Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2008

Arena Flowers

One way we showcased our 'Talking Flowers' theme was to get a super-talented team of florists at Arena to interpret our range of 'Bouquets of Emotion' in flowers – whether it was jealousy, passion, fear or loneliness, they devised a floral expression of a variety of feelings and situations.

We had quirky designs, such as a bouquet in the shape of two bespectacled eyes for our 'Stalker' bouquet, and a gorgeous yin and yang design of white roses and peonies for our 'Soulmate' bouquet. The bouquets were stunning, really popular with the visitors, and showed how creative you can be with the emotional messages flowers can convey. 

Here's the bouquets on the stand, with some of the flowers they contained, and the meanings traditionally attributed to them:

The Happiness Bouquet:
Sunflowers  - adoration, pride

The True Love Bouquet:
Red roses – passion, desire
Amaranthus – fidelity
Ivy – fidelity, affection

The Apologies Bouquet:
White lilies – purity
White roses – innocence
White gerbera – regard
Achillea - healing

The Goodbye & Good Riddance Bouquet:
Equisetum (Snake Grass) = a snake in the grass!
Yellow carnations: rejection
Purple carnations: antipathy

The Missing You Bouquet:
Sweet peas –departure
Astilbe – I'll be waiting
Ornithogalum – joy
Amaranthus – fidelity

The Feeling Blue Bouquet:
Blue hydrangea,
Echinops,
Scabious
'Black tie' cordyline – for blue lovers or melancholics!

The Friendship Bouquet:
Freesia – thoughtfulness
Iris – your friendship means so much to me
Ivy – affection
Eucalyptus – protection
Amaranthus – fidelity
Rosemary – remembrance

The Jealousy Bouquet:
Green hydrangea: vanity
Dogwood 'barbs'

The Pleasure Bouquet:
Anthurium: the 'Lover'
Cymbidium: beauty and love
Tuberose: dangerous pleasures
Poppy: imagination
Mint: warmth of feeling
Apple, chilli peppers

The Singleton Bouquet:
Poppy – dreaminess
Achillea – healing
Trachelium – neglected beauty

The Achievement Bouquet:
Gladiolus: strength of character
Solidago – encouragement
Palm leaves - victory

The Stalker Bouquet:
Echinops: I'll never forget you
Rosemary: constancy

The Mighty Macho Bouquet:
Allium – strength
Manly, chunky flowers like celosia, artichoke, leucospermum.

The Insencerity Bouquet:
Aconitum – beware, a foe is near
Yellow roses – infidelity
Yellow carnations - disdain

The Appreciation Bouquet:
Campanula: humility
Eucalyptus: protection
White roses: innocence

The Generic All-Purpose One-Size-Fits-All Bouquet:
green and pink, no-risk mixture with gerbera, roses and hydrangea – why take chances?

The Soulmate Bouquet:
Yin & Yang
White roses: innocence
Peonies: prosperity
Phlox: our souls are united in love

The Last-Minute Closing-Time Bouquet :
One of every left-over!

The First Date Bouquet:
Pink rose – first love
Cornflower – delicacy
Sweet pea – bliss

To see the whole Talking Flowers trend click here

Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2007