Valentine's Day, Coldiretti: one in two Italians gives flowers. A gaffe-saving manual for choosing the right ones
More than one in two Italians (53%) who give gifts for Valentine's Day choose to give plants and flowers this year. This is what emerges from the online survey conducted by the site www.coldiretti.it on the favorite gifts for the lovers' holiday with the mobilization of the Campagna Amica farmers' markets to offer the best of Made in Italy products.
With the drop in infections and the ban on masks outdoors, Valentine's Day becomes, in fact, this year the symbol of a first return to normality but also the occasion to restart the purchase of plants and flowers in Italy despite the very serious difficulties linked to the increase in energy costs that are bringing greenhouses to their knees.
The result is that floral gifts for Valentine's Day are largely preferred – highlights Coldiretti – compared to chocolates (25%), clothing (11%) and jewelry (11%).
Not everyone knows, however, that flowers have their own well-defined language and to avoid mistakes and embarrassing gaffes, Coldiretti tutors have taken action to reveal their meaning and etiquette. If the color red means burning passion, the white one – explains Coldiretti – testifies to pure and spiritual love while the color coral reveals desire.
Again, moss rose signifies capricious beauty, peach reveals secret love, orange expresses charm, pink friendship, affection and gratitude.
Particular attention should be paid to the yellow rose because in addition to symbolizing a desperate and jealous love, it could also communicate betrayal or love in decline. But there are not only roses. The ranunculus symbolizes melancholic beauty and the marigold is an ambassador of dedication, but also of lovesickness and could represent the suffering of the unrequited lover.
Even the carnation and the tulip – continues Coldiretti – have their own particular meaning depending on the color: the white carnation means fidelity, the yellow one elegance, the pink one mutual love and the red one lively and intense love; for the Italian tulip, instead, the red color expresses a sweet declaration of love, the streaked one compliments the eyes of the loved one and the yellow desperate love. Orchids, strictly Italian, mean total dedication in love. The daisy pure, innocent love.
And the poppy, for example, a symbol of tranquility and serenity, is perfect for those who, on this occasion, want to reassure their partner and tell them that everything is going well. The anemone, a flower of very short duration and equally fragile - Coldiretti reminds us - means illness and abandonment, but also hope and expectation, expressed by the singular beauty of the flower. The snapdragon has always been considered the flower of caprice. In the Middle Ages, in fact, girls used to decorate their hair with these flowers to reject unwanted suitors. For this reason, the value generally recognized to the snapdragon is indifference and disinterest.
Those who receive flowers as a gift and want them to last as long as possible once they get home should – suggests Coldiretti – shorten the stem by 3-4 centimetres at the end of the stem, not with scissors but with a sharp knife and a clean, oblique cut.
The flowers should then be immersed in fresh, clean water, with the little trick of dissolving an aspirin or 3-4 drops of bleach per liter of water in order to prevent the formation of bacteria that would block the channels to carry water to the flower. The water should be changed once a day and exposure to direct light, hot or cold air currents and heat sources should be avoided.
Article published on 12 February 2022 - 10:39
Video Chronicles
