Dearest Gentle Reader,

Members of the Dragon Con have been preparing all year for Saturday’s festivities—the highly anticipated Dragon Con Cotillion. The Alternate and Historical Fiction track hosted several etiquette classes to get everyone in the Ton ready for the night including “Historical Etiquette Class & Demo: The Language of Flowers & Tussy Mussies” on Saturday at 1PM at the Courtland Grand Astoria. This class hosted 50 students eager to learn the secret language of flowers in the Victorian era.

Panelists Nicole Motahari and Brandon Lou along with moderator Katie Brewster opened class with a presentation going over the main flowers and their meanings. It was noted that Victorian society communicated intentions through flowers as it was frowned upon and impolite to vocalize those intentions. The panelists also remarked that Victorians had time to decide on meaning because “there wasn’t much going on.”

For those just starting out with learning the language of flowers, here are some great jumping off points to building bouquets with meaning:

• Roses indicate strong intentions, be it passion, admiration, or longing.
• Lilies indicate purity and chastity while hinting at sensuality and seduction.
• Orchids are the height of luxury, showing the thrill of indulgence. You’d most often find orchids adorning wealthy homes due to their difficulty in upkeep.
• Peonies make a bold statement showing unabashed passion.
• Hyacinths were used in royal gardens and estates.
• Zinnias show true friendship and are reserved for forever friends while you can put lemon balm in a bouquet meant for someone you haven’t seen in a while.
• If you’re looking to “roast” the recipient of your bouquet, the panel recommended throwing in some sage to underhandedly let the recipient know that you wish for them to find wisdom.

The language goes even deeper than just noting the type of flowers in a bouquet – colors further convey intentions. Red shows strong, passionate feelings; yellow represents joy and friendship; white portrays innocence and purity; pink signifies affection or graciousness.

The language of flowers is incredibly nuanced and, as the Ton needed time to prep for Cotillion, the panel was only able to give a crash course on flower meanings but these meanings go so deep and can vary among cultures, regions, and time period. If you’re interested in learning more, Brewster highly recommends Language of Flowers by Kate Greenaway. Other books the panel recommends include Floriography: An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers by Jessica Roux, The Meaning of Flowers: Myth, Language & Lore by Gretchen Scoble and Ann Field, and Tussie-Mussies: The Language of Flowers by Geraldine Adamich Laufer.

Following the presentation, moderator Katie Brewster followed with a quick Q&A to the panelists and then began the demo portion of the class. Every attendee got to apply the lessons learned and make their own miniature bouquet onto a pin, magnet, or hair clip. The books mentioned above were available for reference so attendees could make truly intentional bouquets.

Wondering what would be in a Dragon Con bouquet? Motahari says she would put in white azaleas for first love since she fell in love with Dragon Con the first time she went, hostas for the devotion Dragon Con creates within the community, and oleander for beware because, as well all know, “once you go to one Con, your entire paycheck is just going to go to cosplays for the rest of your life.”

Yours Truly,

Lady Daily