Birth Flowers by Month: Each Month's Flower and How to Give It

A birth flower is a bloom traditionally linked to the month someone was born, in the same spirit as a birthstone. To find yours, look up your birth month in the table below: May, for example, is lily of the valley, and October is marigold, with cosmos as a common alternative. Many months carry two flowers because different traditions settled on different choices, and either one is fine to use.

The full list

The meanings come largely from the nineteenth-century fashion for a "language of flowers", and different books gave the same bloom different messages. Treat them as a pleasant story to tell with a gift rather than fixed rules.

Where the idea comes from

Linking flowers to months is an old habit in several cultures, often tied to what bloomed in a given season. The lists most people meet today in the United States and Britain were popularised in the twentieth century by florists, greeting-card makers and gift catalogues. That commercial history explains why the choices are not always the flowers you would actually find in bloom that month, and why a few months have competing answers.

Buying a birth flower: what is easy and what is not

Some birth flowers sit in every florist's bucket. Others are rarely sold as cut stems, so a little lateral thinking helps.

Easy to find most of the year

• Carnations, roses and chrysanthemums are grown widely in greenhouses and available almost any week.
• Gladioli and asters appear reliably from mid-summer into autumn.
• Daffodils and narcissi are plentiful and cheap from late winter through spring; paperwhite bulbs are sold in kits for indoor forcing before the holidays.

Trickier, with good substitutes

• Snowdrops (January): almost never sold cut. A small pot of bulbs, or a carnation bouquet, works better.
• Violets (February): a potted African violet is a popular stand-in, though it is a different plant; a few sweet violets in a tiny jar suit a gardener.
• Lily of the valley (May): expensive and short-lived as a cut flower. Potted pips, or a scent or printed motif, carry the idea for longer. Note that the plant is toxic if eaten, so keep it away from children and pets.
• Water lily (July): not a vase flower. Larkspur, or delphinium as a close relative, is the practical choice.
• Morning glory (September): closes within a day. Seeds in a card make a charming alternative.
• Marigolds (October): more common as bedding plants than in bouquets, so a potted plant for a doorstep is easy to source; cosmos works in a garden-style bunch.
• Holly (December): branches and wreaths are everywhere in the weeks before Christmas, but the berries are not safe to eat, so place them out of reach of small children and pets.

Gift ideas beyond a bouquet

A birth flower can turn up in many forms, which is useful when the real bloom is out of season.

1. Potted plant or bulbs that will flower again in future years.
2. Seeds tucked into a birthday card, with a note about when to sow them.
3. Pressed or dried versions framed alongside a photo.
4. Printed items such as cards, mugs or tea towels with the month's flower.
5. A mixed bouquet with the birth flower as the focal bloom and seasonal flowers around it.

Ordering the bouquet for delivery is simplest when you name the birth flower in the order notes and offer a substitute if it is unavailable. The article on how an online flower delivery shop handles quality explains why florists sometimes need that flexibility. Pairing the flowers with a digital message is another option; the piece on digital birthday cards looks at that side.

Making the gift last

Once the flowers arrive, a few minutes of care makes a real difference. Trim the stems, strip lower leaves and use fresh water with flower food; the details are in how to keep cut flowers fresh. If the birthday falls on a party day, the steps for arranging flowers in a vase help a single bunch fill a table.

Frequently asked

What if two lists give different flowers for my month?

Both are legitimate. Pick the one you like better, or combine the two in a single arrangement.

Are birth flowers the same in every country?

No. The list above is the one most often quoted in the United States and Britain. Other countries and older traditions use different flowers, so a gift abroad may carry a different meaning.

Is there a flower for each zodiac sign too?

Some gift sellers publish zodiac flower lists, but these vary even more than birth-month lists. For a birthday, the month is the simpler and more widely recognised choice.