Gardenias are recognised as one of the most loved exotic flowering plants. They were originally found only in China and Japan, but today there are over 200 different species of gardenia in existence throughout the world. The most popular cultivated species is the Cape Jasmine, native to China. Gardenia plants are prized for the strong sweet scent and it is a favourite flower for corsage due to its heady fragrance. In England during the 19th century, men often wore the blooms on their lapels of their formal evening wear. It was believed to be good luck to give a gardenia to a man. Jazz singer Billie Holiday considered gardenias to be her signature flower and wore them in her hair whenever she performed.
The language of flowers, known as floriography, helped Victorian men and women skirt around the strict rules of courting. In an era when etiquette and propriety were of utmost importance, flowers often conveyed a message that the sender dared not speak in words. In the language of flowers, gardenia came to symbolize secret love.
Penhaligon’s Gardenia is a translucent watercolour in soft washes of tuberose, jasmine, gardenia, ylang-ylang, spice and vanilla. A radiant magnolia-tinted portrait of one of nature’s most sensual blooms. Gardenia was originally created in 1976 and was resurrected as part of the 2009 Anthology Collection.
We’ve told you what Gardenia means in the language of flowers but can you decode this bouquet below? Leave a comment below telling us what you think it is and one lucky winner will be picked at random to win a 100ml bottle of Gardenia Eau de Toilette.
- Laura
*Terms and conditions: There is one prize consisting of a bottle of Penhaligon’s Gardenia Eau de Toilette (100ml). The closing date is midnight GMT on the 1st May 2012. The winner will be drawn at random on Wed 2nd May. The prize is non-transferable and there is no cash alternative. No purchase necessary. The promoter is Penhaligon’s Ltd, Dragoon House, 37-39 Artillery Lane, London, E1 7LP.
…a heady fragrance, bold and passionate…love that is pure and strong, yet simple and sweet…the kind of love some of us “of a certain age” enjoy…mellowed by the sweetness of our years…
This would have been sent to express deep love for someone sweet and pure!
Pure love
I think it means pure unadulterated love
Oh how wonderful and romantic x
Pure, true love.
Pure Love
pure love
Both flowers are symbols of romantic love.
Pure love
Pure Love
Peace and love
I think it means
“I love you, I’m sorry about what I did, please don’t dump me”.
Sweet dreams
Pure Love
Congratulations. You have won! You will receive an email from Penhaligon’s.
Love and Purity
pure love x
True love
True Pure Love
Fragrant Flowers!! Absolutely adore them xxxx
Love & Purity
pure love
Pure and noble love
I belive that the expression the giver is trying to purvey is one of true love and finding it heavenly to be with the person. Red and white roses symbolise unity, not sure that white lillies and red roses mean the same. So maybe the person is totally in love with you, ( but marraige not on the cards yet )
For me this bouquet means a deep innocent love, like a first love.
Pure love!
Passionately Pure Love. The depth of subtle lillies and the shock of Red flows in the fragrance of Penhaligons scents.
Pure Love~
passionate love and purity of feelings.
Pure Love
Pure love.
Pure love
pure love. innocence and passion.
Desire to marrying you! ( Want to marry you) Hope I am right, I love gardenias! Thanks
Well.. the mixture between the lily and the rose is a typical wedding bouquet. But this can symbolize many things:
Here is my interpretation :
The white lily can represent :
Purity, modesty, virginity, innocence and purity. The white lily is also linked to Juno, the queen of the gods in Roman mythology, by the story that while nursing her son Hercules, some excess milk fell from the sky creating the group of stars we call the Milky Way, and lilies were created from what milk fell to the earth. – but – There are many other stories regarding the symbolism of the white lily.
But due to popular belief the lily is often associated with death – which is quite a misunderstanding. The lily is traditionally used in coffins and according to experts, the poet Keats used it because, “it symbolized death.” – but many arguments has been made since the lily (like a wrote before) the most common symbol of innocence and purity and people link the lily as a rebirth and triumph over death.
The red rose represent :
Red roses, as we think of them today, are the traditional symbol for love and romance. The modern red rose we are now familiar with was introduced to Europe from China in the 1800′s. However, the meanings associated with them can be traced back many centuries, even to some of the earliest societies. The color red itself evolved from an early primal symbol for life into a metaphor for deep emotion. In Greek and Roman mythology the red rose was closely tied to the goddess of love. Many early cultures used red roses to decorate marriage ceremonies and they were often a part of traditional wedding attire. Through this practice, the red rose became known as a symbol for love and fidelity.
I always thought that roses and lillies meant love and purity. Good luck everyone!
Platonic love.
I think it means ‘Let us bask in the majestic depth of pure Love’
The bouquet is an amazing expression of deep Love.
It means “I love you both deeply and purely and forever” xxx
As the heraldic lily with 6 petals, much more, this contiguity symbolize Glorious Love, the devote and pure love, the symbol of the beloved one election and of the self forgetness in the name of the chosen one. To sum up, it may symbolize the renewal and the revival.
a pure , deep love x
Love and purity
Deep and pure love
Pure Love
Pure Love:
Its sweet like the nectar
of the garden flower,
its soothing like the buzzing
of a bumble bee,
its warm like the rays
of the morning sun,
its the search of a love so pure
which keeps me on the run.
Separately they mean purity and true love. Together in a bouquet I think they mean that the love is not just passionate and carnal, but also has a purity and truth to it that means that it will last.
The depth of red (in combination with the Gardenias) suggests that the love is unconscious but pure, perhaps naturally passionate and new. The number of blooms suggest a depth of feeling that is long lasting and enduring.
Deep and pure love.
I think it symbolises true, pure love. The recipient of those is very lucky
I htink that it means: true love and purity.
White lilies signify purity and innocence ~ traits that were required of females living in the 18th and 19th centuries; red roses signify ardent love. Therefore, this bouquet symbolises ‘I am fervently in love with the pure beauty of your character’.
I would LOVE to be named the winner of this exquisite Penhaligon’s fragrance!
Pure love will always win x
I think this combination implies that the admirer has a passionate, romantic love that for too long has remained a secret. This person is now revealing (in true style!) their strong affections through this striking and generous bouquet.
“Pure Love”. Fantastic competition!!
The white Lily’s are for purity, innocence and majesty. The red roses are for love. So together, and in such a beautiful bouquet I would say the message is majestic, pure love – not so sure about the innocence, these flowers together look anything but innocent.
Red Roses: You have won my heart
White Lilies: Purity
(Roses: Love)
It’s a privilege to be a male with a response here!
White lilies and red roses signify purity and true love respectively. Together the purity of a true love; something we rarely find and/or appreciate.
Back in my floristry days (decades ago) we were always warned off a ‘red and white flower’ combination for hospitals; in that case they signify ‘blood & bone’. Not good om a hospital context!
If this bouquet is given by a man…
“In your purity and innocence – I have found being you like being in heaven, your natural beauty shines from within and brings light, warmth and elegance, I am totally in love with you.”
should read…
“In your purity and innocence – I have found being with you like being in heaven, your natural beauty shines from within and brings light, warmth and elegance, I am totally in love with you.”
Pure love – I did actually know this, having received some from my dearly beloved. I was bemused till he explained! x
Love and purity
Celebrate Love! That’s what I understand. Let’s celebrate true Love! : ))) So beautiful, this would make me so happy! Yes!
Pure & innocent love
Oops, I posted my comment as a reply to someone else’s comment, not the article – I’ll try again! What a beautiful bouquet! Red roses signify love and white lilies signify purity, so I think this bouquet means “I love you deeply with a pure love”
Pure love
Love and innocence. x
ever lasting love
True & Pure Love
Pure Love
Pure and deep love
Love is pure
My secret love is like a red rose, it will never die
Red Rose and Whitle Lilies mean Pure Love.
To unite in a love, so virtuous and true.
My love for you is pure…. xxx
Pure love?
My secret love was discovered and blossomed in to true love
because….you are as pure as a petal, and as pretty as a flower.
passionate, romantic love & purity
Lilies symbolise innocence but also death which can be a ‘new beginning’ and Red roses are the ultimate flower of red hot passion and romantic love. Together it is a strong symbol of never ending love till the death, the death of trivial love and the new beginning of romance, passion and commitment. My boyfriend always buys me gerberas and daffodils which is meant to symbolise innocence and purity. When I said this to him he said its because I am the sunshine of his life! Sweet but I’d rather have the roses
True Love and pure.
Pure Love
Pure Love
I’ll love you forever with all my heart
Pure Love
Be my love purely and deeply
Pure love
I think it means: I celebrate our passion (or love), as Red roses mean passion and these type of lilies mean celebration!
Love and passion.
Love and Purity
True Love and Purity.
secret love and true love
Pure Love
Passion and purity….
Compassion and love
Love & Peace
innocence
I love your innocence and purity
Let us grow together
Pure Love!
my love is pure
Red Rose for love
Love that is ever eternal. love that is pure and true, they symbolise the unity of two souls together , bound in a love that will last a lifetime through ♥
I love you deeply.
I’d say it symbolises love and hope! The red velvet rose petals symbolise a deep burning love with passion. The lilies are white and pure!!
A majestic love that is pure.
It means “my love is pure”
The bouquet is a visual symbolism of good relationships – There is harmony between the lilies and the roses – a combination of innocence, creation, love and romance – beautiful values for sublime connection.
Pure passion and true love for our lifetime together
Red roses mean I love you and white lilies mean its heavenly to be with you
I think it represents love that is pure and innocent.
I love you more than I love myself.
“I am seduced by the secret that is you”
Opposites attract!!!
I’ll ditto everyone else: it represents the purity of true love, and loving pureness.
Lolita!
i truly and passionately love your regalness and purity
Untainted love
White lilies + Red roses = “My love is pure”
Your innocence and beauty has drawn me in and my deep love for you is pure and eternal.
This bouquet of white lilies symbolize purity, chastity, sympathy and, the red roses means the ardent love. The declaration accompanying these flowers could say “I admire your refinement and I want to offer you my passion”.
Red rose (love)+ white lilie (purity)= pure love
Lovely! I think the red roses speak of deep, true, long lasting love, and the lilies of the butterflies of innocent, pure first love, so combining them means a love for all time. Sigh.
Can you send this picture to my boyfriend?
Lily is purity, but also nobility and pride. Red Rose: passion and true love. Together: You are my fair queen in love!
Red rose is:love,white lilie is innocent.
Pure love xx
Means..love your innocence and purity .
Same Love that i have for Penhaligon’s .
I`m innocently in love with you <3
seductive purity with depth and warmth
I’m in love with your sweetness and purity.
Red roses mean love and white lilies mean purity, so the bouquet means I love your purity and innocence.
Would love to try the new Gardenia! I have the original formula, but not the new one
Casablanca lilies are usually celebratory (and often bridal), and Red roses (of course) usually communicate passionate love. And together this would be one potentially intense olfactory experience — lilies are NOT subtle…
Ooh, beautiful bouquet. It’s minimalist, strongly evocative, yet not easy to understand at first because white lilies mean pure and innocent feelings, and red roses mean love, passion, physical desire – so they’re kind of the opposite !
I think that put together in a bouquet they represent the perfect balance that true love needs, between feelings and physical desire. It simply means “I truely, entirely love you” (haha i’d love to receive this bouquet – who would not ? But for now, I can be satisfyied by a bottle of Gardenia
).
Clément
From the first moment I saw you, I loved your beauty and innocence.
Seeing no signs of prickliness, for this bouquet I am going to guess “I fell in love at first sight with your purity.”
I think it means ‘I love your innocence and purity’
Meaning….Its heavenly yo be with you, I love you.
What a beautiful bouquet! Red roses signify love and white lilies signify purity, so I think this bouquet means “I love you deeply with a pure love”