◇ Vintage Floral Minis

A curated selection of vintage floral prints, each capturing the elegance and detail of 19th-century botanical illustration. Rich colors, layered textures, and timeless compositions bring historical blooms to life.

1. Gladioli - 4x6, 5x7 and 8x12
Its name is derived from the Latin gladius meaning "little sword," a perfect description of those blade-like leaves that thrust skyward like a Roman legion's arsenal. What began as modest South African wildflowers underwent a spectacular transformation in Victorian hands, as plant breeders worked feverishly to create hybrids in every conceivable hue. By the 1880s, gladiolus societies held fierce competitions, with prize bulbs commanding astronomical prices and closely guarded breeding secrets passed between horticultural rivals. The gladiolus became the darling of Victorian flower arrangers not merely for its rainbow palette, but for its theatrical architecture—each spike a living tower that could anchor the most ambitious parlor display. Garden designers planted them in military rows creating walls of color that announced a gardener's sophistication from across the estate. 

2. Jacqueminot - 5x7, 6x8 and 9x12
These deep crimson zinnias echo the romance of their namesake rose 'Général Jacqueminot' (France, 1853), a beloved variety that graced Victorian gardens. The practice of borrowing prestigious rose names for seed catalog descriptions was common marketing in the 19th century, lending glamour to humble annuals. This detailed lithographic print captures the zinnia's architectural beauty—each petal precisely layered like a dancer's ruffled skirt. Zinnia elegans, originally from Mexico, became the workhorse of Victorian cutting gardens, blooming tirelessly from summer until frost. In the coded language of flowers that governed Victorian sentiment, zinnias whispered of distant friends, making them perfect for pressed flower albums and farewell bouquets.

3. Tuberous Begonia - 4x6, 6x8 and 8x12
These sumptuous tuberous begonias represent one of horticulture's greatest success stories—wild Andean species transformed through careful breeding into these camellia-like showstoppers by the 1870s. Victorian gardeners went mad for them, and no wonder: few plants could match their extravagant, tissue-paper blooms in shaded spots where other flowers sulked. The chromolithographic process used here with its multiple color plates and painstaking registration was itself a marvel of Victorian technology, capturing every subtle gradation that made these begonias irresistible in nursery catalogs. Paradoxically, in floral symbolism, these cheerful beauties carried a warning: "Beware—a fancied injury."

4. Nasturtiums - 5x7, 6x8 and 9x12
This soft, painterly illustration celebrates the humble nasturtium, whose very name tells a warrior's tale. Tropaeolum, from the Greek "tropaion" meaning trophy references ancient battlefields where victorious soldiers hung captured shields and helmets on trees. Early botanists saw this same imagery in nasturtium flowers: the round leaves like shields, the spurred blooms like golden helmets. This martial heritage made nasturtiums the flower of conquest and patriotism in Victorian symbolism, though gardeners loved them for more practical reasons their peppery leaves enlivened salads, and their trailing habits softened harsh garden edges with cascades of sunset colors.