Flowers have long been used for healing the senses, and soothing the spirit. Sending sympathy flowers to family or friends has been a long tradition in times of bereavement and loss. Even though we might think we are sending a gift only of beauty, people are discovering that sympathy flowers as a keepsake have much greater power than only the superficial appeal. Sympathy flowers seem to bring one back to nature and closer to one’s Creator at a time when a spiritual connection has extreme value.

A garden bursting full of flowers is truly a musical symphony, a wondrous miracle of God. Flowers have such a powerful effect on us. Sympathy flowers seem to give us balance at a time when life does not seem to make sense.

Flowers mark our union with a spouse and also our deaths. The Swiss have always considered the edelweiss flower to be sacred. It is given to the bride by groom who often has to gather the flower from some inaccessible place to prove his love and devotion. In many other countries Rosemary, which signifies remembrance, is given for funeral flowers and thrown on the newly dug graves.

In the spring of 1953 in the Zagros Mountains of Iran, a cave was discovered by an archaeologist and his team. The cave was called the Cave of Shanidar, which was believed to have been inhabited by humans as long as 60,000 years ago. In their digs they unearthed nine bodies of Neanderthals – but it was in 1968 that they discovered soil samples with pollen of at least twenty-eight different species of preserved sympathy flowers. Seven types of pollen were grouped in clusters that led to the conclusion that a sympathy wreath had been created as a tribute to the dead. It was proof that rituals of preserving sympathy flowers have been with us and used as funeral flowers and memorials throughout the ages.

Browse our collection of gifts for expressions of sympathy to friends and loved ones in times of loss and grief.

We also have assembled a nice collection of sympathy poems for you to choose from for your special gift.