In a society increasingly distant from nature and its symbols, the language of flowers has become almost silent. But it continues to “speak” in the park of the AbanoRitz. What is often overlooked is that flowers are much more than simple ornaments destined to fade: they are bearers of ancient messages, symbols full of history, used over the centuries to express what words could not say.
Everyone knows the meaning of red roses: they are the universal symbol of passionate love, a gesture directed to the heart. In the same way, chrysanthemums immediately evoke the idea of mourning and commemoration, at least in Italian culture.
For example, the peony, a sumptuous and fragrant flower, was considered the “queen of flowers” in ancient China and represented prosperity, luck and honor. In nineteenth-century Europe, however, giving a peony could also imply a reproach for excessive shyness or for a hidden beauty.
The sunflower, with its gaze always turned towards the sun, is a hymn to loyalty and admiration. But few know that in the Victorian era it could also symbolize pride, precisely because of its height and flashy appearance.
And the hellebore? This delicate and poisonous flower was also called “Christmas rose”, and it was once believed to be able to drive away evil spirits or cure madness. A flower as beautiful as it is mysterious.
Even the tulip, today a simple garden or potted flower, had an incredible value: in the 17th century, in the Netherlands, it was at the center of a real speculative bubble, known as “tulipomania”!
Flowers have always spoken to us. They have been the protagonists of famous paintings, such as Monet’s water lilies or Van Gogh’s sunflowers, and have inspired immortal verses. Their language, that of flowers, is a form of silent but intense communication.
