By Kylee Baumle

Valentine’s Day is here and many of you will be receiving flowers from someone who loves or cares for you. The most commonly given flower is the red rose, but what if you get something else? Is your lover trying to tell you something in a subtle way, something that they’re reluctant to say any other way?

Flowers have a language all their own, some of which remains commonly known and used to this day. Red roses mean love and yellow ones signify friendship. But, the messages of yesteryear weren’t always those of love or friendship.

Though the language of flowers has its origins as far back as the 1600s, their use to convey specific messages has been linked most significantly to Victorian England. During the mid-1800s, it became popular in the U.S. as well.