Birth flowers
The flowers for each month of the year, where the lists come from, and what each flower has been taken to mean.
A birth flower is a flower given to a month of birth, as a birthstone is. The list these pages follow is the Old Farmer’s Almanac’s, which gives most months a primary and a secondary flower: carnation and snowdrop for January, violet and primrose for February, narcissus and holly for December. The Almanac itself says that not all cultures agree which flowers go with which months.
- January birth flowers: carnation and snowdropJanuary has two birth flowers on the usual American list, the carnation and the snowdrop. In the nineteenth-century flower dictionaries the snowdrop meant hope; what the carnation meant depended on its colour and on the book.
- February birth flowers: violet and primroseFebruary’s birth flowers are the violet and the primrose. The Victorian flower dictionaries read the violet as modesty or faithfulness, depending on its kind, and the primrose as early youth or childhood, though the books disagree.
- March birth flowers: daffodil and jonquilMarch’s birth flower is the daffodil, often paired with the jonquil, which is one kind of daffodil. In the flower dictionaries the daffodil meant regard, self-love or uncertainty, and the jonquil a wish for returned affection.
- April birth flowers: daisy and sweet peaApril’s birth flowers are the daisy and the sweet pea. The Victorian flower dictionaries gave the daisy innocence; for the sweet pea they gave delicate pleasures or departure.
- May birth flowers: lily of the valley and hawthornMay’s birth flowers are the lily of the valley and the hawthorn. The Victorian flower dictionaries gave the lily of the valley “return of happiness” and the hawthorn hope.
- June birth flowers: rose and honeysuckleJune’s birth flowers are the rose and the honeysuckle. In the Victorian flower dictionaries the rose meant love, with a different message for almost every colour and kind, and the honeysuckle generous and devoted affection.
- July birth flowers: larkspur and water lilyJuly’s birth flowers are the larkspur and the water lily. The Victorian flower dictionaries gave the larkspur lightness or levity, with other meanings for its colours, and the water lily purity of heart.
- August birth flowers: gladiolus and poppyAugust’s birth flowers are the gladiolus and the poppy. The Victorian flower dictionaries gave the red poppy consolation; the gladiolus has no entry in them, and its meanings come from modern lists.
- September birth flowers: aster and morning glorySeptember’s birth flowers are the aster and the morning glory. In the Victorian flower dictionaries the China aster meant variety, and the morning glory affectation or affection, depending on the book.
- October birth flowers: marigold and cosmosOctober’s birth flowers are the marigold and the cosmos. In the Victorian flower dictionaries the marigold meant grief; the cosmos has no entry in them, and its meanings come from modern lists.
- November birth flower: chrysanthemumNovember’s birth flower is the chrysanthemum. The Victorian flower dictionaries read it by colour: the red chrysanthemum “I love”, the white truth and the yellow slighted love.
- December birth flowers: narcissus and hollyDecember’s birth flowers are the narcissus, usually the paperwhite, and the holly; some lists give the poinsettia. The Victorian flower dictionaries gave the narcissus egotism or self-love, and the holly foresight.
No two lists agree
American university extension services publish lists that differ from the Almanac’s and from each other. The University of Illinois Extension gives February the violet and the iris, and August the gladiolus and the dahlia. West Virginia University Extension gives one a month, including honeysuckle for June, the poppy for August and cosmos for October. Penn State Extension’s Master Gardeners give January the snowdrop, and call December “almost a three-way tie” between the paperwhite narcissus, the poinsettia and holly, depending on location. The Farmers’ Almanac, a different publication, adds the peony to November.
Where the month lists come from
The Farmers’ Almanac says the exact origins of birth flowers are unclear. It adds that “some historians believe” the practice began in ancient Rome, but names none of them. What the old books do have is gift books. The Garland of the Year, published by Marcus Ward and catalogued in 1873, has “twelve chromographs of flowers, one for each month” and was made to suit “a birthday present, on any day of the year”; its frontispiece is the snowdrop, and its December pages have the holly. F. Klickmann’s Language of Flowers Birthday Book gives January the snowdrop, meaning hope. Nor do the old books always match today’s months: of the chrysanthemum, which the modern lists give to November, Katharine Beals wrote in 1917, “Its month is October.”
How these pages give meanings
Penn State’s Master Gardeners say the meanings “are not based on scientific study but on folklore and tradition”, and vary with the source and the time. So each page names the book behind each meaning. For January’s carnation, Illinois gives the pink one “I’ll never forget you”, West Virginia gives the carnation “pride and beauty”, and Henrietta Dumont (1851), who notes that florists divide the flower into pinks and carnations, gives the pink “pure love”. The older meanings come from the dictionaries described under the language of flowers.
Sources
- Birth Flowers by Month: Discover Your Monthly Flower & Meaning, Catherine Boeckmann, updated 17 September 2026, The Old Farmer’s Almanac, January, February, December
- Floriography: The meaning of flowers, Bruce J. Black and Rhonda Ferree, updated November 2022, University of Illinois Extension, January, February, August
- WL 173 Floriography: The Language of Flowers, Natasha Harris and Jesica Streets, 2022, West Virginia University Extension, January, June, August, October
- Monthly Birth Flowers, Master Gardeners of Luzerne County, Penn State Extension
- January: Snowdrop, Joan Banyas, Master Gardeners of Luzerne County, Penn State Extension
- December Birth Flower: Holly, Joan Banyas, Master Gardeners of Luzerne County, Penn State Extension
- Birth Flower Chart: All 12 Birth Flowers by Month, Shivani Vyas, updated 19 August 2026, Farmers’ Almanac, November
- The Garland of the Year; or, The Months: Their Poetry and Flowers, 1873 (catalogue date), Marcus Ward & Co., London and Belfast (Internet Archive), title page; preface; contents; December
- The “Language of Flowers” Birthday Book, compiled by F. Klickmann, Bosworth & Co., London (Internet Archive), January
- Flower Lore and Legend, by Katharine M. Beals, 1917, Henry Holt and Company, New York (Internet Archive), The Chrysanthemum
- The Language of Flowers: The Floral Offering, by Henrietta Dumont, 1851, H. C. Peck & Theo. Bliss, Philadelphia (Project Gutenberg edition), Dictionary of Flowers; Pink chapter
Last reviewed September 29, 2026 by Rory Hansen. How we research