But what if the roses are yellow or you receive a bunch of striped carnations? What is your love trying to tell you? In fact there is a highly developed language of flowers. Each variety has a specific meaning, and not all of them are as flattering as a gift of roses.
What would you think for example if you received a bouquet of barberry? It means sourness of temper, while bilberry is treachery and buttercup childishness.
A striped carnation means refusal, which may mean the wedding is off, while a yellow rose is the symbol for jealousy, and narcissus means vanity.
The idea was imported from Persia into the Swedish court by Charles II in 1714 and quickly spread throughout Europe. At a time of strict protocol and conformity, men and women used the beauty and colour of flowers to express emotions, wishes and thoughts they dared not speak.
A bouquet with a ribbon tied to the left told about the giver, while a ribbon tied to the right signified the receiver. Upside-down bouquets portrayed the exact opposite of the flowers' common meanings. An inverted rose was the ultimate form of rejection.
You have to know your botany, however, if you are not to get in deep trouble with your loved one. For example whereas flowering almond means hope, common almond means stupidity and laurel almond perfidy.
There are more curious examples. Hawthorn also means hope, no doubt as in: "I hope you haven't brought me a small hedgerow tree on our wedding day?"
A fir tree, rather aptly, means elevation although Heaven knows where you'll find a vase big enough.
Holly means foresight as in: "I hope you've had the foresight to wear gloves as this bouquet isn't half prickly", and hemp means fate which means you'll have to just shrug your shoulders as you're arrested by the drugs squad.
Rhubarb means advice, which you'll certainly be in need of if you have just given your loved one a large vegetable instead of a bunch of flowers, and cabbage means profit, which you might make if you nip down to the fruit and veg market and flog it off.
Don't confuse white roses with white rosebuds; the first means you're heavenly, while the second warns that you're innocent and too young for love.
For someone you really dislike, forget the flowers entirely and instead prepare a pasta and pesto dinner. Basil means hatred.
