Imagine a silent language made up completely of herbs and flowers that can symbolize any situation or emotion. Here is a glossary of more than 70 garden herbs and their meanings compiled from dozens of nineteenth-century language-of-flowers books from several horticultural libraries as well as from my own library. A glossary of nearly 500 flowers and plants and their meanings appears in my book Tussie-Mussies: The Victorian Art of Expressing Yourself in the Language of Flowers (New York: Workman, 1993).
• Artemisia: power, dignity, silver moonlight, sentimental recollections, unceasing remembrance
• Bay Laurel: success, personal accomplishment, glory, achievement in the arts, reward of merit
• Bee Balm: ompassion, sweet virtues, your whims are unbearable
• Borage: courage, bluntness, directness
• Box: stoicism
• Broom: humility
• Bugle: cheer, most lovable
• Burnet, Salad: a merry heart, joy
• Calendula: health, joy, remembrance, constancy, the sun, affection, disquietude, grief, jealousy, misery, cares, caraway for prevention of infidelity
• Chamomile: energy in adversity, comfort, patience, help against wearisomeness, plant physician
• Clover: good luck, good education, hard work, industry
• Coltsfoot: justice shall be done you
• Comfrey: home sweet home
• Coneflower, Purple: skill, capability
• Dill: irresistible, soothing
• Dittany: birth
• Dock: patience
• Fennel: worthy of all praise, force, strength, thinness
• Feverfew: good health, warmth, you light up my life
• Forget-Me-Not: true love, hope, remembrance, do not forget me
• Foxglove: insincerity, a wish, decision, I am not ambitious for myself but for you
• Garlic: protection, strength, courage, good luck
• Geranium, Scented: preference, gentility, comfort
• Ginger: safe, pleasant, comforting, warming
• Hops: mirth, rest, sleep, beer
• Hyssop: cleansing
• Johnny-Jump-Up: happy thoughts
• Lamb's-Ears: support, softness, gentleness
• Lavender: devotion, luck, success, happiness, distrust, soothing the passions of the heart, ardent attachment
• Lemon Balm: sharp wit, understanding, healing, love, fun, relief, rejuvenation, sympathy, social inter course
• Lemon Verbena: attractive to the opposite sex, responsibility
• Lovage: strength
• Mint: warmth of feeling
• Mint, Lemon: virtue, homeyness, cheerfulness
• Mint, Pineapple: hospitality, welcome
• Mugwort: travel, to overcome fatigue, conception, comfort, be not weary
• Myrtle: marriage, love, married bliss, fidelity, passion, peace, home, joy
• Nasturtium: patriotism
• Nettle: cruelty, slander
• Nigella: perplexity, embarrassment, independence, prosperity, kiss me twice before I rise
• Oregano: joy, happiness
• Parsley: festivity, feasting, thanks, gratitude, useful knowledge
• Pennyroyal: flee
• Peppermint: warmth, cordiality
• Perilla: role reversal
• Pinks: lively and pure affection, fascination, sweetness, boldness, newlyweds, dignity, taste
• Poppy: forgetfulness, sleep, oblivion, evanescent pleasure
• Rosemary: remembrance, devotion, fidelity, wisdom, good luck in the new year, your presence revives me
• Sage: domestic virtue, wisdom, skill, esteem, to mitigate grief
• Sage, Jerusalem: pride of ownership, earthly delights
• Sage, Pineapple: hospitality, esteem, virtue
• Sage, Purple-Leaved: gratitude
• Santolina: aggressiveness, pursuit wards off evil
• Savory: mental powers
• Soapwort: cleanliness
• Sorrel: parental affection, joy
• Southenwood: jest, bantering
• Spearmint: warmth of sentiment
• Statice: never-ceasing remembrance
• Sweet Cicely: gladness, sincerity, rejoicing, comfort
• Sweet Marjoram: blushes, mirth, consolation, joy, happiness, kindness, courtesy, distrust
• Sweet Woodruff: eternal life and rejoicing, cordiality, athletic victory
• Tansy: hope against miscarriage, I declare against you
• Thyme: activity, bravery, courage, strength, manger herb
• Valerian: accommodating disposition, drunk and blousy
• Vervain: good fortune, wishes granted
• Violet: modesty, faithfulness, humility, simplicity, loyalty, I return your love
• Wormwood: affection, absence, bitterness, protection for travelers
• Yarrow: health, to dispel melancholy and heartache, sorrow, healing of wounds, war
Geri Laufer is a professional tussie-mussie maker, a horticulturist, lecturer, author, and herb gardener in Atlanta, Georgia.
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