies, and sunflowers are also popular flowers for colorful arrangements that can provide a variety of meanings to those that receive them. Smaller flowers such as baby's breath also add gentle accents to any arrangements.

Carnations and their meanings

Carnations are beautiful flowers for Valentine's Day and are available in a wide variety of colors due to their natural ability to be transformed via the induction of colored water. The petals of these flowers readily accept color dyes, making them fun to create a variety of creative arrangements. The following is a brief listing of the meanings of certain colors of carnations given to others as gifts.

• Red: My heart aches for you
• Pink: I'll never forget you
• White: Peace, respect, pure love, innocence, good luck
• Purple: Whimsy, friendship, royalty
• Striped: Yes!

Roses

Roses are by far the most popular flowers to give a loved one for Valentine's Day. Given singly or in a bouquet, these stunning flowers have traditional meanings when given in different numbers and colors. Below are some of the color meanings commonly given to roses.

• Red: Sincere love, passion, lust, romance
• White: Purity, innocence, heavenly, humility, reverence
• Red and white given together: Unity between a couple
• Yellow: Joy, happiness
• Light pink: Admiration, grace, gentleness
• Pink: Thank you, perfect happiness
• Lavender: Enchantment, love at first sight
• Orange: Passion, excitement

Roses and other flowers can portray different meanings when given in different numbers. For instance, a single rose can be symbolic of pure devotion to another, where two roses can signify devotion between a couple. Three roses can depict the three words in the phrase "I love you," and a large bouquet of 11 roses tells that special someone that they are truly cherished and loved by another. Thirteen roses offer mystery in the meaning of a secret admirer waiting to be discovered.