Victorian Tussie Mussie: Glossary of Herbal Sentiments

By Geraldine Adamich Laufer

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