Angela, yes, the Victorians took flower language and meaning very seriously, even having entire dictionaries devoted to the language of flowers. All flowers, not just roses.
I'm planning on an article on the language of roses, probably closer to Valentine's Day. Everyone knows red means love, pink is more of a friendship, yellow also for friendship, white for purity. There could also be negative meanings to flowers, and the way they were presented was also significant. It's pretty interesting.
Thanks for your reply!