Down the ages, human feelings have found great expressions through the custom of gifting flowers or bouquets. Flowers and bouquets are made use of for varied purposes, from congratulating someone on the occasion of his or her birthday or anniversary to expressing an apology, or even to just cheer up someone.

Archaeological evidence collected from excavated sites hints at the beginnings of this custom to the prehistoric era. Ancient Greek mythology, Chinese stories and history surrounding the Romans and Egyptians all display that flowers had an indispensable role to play in their culture. In these civilizations, it was thought that emotions could find their most appropriate expression through the giving of flowers. The ancient Greeks even considered some flowers to be related to divinity.

The custom of gifting flowers continued through the Middle Ages, with the French and the English keeping the custom strong. Today as we have assigned meaning to each flower, we are actually continuing an ancient Turkish custom imported into Europe by the French and the British.

The custom of flower giving reached new heights in the Victorian era. Victorians, as we know, never expressed their feelings openly and therefore the practice of gifting flowers or bouquets was regarded an excellent way to communicate feelings without using a lot of words.

This era saw the formulation of guidelines for giving flowers or bouquets that we use today. For example, if you bought a beautiful bouquet of red roses from the florist and gave it to your beloved upside down, she will definitely be angry with you. Red roses, that otherwise depict love, can symbolize anger if gifted upside down. In fact, the 19th century witnessed several books published on the subject of language of flowers.

Time has not been able to erode this tradition, and people in the present era still consider flowers to be the most effective means to show their emotions. In the modern age, the custom of giving flowers or bouquets is ripe with different meanings, and rules and regulations concerning the decorum of the act have gained paramount importance. An elegantly presented bouquet of red roses is said to express love while lilies symbolize purity and grace. A yellow coloured rose is believed to be a representation of friendship, whereas grief is best expressed by a lone marigold.

Any terrain can be made suitable for cultivating any flower, as a result of the progress in modern science and technology. If you are residing in Singapore, and walk into any Singapore flower shop, you will be besieged by the sheer variety of flowers offered for sale that can express almost any human emotion.