Victorian Tussie Mussie: Glossary of Herbal Sentiments
By Geraldine Adamich Laufer
April/May 1996
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Use our glossary of more than 70 garden herbs to discover the meaning behind this nosegay.
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Imagine a silent language made up completely of herbs and flowers that can symbolize any situation or emotion. Here is a glossary of more than 70 garden herbs and their meanings compiled from dozens of nineteenth-century language-of-flowers books from several horticultural libraries as well as from my own library. A glossary of nearly 500 flowers and plants and their meanings appears in my book Tussie-Mussies: The Victorian Art of Expressing Yourself in the Language of Flowers (New York: Workman, 1993).
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• Allium: unity, humility, patience
• Angelica: inspiration
• Artemisia: power, dignity, silver moonlight, sentimental recollections, unceasing remembrance
• Basil: love, betrothal, best wishes, hatred
• Bay Laurel: success, personal accomplishment, glory, achievement in the arts, reward of merit
• Bee Balm: ompassion, sweet virtues, your whims are unbearable
• Borage: courage, bluntness, directness
• Box: stoicism
• Broom: humility
• Bugle: cheer, most lovable
• Burnet, Salad: a merry heart, joy
• Calendula: health, joy, remembrance, constancy, the sun, affection, disquietude, grief, jealousy, misery, cares, caraway for prevention of infidelity
• Chamomile: energy in adversity, comfort, patience, help against wearisomeness, plant physician
• Clover: good luck, good education, hard work, industry
• Coltsfoot: justice shall be done you
• Comfrey: home sweet home
• Coneflower, Purple: skill, capability
• Dill: irresistible, soothing
• Dittany: birth
• Dock: patience
• Fennel: worthy of all praise, force, strength, thinness
• Feverfew: good health, warmth, you light up my life
• Forget-Me-Not: true love, hope, remembrance, do not forget me
• Foxglove: insincerity, a wish, decision, I am not ambitious for myself but for you
• Garlic: protection, strength, courage, good luck
• Geranium, Scented: preference, gentility, comfort
• Ginger: safe, pleasant, comforting, warming
• Hops: mirth, rest, sleep, beer
• Hyssop: cleansing
• Johnny-Jump-Up: happy thoughts
• Lamb's-Ears: support, softness, gentleness
• Lavender: devotion, luck, success, happiness, distrust, soothing the passions of the heart, ardent attachment
• Lemon Balm: sharp wit, understanding, healing, love, fun, relief, rejuvenation, sympathy, social inter course
• Lemon Verbena: attractive to the opposite sex, responsibility