The Art of Giving Flowers

An Olympic Opportunity for Flowers

I have had a lot of fun watching the Olympic games this summer. As a florist, I am always curious which flowers are chosen to present to the athletes. Since they give them to all the winners, flowers must be the perfect complement to   an Olympic medal and isn't that great?

Regardless of the country of origin, the sport or whether they it is a man or a woman, the athlete accepts the bouquet with pride and  honor. I don't know when the tradition began but there must be a good reason why they don't limit it to women only. There might be a more suitable gift for men but I gather that they like the flowers.

The bouquets this year are a combination of roses in bright color including orange, hot pink, green. and yellow. Everyone has a different reaction but these happy colors make me smile when I see them. They are neither feminine nor masculine (although they wouldn’t be something a man might naturally choose for himself) but they certainly are celebratory. The Olympic bouquets also have lavender, wheat, rosemary and mint in them. This gives the recipient not only a visual sensation but an olfactory one as well. For that reason, the bouquet creates a memory that stirs all kinds of emotions.

If I had to interpret the meaning of the flowers based on the colors alone, I’d say that the yellow stands for enthusiasm, orange is for passion, green signifies optimism and the pink represents youth. In that case, the bouquet seems quite fitting for the athletes since they possess those attributes – that is what makes them who they are and likely to succeed.

My guess is that the flowers are intended to reinforce the positive message that comes with the gold, silver, or bronze medal.  The flowers are another visual cue, in addition to the medals, to demonstrate to the onlookers that the athletes deserve another something special to takeaway. I also imagine that the winners sometimes give the flowers to a loved one so that they can share the victory.

I looked at some pictures to try and figure out what the athletes do with the bouquets while on the podium. Regardless of whether the athlete is a woman or a man, large or small, strong or agile – it is unpredictable but in the end they usually wave them in the air, all over the place.

I am going to take the liberty of drawing a conclusion – the men of the Olympics seem to like flowers regardless of how strong or macho they are. So next time you’re looking for a special gift for your man – consider flowers.  Try it and see – there is no longer any reason to believe that flowers are for women only.