Tussie-mussie and nosegay

What it is

The posy is round and compact. A single flower, often a rosebud, sits in the centre. Rings of herbs and smaller flowers are set around it, and a collar of leaves or a paper frill finishes the edge. The stems are bound and cut short. In the nineteenth century wealthy women carried theirs in a posy holder, a small cone of silver, gilt or porcelain with a pin to grip the stems and a chain and ring so it could hang from a finger while dancing.

Where it comes from

The word tussie-mussie appears in English in the late Middle Ages. Bunches of rosemary, lavender, rue and other strong herbs were believed to protect against disease, which people then thought was carried by foul air. Judges in English courts carried nosegays for this reason, and the custom survives in ceremony: small posies are still carried at the Royal Maundy service each year. In the Victorian period books on the language of flowers gave each plant a meaning, and a posy could be read as a coded note.

How it is made

Pick herbs and flowers with firm stems and a good scent, and stand them in water for a few hours. Strip the lower leaves. Hold the central flower and add the rest around it in circles, turning as you go and keeping the heads level. Finish with a ring of larger leaves such as scented geranium or lady's mantle. Tie tightly just under the heads, trim the stems to a hand's width and wrap them in ribbon or damp cloth.

How to take part

1. Gather a rosebud, a few sprigs of lavender and rosemary, and some small flowers such as violas.
2. Build outward in rings from the centre and tie just below the heads.
3. If you like, choose plants for their old meanings: rosemary for remembrance, forget-me-not for true love.

The flowers

NosegayA small hand-held bouquet with hidden meanings and a long historyRoseWoody perennial plants with showy, often fragrant flowers in many coloursRosemaryA fragrant evergreen shrub with needle-like leaves and purple, blue, or white flowersVioletA large genus of delicate flowers found across temperate regions worldwideForget-me-notSmall blue wildflowers known for remembrance and lovelanguage of flowersA way of sending secret messages using flowers and their meanings

Also part of it, and being written: Lavandula.

Sources and further reading

• Nosegay on Wikipedia