Victorian Floromania: The Golden Age of the Tussie Mussie (a bunch of spray flowers or a garland of flowers)
Never have flowers been more gracefully incorporated into the art of living than in the Victorian era. The walls of aristocratc houses hung with flowered tapestries, beds and windows were draped with flowered silks and linen, while outside formal gardens displayed an array of flowers and floral shrubs.
In the Victorian era, proficiency in the floral arts became a vital part of a young lady’s education. Finishing schools offered instruction in botany and “Florigraphy” of the “Language of Flowers,” in which each flower, herb, tree, shrub was assigned a meaning. The Language of flowers was deemed, if not an essential part of polite education at least a graceful accomplishment.