Birth flower

Each month has a flower that symbolizes the month of somebody's birth. The characteristics that the flower has may be "inherited" by whoever is born in that certain month person. Every month has a flower that is sometimes referred to as a Birth Month Flower.

Flowers by month is a term describing flowers related to a recipient's birth month, and in general flowers associated with particular months of the year. It is one of a class of specialized categorizations offered by florists.

In a cultural sense, flower characteristics such as appearance, color, and scent, have relevance as gifts. It is believed that the Romans started celebrating birth and birthdays using flowers. Seasonal flowers were used not just as decoration, but also as gifts and, therefore, can probably be credited with the tradition of birth flowers.[1] Some have been inspired by this tradition to create lists that associate a birthday flower with each of the days in a year.[2]

List of birth-flowers

English style
Month Flower Symbolization
January Carnation[3] Love, fascination and distinction. Worn on Mother's Day, Teacher's Day, St. Patrick's Day (in green) and at weddings, this hardy, sweetly fragrant flower is also the flower of Ohio.
February Violet[4]/Iris[5] Faithfulness, wisdom and hope. Violets convey the meaning that you will always be true. Violets come in shades not only of purple, which is what people commonly think of, but also of white.
March Daffodil[6] Spring, rebirth, domestic happiness, respect, love, and friendship. The daffodil is synonymous with spring as it is the epitome of rebirth and new beginnings.
April Daisy regard, youth, purity. The daisy conveys innocence and there are five common types.
May Lily of the valley Love and appreciation, while other meanings depends on each color. The meanings of Lily of the valley can vary from love, passion, beauty and perfection. The meaning depends upon the color.
June Honeysuckle love, gratitude, appreciation
July Larkspur Levity and lightness. Its natural beauty comes in gentle hues with refreshing fragrance. There are different meanings for each color. Pink denotes contrariness, white expresses a happy nature, and a first love is usually symbolized by purple. Strong bonds of love are represented by the larkspur.
August Gladiolus Strength of character,[7] moral integrity, remembrance, infatuation, honor. This long-lasting flower comes in a variety of colors like pink, red, purple, yellow, orange, white and green.
September Aster/Morning glory Patience, daintiness and remembrance. This flower conveys deep emotional love and affection.
October Marigold Warm, fierce. They exemplify elegance and devotion.
November Chrysanthemum Compassion, friendship, joy. Chrysanthemums have different meanings. Red is for love, white means innocence, and yellow denotes unrequited love.
December Poinsettia Good cheer, success. The poinsettia comes in three colors: red, white, and pink. “You Are The Special One” is the message this flower sends for you.

US style
Month Flowers Symbolization
January Carnation/Snowdrop fascination, distinction, love
February Primrose modesty, distinction, virtue
March Daffodil spring, rebirth, domestic happiness, love
April Sweet pea good-bye, or blissful pleasure
May Hawthorn/Lily of the Valley happiness, humility, sweetness
June Rose love, gratitude, appreciation
July Water Lily joyful, fickleness, sweet, magic
August Gladiolus moral integrity
September Morning glory/Aster daintiness, love
October Calendula/Marigold winning grace, protection, comfort, healing, lovable
November Chrysanthemum/Peony cheerfulness, friendship, abundance
December Narcissus sweetness, self-esteem, vanity

Australian style
Month Flowers Symbolization
January Clematis aristata pure love
February Royal Bluebell gratitude, joy everlasting love
March Bottlebrush beauty, everlasting love
April Actinotus - Flannel Flower abundance, strength
May Eucalyptus purity, wealth, abundance
June Heath good luck, beauty
July Grevillea true love, strength, integrity
August Banksia new beginnings, discovery
September Chamelaucium - Wax Flower happiness, success, patience
October Protea* hope, strength
November Wattle unity, joy
December Waratah courage, love
  • While not a native, Protea has been widely used & accepted as an 'adopted' native in Australia and shares the same family, Proteaceae, as the native Australian banksias, grevilleas and waratahs.

Proposed explanations

Flowers and their meanings are associated with specific months. The language of flowers was introduced to England in the early 18th century by Mary Wortley, Lady Montague, whose husband was Ambassador to Turkey.[8]

January: In the north of the northern hemisphere, January is a cold and gloomy month, but in non-frozen areas, many flowers will bloom in the cool weather, and carnation is one of them. The flower associated with the month is Carnation and is said to symbolise love, fascination and distinction. Carnation, which is also commonly called Gillyflower, is found in a number of colors from pink to red-purple.

February: This month is associated with St. Valentine’s Day and red roses. However, the flower for the month is Violet. The flower symbolises faithfulness, humility and chastity. Gifting violets in the Victorian era conveyed the message 'I’ll always be true’. The flower is found in shades of blue, mauve as well as yellow and cream. One must remember that an older English name for the plant is "heartease."

March: This month is synonymous with the onset of spring (in the Northern Hemisphere). Accordingly, the flower associated with this month is Daffodil also known as Jonquil or Narcissus. The colours of the bloom include white, yellow, pink, blue and orange. A gift of these flowers conveys the hidden meaning of friendship and happiness.

April: This month is associated with Sweet pea flower which bloom in a wide range of soft colors as well as two tone colors. It is said to symbolize pleasure or good-bye. In the Victorian era, these flowers formed a part of the bouquet which was sent to someone to convey gratefulness.

May: The month of May is associated with the Lily of the valley flower. It is generally white in colour. The flower conveys sweetness and humility. In the Victorian era, it was given to convey the romantic message ‘you have made my life complete’

June: Rose is the flower of this month. Though roses are available in many colors from red to pink to white to yellow, all with their own special meanings, the underlying message the flowers convey is that of love and passion.

July: Larkspur is the flower for July. With its simple form, feelings of open heart and ardent attachment are attributed to it.

August: The flower for this month is the Gladiolus. It blooms in a variety of colours like red, pink, white, yellow and orange. It stands for sincerity and symbolises strength of character.

September: Aster or September flower is the flower for this month. It is found in a number of colours – pink, red, white, lilac and mauve. The name of the flower which looks like a star is derived from the Greek word for star. The flower symbolises love, faith, wisdom and colour.

October: Marigold or Calendula is the flower associated with October. For the Hindus, the month of October is associated with festivals like Dusshera and Diwali and Marigold, although a relatively recent introduced flower from the New World, has come to be an auspicious flower is part of religious ceremonies. However, in the English culture, marigold stands for sorrow and sympathy, perhaps derivative of its original symbolic association with death in the traditions of Mexico, as in the Day of the Dead, parallel to the Lily in Europe.

November: Chrysanthemum, which stands for cheerfulness and love, is associated with the month of November. According to Feng Shui, Chrysanthemums bring happiness and laughter in the house.

December: Poinsettia. These flowers are typically associated with Christmas. While considered by the ancient Aztecs to be symbols of purity, in today's language of flowers, red, white or pink poinsettias, the December birth flower, symbolize good cheer and success and are said to bring wishes of mirth and celebration.

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gollark: Python.
gollark: I still have that one not very important osmarks.net service which just breaks after a few hours for no discernable reason.
gollark: I guess if you can establish a tree of causality somehow and all things are caused by some root node you can attain time from that.
gollark: Guess all is bee.

See also

References
  1. "Birth Flowers Meaning | GiftaLove". www.giftalove.com.
  2. Jones, Gertrude (1962). Dictionary of Mythology, Folklore, and Symbols. New York: The Scarecrow Press.
  3. "Symbolic Meaning of Carnation | Teleflora". www.teleflora.com.
  4. Almanac, Old Farmer's. "Birth Month Flowers and Their Meanings". Old Farmer's Almanac.
  5. "Birth Month Flower of February - The Iris". 1st in Flowers!.
  6. Leeds, Lois (March 23, 1944). "Beauty Arts". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved January 28, 2010.
  7. "Popular Flowers In & All About Them". messages.website-name. Archived from the original on 2017-11-07. Retrieved 2017-11-06.
  8. Loy, Susan. "History of the "Language of Flowers" Book". Literary Calligraphy. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
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