Over the years, trendsetters have encouraged Americans to add decorative touches to home and fashion through the use of floral motifs and designs. The Horticulture Services Division's wide-ranging collection of shadow boxes, vases, terrariums, table decorations, ornaments, "tussie mussies" and posy holders reflects such interests in embellishing one's surroundings with plants and flowers.

The small cone-shaped posy holders popularized by England's Queen Victoria in the mid to late nineteenth century were made in hundreds of designs and fabricated from many different materials including gold, silver, enamel, mother of pearl, and wicker. Most included a ring that was attached with a delicate chain so that a lady could dangle the holder from her finger if she needed both hands free. Nearly 250 different posy holders reside in the Horticulture Services Division's Horticultural Artifact's Collection.

Posy holders were designed to be both decorative and functional. Fresh flowers inserted into the holder complemented a woman's dress at the same time they warded off unpleasant odors that were part of everyday life during the Victorian era (roughly 1840 to 1900).

The basic arrangement of the larger bouquet holder started with a perfect flower, usually a rose or lily, that was attached to a stick. Concentric rings of flowers were added until the desired size was reached. The types of flowers that were used often conveyed an array of meanings. The lily signified innocence, for example; the marigold grief.

Holders might have been commissioned from a jeweler or purchased from a florist shop. They were usually fitted with a pin on a chain to place through the bouquet after it was set in the holder to secure it. Some were fitted with a concealed stand which could be released by a spring thereby allowing the bouquet holder to rest on a table.