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Tue Aug 13, 2024
Birthdays – perhaps the greatest of all celebrations – are iconized by many things: the month you were born, the season, your zodiac sign, even your birthstone. But what about your BIRTH FLOWER?
What are birthday flowers and how do you choose the right ones? Your local florists at Forest of Flowers have your back.
Flowers are a timelessly classic gift but are often assumed to be more appropriate when meeting parents or celebrating occasions like Valentine’s Day or graduations. However, they’re perfectly appropriate as birthday gifts too – especially if you pick out someone’s unique birthday flowers.
So, who is the authority on birthday flowers? Forest of Flowers, of course!
Although birth month flowers may lack the spiritual significance of zodiac signs or the fashion allure of birthstones, they offer a delightful seasonal touch to adorn tables or garden spaces during birthday celebrations.
The origins of birth month flowers are uncertain, with some suggesting their tradition traces back to ancient Rome. These flowers are predominantly grown in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, typically blooming – or at least readily available for purchase – during their respective months.
So, let’s explore birthday flowers and offer some insight, some practical tips, and some potential alternatives if you can’t find a particular flower!
Despite being a frigid month, carnations – a flower known for its vibrance and versatility – are one of the primary birth flowers of January. They're cheerful and easy to obtain during several seasons, which makes them perfect for the winter months.
The delicate snowdrop, with its droopy blooms, also emerges in the late winter and is considered a secondary birthday flower for January.
Even though spring may seem distant in February, the playful primrose can brighten the gloomiest of days with its vibrant blooms. Early blooming wild violets add their dainty charm, while the African violet, a popular indoor plant, contributes to the month's floral diversity. Some sources also designate the striking iris as a February birth flower.
One of the earliest blooming flowers of the season, daffodils represent rebirth and new beginnings. However, if you hop and skip over to France, daffodils are also considered to be a symbol of hope – while gifting someone a single daffodil is deemed bad luck.
Another flower associated with March is the jonquil – another variant of the daffodil family. They're even almost completely identical – but they have white petals with a yellow centre. Their meanings are similar, but they represent desire and friendship.
In true spring fashion, daisies and sweet peas are April’s birth flowers. While daisies are often the more common and popular choice, sweet peas are an amazing addition to a custom flower arrangement – especially because they smell so good. However, if you can’t find them, daisies come in a variety of colours and vibrancies.
The birth flowers of May are lily of the valley and hawthorn. The lily of the valley was a popular flower among royal brides and have often been given as gifts asking for forgiveness. They also symbolize happiness, sweetness, hope, and humility.
It’s even said that lilies were born from the tears that Eve shed when she was banished from the Garden of Eden. Hawthorn, on the other hand, are unique flowers with bright white petals. They also have small red berries that can be used in bright floral bouquets. They represent faith, hope, and happiness.
At the cusp of the summer season, honey suckle and rose represent the birth month of June. While honey suckles are not commonly found in most arrangements, they are a sweet and sentimental flower that blooms strongly in the summer weather. Roses, on the other hand, carry several meanings, primarily determined by the colour ranging from love, courage, beauty, and even purity.
According to the University of Illinois, roses are over 35 million years old and have more than 150 different species across the Northern hemisphere. While honey suckles aren’t common in most local flower shops, roses are an extremely popular flower and getting custom flower arrangements or hand tied bouquets featuring them is easy to find and customize.
Water lilies and Delphiniums – a beautiful collection of birth flowers for July. They’re both bold and unique, with water lilies known for floating delicately atop ponds of water, representing innocence, purity, fertility and peace. After they flower after four days, water lilies settle under the water. The purple variety in particular are revered by the Egyptians because they represent both the sun and rebirth. However, water lilies are also common in pink, white, and red. But, unfortunately, you likely won’t find this in your local flower shop.
Delphiniums,also known as larkspur, represent goodwill, joy, cheerfulness and beauty. They’re also poisonous though, so if you have pets, you’ll want to be careful! These tall, flowering plants are often used in bouquets and come in several colours from purple, white to pink – but blue in particular is quite popular – and beautiful!
August is a bright and burning month, so it only makes sense that the vibrant gladiolus and poppies are the flowers that represent this birth month. Also sometimes called a sword lily, the tall striking gladiolus are thin and stunning, available in colours like pink, orange, purple, red, and white.
Originally, gladiolus was used in traditional medicines. Today, they’re more so used for decorative purposes and can be an amazing feature in a hand-tied bouquet or handcrafted flower arrangements. They’re also available in most flower shops.
Poppies are well known for being bright red with black centers and are a common sight in Canada during Remembrance Day. Not commonly available in most flower shops, but they do well in gardens!
Aster, known for being frost flowers that bloom late in the autumn is the birth flower of September, along with morning glory. These blooms are noted for having tall and thin petals like daisies. They come in purple, pink, yellow, and white, and look particularly good in hand tied bouquets. They symbolize strength, love, faith, and wisdom. They can also bloom throughout the year, too.
Morning glory is a dainty flower that comes in shades of pink, purple and blue with a yellow centre. They symbolize life, peace, and harmony.
Cosmos and marigolds are the birth flowers in October. Cosmos are adorable little flowers that tend to bloom in the summer and continue into the beginning of autumn. They're cheery and vibrant flowers that come in shades of red, pink, orange, yellow, and white. They represent harmony and kindness. They are originally from Mexico and South America, where priests commonly planted them. Now, they're often used as beautiful pops of colour in flower arrangements.
Marigolds are unique flowers in shape and texture and are typically spotted by their noticeable orange and yellow petals. They do come in other varieties of colours like red and white, but these are less commonly recognized. They're often used in autumn themed floral bouquets and arrangements.
Just as complex as their name, chrysanthemums are the birth flower for November. They're a perfect autumn flower due to the variety of shades they come in to match the season, from orange to yellow and more. They symbolize friendship, well-being, and love. These bold flowers look amazing in bouquets or can even be featured in vases just on their own for a unique and captivating centrepiece.
The December birth flowers are narcissus and holly. Holly, known for its iconic sharp leaves and bright red berries, serves as a global symbol of the festive season. It symbolizes fertility, eternal life, peace, and goodwill, making it ideal for enhancing Christmas wreaths and featuring in our seasonal bouquets.
Narcissus, or daffodils, symbolize vitality, faithfulness, and inspiration. With their distinctive trumpet-like centers, they come in shades of yellow and white, embodying themes of triumph and resilience.
Luckily, in this blog, our floral specialists have shared multiple options for each month, many of which are common enough to find at your local florist.
However, some of these flowers are unique, and it’s unlikely that you could walk into any old florist and find water lilies or marigolds. That doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t find them; however, you may just have to source them elsewhere.
So, what do you do if you want a specific flower for your loved one, but you can’t find it at your local flower shop? What we generally suggest is that you call ahead to see what the shop has in stock and schedule your order ahead of time to make sure you get the blooms you want.
However, if you call and they don’t have what you need, you can find other options. It might be worthwhile to see if they can get ahold of them for you, but for some varieties like water lilies, it’s very unlikely because they’re not a commonly used flower in floral arrangements or bouquets.
If you can’t get it from your local shop, you could get it from a wholesaler. This is a scenario where you’ll want to, again, order it ahead of time to make sure you have the time to put the blooms together. You’ll also have to be prepared to make the bouquet or floral arrangement yourself, which can be a drawback for some. Luckily, YouTube may be able to help you out.
Otherwise, you have the option of going with silk or artificial flowers. Luckily, a lot of flower shops offer these as well and could help you organize something birthday specific. Or you could even opt to go for something like artwork featuring your subject’s birthday flower.
Whatever you decide, consider contacting Forest of Flowers. We’re the local flower experts in our community and we’d be happy to help you find something perfect for your next birthday bash. If you can’t find exactly what you want, let our florists create a custom arrangement just for you.
