For centuries plants and flowers have been surrounded by their own unique legends, myths and folklore. Poets and playwrights since Elizabethan times have used them to convey sentiments in the subtlest of ways but it was the Victorians who raised this symbolism to an art form. In an age of strict morals and repressed sexuality, the language of flowers served as a code between lovers and friends. This book reveals many varied and iuntriguing meanings behind a whole host of flowers, explores their special powers and properties and the myths that surround them. At a practical level, the book explains how to create a birthday posy using flowers which represent the appropriate date and which flowers of sympathy, kindness and understanding to mingle in a bouquet of condolence.