Thank You Flowers: 12 Blooms That Mean Thanks Today, and the Victorian Dictionaries That Gave Sweet Pea “Departure” Instead

Thank you flowers are the blooms that florist guides pair with gratitude, and hydrangea and pink rose lead the modern lists. Of the 11 modern sources I read, ten web guides and one West Virginia University Extension handout, hydrangea and pink rose each appear in 10, and sweet pea, the one with the best-known story, appears in 6. The idea comes from floriography, the language of flowers, but the Victorian dictionaries I searched give thanks to other plants: agrimony, small white bellflower, dahlia and camellia. Greenaway and Flora’s give the sweet pea “Departure” and “Delicate pleasures”, and the hydrangea “A boaster”.

This page is part of our flower symbolism and meaning guide. Where sources disagree, the disagreement is shown rather than smoothed over.

What do thank you flowers mean?

A thank you flower is a flower that a guide or a dictionary links to gratitude, and the link comes from floriography. West Virginia University Extension defines the term in one line: “Floriography simply means the language of flowers. Every flower holds a different meaning based on its species, color or both.” The same handout has a “Thank You” activity that pairs pink roses (“helped you through tough times”), hydrangeas (gratitude and understanding), sweet peas (“gratitude and thank you”) and iris (hope and trust).

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Modern guides give color advice, but they do not agree on which color. SendFlowers.io says “Pink is the gratitude color. When in doubt, send pink,” and it tells readers to skip deep-red roses as too romantic and all-white arrangements as too funeral. Symbol Sage says yellow flowers tend to convey gratitude, joy and appreciation and that red flowers tend to symbolize passion.

The color rule is not even across guides. Gardening Know How says femininity, grace and elegance are the classic meanings of pink roses, that deep or bright pink roses are often used to express appreciation and admiration, and that peach tends to be the more traditional rose color for thanks and gratitude. SendFlowers.io lists pink roses as “admiration, grace, gratitude” and calls them the universal safe choice.

The 12 thank you flowers and what each one means

The 12 flowers below are the ones named most often as thank you flowers, with gerbera and daisy counted together. The table shows what the guides say each flower means, which sources name it, and where the guides say it fits.

The takeaway is that hydrangea and pink rose are the consistent picks, while every other flower is named by between three and six of the 11 sources. White flowers need care: SendFlowers.io says white lilies and white chrysanthemums lean toward sympathy and funeral in a lot of cultures. Bellflower, named by three sources, is covered with the Victorian flowers below.

Which thank you flowers suit a host, teacher, nurse or colleague?

SendFlowers.io sorts its advice by recipient, and it suggests tulips or a lasting potted plant for a host, a bright bouquet for a teacher, sunflowers or gerbera daisies for a nurse, and yellow roses or orchids for a colleague or boss. Treat the table as one guide’s view; Singapore Florist and Earth.com also group some advice by recipient.

The takeaway is that the recipient changes the format more than the flower: a host gets something that lasts, and a hospital recipient gets something that can leave the ward. When you do not know the person, Beverly Hills Florist advises checking allergies, dislikes and likes, and says that in most situations neutral choices such as sunflowers, orchids, carnations or lilies are the best option.

Hydrangea: gratitude in Japan, or a story told about Japan?

Garden Guides, Earth.com and Gardening Know How give the hydrangea the meaning “thank you for understanding”, other guides say heartfelt emotion, and several credit Japan with the idea. Gardening Know How says the flower carries that meaning in Japanese society. Cornell Botanic Gardens says blue hydrangeas became associated with heartfelt emotion, gratitude and apology after a Japanese emperor gave them to the family of the girl he loved to make up for neglecting her. Onigiro tells the same story with the family as recipients, while Ohara Florist says the emperor gave the blue hydrangeas to the maiden herself. None of the three names the emperor, a date or a text, so I treat it as a story told about the flower, not a documented custom.

The Japanese flower-meaning lists I found, two ministry sheets in Japanese and one English-language blog, do not include gratitude. The Kinki regional office of Japan’s agriculture ministry prints a flower-language line on its weekly arrangement sheets. The 2023 sheet gives the hydrangea (ajisai) as “patient love” and “tolerance”, and the sheet for 22 June 2026 gives “fickleness”, “impermanence”, “energetic woman” and “strong love”. The Real Japanese Gardens blog, written by a landscape gardener, lists fickle, cold-hearted, arrogant and heartless, bright and cheerful women, patience and strong love, and happy family as “the main meanings of Ajisai we can find in Japan”, and says not all of them are truly Japanese. Gratitude is on none of the lists. Three short lists cannot prove that no Japanese source gives it, so read this as “I found none”.

The Victorian books take a colder view. Greenaway and Flora’s Pocket Dictionary (1870) give the hydrangea “A boaster. Heartlessness.”, Tyas (1869) heads its hydrangea entry “You are cold”, and Hill’s manual gives “Vain-glory; Heartlessness”. Cornell says the same of Europe: arrogance and boastfulness. Our hydrangea meaning page covers the split between the two readings in full.

Sweet pea: “thank you for a lovely time” is a modern reading

Sweet pea means “thank you for a lovely time” in modern guides, and the Victorian dictionaries I searched do not say that. Garden Guides says sweet peas say “Thank you for a lovely time”, and Gardening Know How calls it a flower of good-byes and fond farewells meaning “thank you for a lovely time”, a classy way to show appreciation for an invite. Singapore Florist writes that “in the Victorian language of flowers, sending sweet peas meant ‘Thank you for a lovely time’”, and gives the primary meanings as “blissful pleasure, gratitude, and goodbyes”. Symbol Sage gives “blissful pleasure, goodbyes and thank yous”. None of these pages names a book. Singapore Florist’s sweet pea page says this too, but its thank-you guide does not list sweet pea, so that guide is not in the count of 6.

The books use different words. Greenaway lists “Pea, Sweet” as “Departure” and “Sweet Pea” as “Delicate pleasures”. Flora’s prints “Sweet Pea. Departure. Delicate pleasures.”, and Hill’s manual gives “A meeting”. I found no sweet pea entry in Tyas (1869), and the phrase “blissful pleasure” is in none of the six Victorian-era books I searched (Dumont 1851, Tyas, Flora’s, Greenaway, an 1884 New York edition and Hill’s). Greenaway’s “Lasting Pleasure” belongs to the everlasting pea, a different plant, while Symbol Sage lists lasting pleasure under sweet peas.

The thank-you reading is therefore a modern interpretation: “Departure” plus “Delicate pleasures” becomes a farewell that praises the visit. That is a sensible reading, and it is not a Victorian quotation. WVU Extension’s handout holds both ideas, since its thank-you activity lists sweet peas as “gratitude and thank you” and its birth flower table gives the April sweet pea “Good wishes, friendship and kindness”. Our sweet pea meaning page covers the flower in full.

What the Victorian dictionaries gave to thanks

The Victorian dictionaries I searched give thanks to agrimony, small white bellflower, dahlia and camellia, and none of the 11 modern sources names agrimony. The table shows each book’s wording.

The takeaway is that only the camellia and the bellflower sit on both the Victorian and the modern lists, and hydrangea, sweet pea and pink rose are modern thank you flowers. Tyas ties the French name “Country Nun” to a kind hospitaller and says that more general use of agrimony tea in place of fermented drinks “would give it an additional claim to be regarded as the emblem of Gratitude”.

Thank you bouquets by budget

SendFlowers.io says to match the spend to the favor, and its table sets delivered prices at $35–$55 for casual thanks, $55–$85 for a genuine thank you, $90–$150 for a big favor or VIP, and $150 or more for a grand gesture. Its summary box gives different bands ($40–$60, $60–$90 and $100 or more), and it warns that fees can turn a $40 bouquet into $58, so treat the figures as one vendor’s guide.

The takeaway is that the price follows the size of the favor and the flower follows the recipient. If you would rather grow and arrange your own, these Amazon searches cover the basics: sweet pea seeds, glass bud vases and blank thank-you cards. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For other occasions, see our guide to flowers to give as gifts.

From thank you to growing: sweet peas

Sweet peas are an easy one of the 12 to grow yourself, because the RHS says they are annuals grown from seed each year for fragrance and cutting. The RHS says they grow easily in any fertile, free-draining soil in full sun, need a weekly or fortnightly liquid feed, and flower poorly in shade. It adds that they climb to about 2 m (6½ ft), although some are short and bushy to 45 cm (18 in), and that they are prone to powdery mildew. Picking or deadheading keeps the flowers coming, which suits a plant whose job is to be given away.

Our guide to growing sweet peas covers sowing, support and picking, and our hydrangea growing guides cover the shrub that 10 of the 11 modern sources name.

Thank you flowers FAQ

What flower means thank you?

Hydrangea and pink rose are named as thank you flowers in 10 of the 11 modern sources I read. Sweet pea is named in 6, and the Victorian dictionaries give thanks to agrimony and small white bellflower instead.

What is the best flower to say thank you?

SendFlowers.io calls pink roses the universal safe choice, and says to send pink when in doubt. For a big favor it points to hydrangea, and for clients and bosses it points to orchids.

What does a hydrangea mean as a thank you?

Garden Guides and Earth.com say hydrangeas mean “thank you for understanding”. The three pages I found that tell the Japanese emperor story name no emperor, date or text, and the Japanese agriculture ministry sheets I found list patient love, tolerance and fickleness instead.

Do sweet peas mean thank you?

Modern guides say sweet peas mean “thank you for a lovely time”. Greenaway and Flora’s give the sweet pea “Departure” and “Delicate pleasures”, and none of the Victorian books I searched contains the thank-you wording.

Do pink roses mean thank you?

Nine of the ten web guides and the WVU handout name pink roses as a thank you flower, though Gardening Know How gives pink roses femininity and grace, says deep or bright pink is often used for appreciation, and says peach tends to be the more traditional rose color for thanks. Greenaway’s 1884 dictionary lists no pink rose.

What color flowers say thank you?

SendFlowers.io says pink is the gratitude color, and Symbol Sage says yellow flowers tend to convey gratitude, joy and appreciation. SendFlowers.io advises against red, and Symbol Sage associates red with passion.

Which flowers should you avoid for a thank you?

SendFlowers.io says to skip deep-red roses as too romantic and all-white arrangements as too funeral. It adds that white lilies and white chrysanthemums lean toward sympathy in a lot of cultures.

What flowers did the Victorians use to say thank you?

Greenaway, Flora’s, Tyas, Dumont and Hill’s give thankfulness or gratitude to agrimony. Greenaway and Flora’s also give gratitude to the small white bellflower, Tyas has “My gratitude exceeds your care” for the dahlia (Flora’s has “cares” among its dahlia readings), and Hill’s gives “Gratitude” to the camellia.

How much should thank you flowers cost?

SendFlowers.io puts casual thanks at $35–$55 and a genuine thank you at $55–$85, delivered. Its own summary box uses higher bands, so the figures vary even within one guide.

Sources

1. Greenaway, K. Language of Flowers. George Routledge and Sons, 1884 (Project Gutenberg ebook 31591)
2. Tyas, R. The Language of Flowers: or, Floral Emblems of Thoughts, Feelings, and Sentiments. George Routledge and Sons, 1869. Internet Archive
3. Flora’s Pocket Dictionary: A Lexicon of the Language and Sentiment of Flowers. Porter and Coates, Philadelphia, 1870. Internet Archive
4. Dumont, H. The Language of Flowers: The Floral Offering, a Token of Affection and Esteem. H. C. Peck and Theo. Bliss, Philadelphia, 1851 (Project Gutenberg ebook 71779)
5. Hill’s Manual of Social and Business Forms: A Guide to Correct Writing (1887 edition, flower-language vocabulary). Internet Archive
6. The Language of Flowers, Including Floral Poetry. R. Worthington, New York, 1884. Internet Archive
7. Harris, N. and Streets, J. Floriography: The Language of Flowers (WLG 173). West Virginia University Extension
8. Cornell Botanic Gardens. Hydrangeas: Stars of Late Summer
9. Kinki regional office, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan. Weekly flower arrangement sheet, 19 June 2023 (in Japanese)
10. Kinki regional office, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan. Weekly flower arrangement sheet, 22 June 2026 (in Japanese)
11. Real Japanese Gardens. Hydrangea and its language
12. Royal Horticultural Society. Sweet peas (annuals), RHS Genus Guide
13. SendFlowers.io. Thank You Flowers: Best Blooms, Cards, and How to Send
14. Hart, C. Flowers That Mean Thank You. Garden Guides (updated 6 September 2022)
15. Gardening Know How. The Language of Flowers: Say Thank You With These Plants
16. Rhys, D. Flowers That Say Thank You. Symbol Sage (26 December 2022)
17. Earth.com. 20 Types of Thank You Flowers
18. Flowers.ie. Flowers That Convey Gratitude
19. Interflora New Zealand. Flower Meanings: Flowers to Say Thanks
20. Singapore Florist. Which Flower Means Thank You? 7 Best Picks to Show Gratitude (30 August 2025)
21. Beverly Hills Florist. Thank You Flowers: When to Gift Them and What to Send
22. Euroflorist. Flowers That Say Thank You
23. Singapore Florist. Sweet Pea Flower Meaning and Symbolism
24. Symbol Sage. Sweet Pea Flower Meaning and Symbolism
25. Ohara Florist. An Emperor and His Hydrangeas
26. Onigiro. Japanese Hydrangea (Ajisai)