Flowers have their own language. Floriography, or the cryptological communication through flower use or arrangement, has been practiced for centuries. Flowers have been ascribed meanings for arguably thousands of years, and students of the Bible and of Shakespeare (think Hamlet) in the Regency would have been aware of this. Jane Austen used floriography in her writings, as did the Bronte sisters.
Floriography would really pick up traction in the Victorian era, with floral dictionaries encouraging readers to speak in the language of flowers and sparking the trend of flowers as fashion statements. The craze was initiated by the publication of Le Langage des Fleurs in 1819, and was popular in France before spreading to Britain and then the States. Culturally, it makes sense for the language of flowers to really strike a chord with Victorians. A more rigid decorum would, necessarily, require any subversion to be cryptic. In the freer days of the Regency, such coded messages were not needed (or at least as much).
So while some Regency people might have an inkling of the language of flowers, it wouldn’t become popular until the Victorian era. That means a posy from a Regency suitor might well and truly be chosen just for the color or availability, and not have been expected to carry secret meaning. From Regency contemporary sources, limited descriptions of floral meanings was taken from the etymology of the Latin name.
Flores Poetici. The Florist’s Manual: Designed as an Introduction to …, 1833
