The meaning of flowers
With funerals being an emotional time, what type of flowers to have at a funeral can be a stressful thought.
Chrysanthemums are traditional funeral flowers used in many countries, with white chrysanthemums signifying truth and honesty.
They are available in a number of colours; white, yellow, burgundy, tan and pink. The double variety are used as basing material for massed wreaths, posies and name tributes, white being the colour most used.
Single chrysanthemums are daisy-like and give a freshness to a funeral tribute.
Another traditional funeral flower is the red carnation. These also look stunning in other colours, but cost more than chrysanthemums, therefore they are not used as often.
Carnations are long lasting, which also adds to their popularity.
White carnations are meant to signify truth and red carnations passion or strength of feeling.
As a funeral flower, there is nothing to surpass the beauty of a rose.
The visual impact of a full length rose coffin spray with foliage trailing elegantly is stunning. Red roses are the most traditional flower used, but white has superb visual impact, as do yellow or pink.
Red roses signify passion or strength of feeling and yellow roses stand for love. White roses traditionally reflect innocence.
One of the few blue flowers available all year- round is the iris.
In the world of flowers they signify faithfulness and hope and, when contrasted with white, they have great visual impact.
There are several types of lily and the colours available are white, orange (salmon), yellow and pink.
Longiflorum lilies – where the flower head forms a trumpet – are white only.
They are a traditional funeral flower and look best in a tied sheath, because of the way they grow on the stem.
Asiatic lilies have smaller flower heads and are used in sprays on based or massed tributes or where a smaller flower head is required.
Oriental lilies open out fully, with the petals turning back. The size of the flower head can vary, but these have a strong presence within a funeral tribute.
Exotic funeral flowers
People’s tastes are different and if you wish to express your feelings with a tribute that is out of the ordinary, then you should consider the visual impact of pistachio green anthuriums with deep red roses, or cluster wreaths with seasonal flowers.
Strelitzia (bird of paradise), sunflowers and orchids can all be used.
People often wish to match flowers to their loved one’s favourite colours.
Most colours can be accommodated, but true blue flowers are not so easy to find and they border mostly on the purple side of the colour spectrum.
Blue delphiniums and hydrangeas can be seasonal, but cost significantly more than the iris.
By placing a white rose in water with blue food colouring, you can dye the rose blue.
