Birth flowers by month: what each month's flower means
Every month has a birth flower, and on the Old Farmer's Almanac's list every month but November has two. The Almanac starts the year with carnation and snowdrop for January and ends it with narcissus and holly for December. Treat the list as a tradition, since the lists in print do not all agree: a British florist heads December with holly and names delphinium for July.
What is a birth flower?
A birth flower is "a flower considered as appropriate to or symbolic of the month of one's birth", the definition the US Library of Congress cites for its subject heading Birthflowers, created in 1997. The Old Farmer's Almanac says the flower for each month is usually tied to the season it blooms in, and that many of them also carry cultural or religious associations from ancient times.
Where the custom began is less clear. The British florist Interflora writes in its birth flower guide that no one is entirely sure when and where the concept started.
Birth flowers by month, with their meanings
The table follows the Old Farmer's Almanac's birth flower list, an American almanac, with its primary and secondary flower for each month and the meaning it gives the month. The fourth column is the flower Interflora's UK guide heads each month with.
| Month | Primary (Almanac) | Secondary (Almanac) | Interflora UK | Meaning (Almanac) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | Carnation | Snowdrop | Carnation | love, fascination, hope |
| February | Violet | Primrose | Violet | modesty, loyalty, youthfulness |
| March | Daffodil | Jonquil | Daffodil (narcissus) | new beginnings, rebirth, prosperity |
| April | Daisy | Sweet pea | Daisy | innocence, purity, gratitude |
| May | Lily of the valley | Hawthorn | Lily of the valley | happiness, sweetness, hope |
| June | Rose | Honeysuckle | Rose | love, passion, affection |
| July | Larkspur | Water lily | Delphinium | positivity, lightness, purity |
| August | Gladiolus | Poppy | Gladiolus | strength, remembrance, peace |
| September | Aster | Morning glory | Aster | patience, love, affection |
| October | Marigold | Cosmos | Marigold | creativity, passion, joy |
| November | Chrysanthemum | - | Chrysanthemum | friendship, loyalty, honesty |
| December | Narcissus | Holly | Holly | rebirth, hope, protection |
Read the meanings as the Almanac's summary for the month as a whole. A single flower can carry other words: Interflora calls holly a symbol of fidelity and good fortune, where the Almanac's December reads rebirth, hope, protection.
Why do the Almanac's and Interflora's birth flower lists differ?
For ten months of the year, the two lists name the same first flower, and they part ways in July and December. That fits what Interflora's guide says: birth flowers are largely the same across countries, though there can be slight regional differences, and its own example is July, where the American flower is the larkspur and the British one is often the delphinium.
December is the other split. The Almanac puts narcissus first and holly second, while Interflora heads the month with holly and notes that, technically, holly is a foliage. The Almanac gives its own reason why lists drift: not all cultures agree on which flower belongs to which month, and some flowers are harder to find in some regions.
The two lists agree on ten months out of twelve. For the other two, the flower is your family's pick.
Some months also come with a local custom. French Wikipedia notes that on 1 May people traditionally give lily of the valley as a lucky charm, because it flowers around that date, a custom strong in France, Switzerland, Belgium and Andorra, among other places.
Which flower does our Iris design draw for each month?
Our Iris style draws one stem from the birth month in the date you type: snowdrop, violet, daffodil, daisy, lily of the valley, rose, water lily, poppy, aster, marigold, chrysanthemum and holly, January to December. Every one of them is on the Almanac's list. For January, July, August and December, Iris draws the Almanac's secondary flower, so a January baby gets a snowdrop rather than a carnation.
Under the flower sits a small capitalised caption with the flower's name and the month, for example "SNOWDROP · JANUARY". Until you enter a date, the design shows a closed bud. Iris is in the Botanical group of our designs, and you can order it as a framed poster, on canvas or as a pack of birth cards. If you would rather mark the sky, our guide to the moon phase on a birth date shows how to look it up.
To see which flower your baby's month gets, open Iris in the poster editor and type the birth date, or start a birth card pack with it.