Mr. William J. McKinley was named the endowed chair of the Benz School of Floral Design at Texas A&M University in the summer of 2011.
At the end of the day, expressions of love through flowers have historically been in the eye of the beholder.
“The problem with the whole system is there was more than one dictionary,” McKinley said. “One well respected socialite would say red and pink roses mean this or that, and when someone on the other side of town said something else, they didn’t jive. You had to make sure the person could decode it.”
A carefully curated arrangement by a florist can wow the recipient if they’re fluent in the language of flowers. According to McKinley, this language can also carry over to plants that can be implemented on Valentine’s Day.
“I think a combination of cut flowers and plants will always be greatly appreciated because of their longevity,” McKinley said. “You could have a basket or a planter of azalea or some small roses.”
As with spoken language, the language of flowers changes slightly with time, but the core tenets stay the same.
“The foundations of floral design are based on elements and principles of design and they stay pretty consistent. However, the art or floral art has definitely changed over the years, it’s a living and breathing art forms that reflects current design styles and trends.
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Media contact: Sam Peshek, 979-845-4680, [email protected].