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Field notesFlower meanings

Flower meanings

What flowers mean, from the carnation to the chrysanthemum. These are field notes from PocketPetal, a plant-collecting game: the Victorian language of flowers, the birth flowers of each month, and the stories behind them.

By PocketPetal

  • A single red garden rose in full bloomRose
  • White daisies with yellow centers in a green lawnDaisy
  • Violet larkspur flowers on a leafy stemLarkspur
  • An orange marigold flower head beside smaller blooms and budsMarigold
  • A pink cosmos flower with a yellow centerCosmos
  • A large yellow chrysanthemum with long curling petals against a woven screenChrysanthemum
  • A clump of white snowdrops nodding on slender stems above fallen leavesSnowdrop
  • A white water lily open on dark water among round floating leavesWater lily

Flower meanings list

These are the flowers we've written up so far, A to Z. Each has its meaning in a line here, and the full story, colors included, on its birth-month page.

FlowerWhat it meansBirth flower for
AsterLove and patience; once “afterthought”September
CarnationFascination, and a mother's loveJanuary
ChrysanthemumJoy and loyalty; mourning in parts of EuropeNovember
CosmosOrder and harmonyOctober
DaffodilRegard, and new beginningsMarch
DaisyInnocenceApril
GladiolusStrength and integrityAugust
HawthornHopeMay
HollyForesightDecember
HoneysuckleGenerous and devoted affectionJune
Jonquil“I desire a return of affection”March
LarkspurLightness, levity and first loveJuly
Lily of the valleyReturn of happinessMay
MarigoldGrief, and remembranceOctober
Morning gloryAffection, or affectationSeptember
NarcissusSelf-love, after the mythDecember
PoppyConsolation, and remembranceAugust
PrimroseEarly youthFebruary
RoseLoveJune
SnowdropHopeJanuary
Sweet peaDelicate pleasures, or goodbyeApril
VioletModesty and faithfulnessFebruary
Water lilyPurity of heartJuly

What is the language of flowers?

The language of flowers, or floriography, is the idea that every flower carries a message, and it's where most of today's flower symbolism comes from. It took off in the 1800s, with one of the first popular dictionaries, Charlotte de la Tour's Le Langage des Fleurs, published in Paris in 1819. Victorian Britain and America followed with dozens of their own, and a bouquet became something you could read.

Daisy, innocence. Snowdrop, hope. Holly, foresight.

Three entries from Kate Greenaway's Language of Flowers, 1884

The best known is Kate Greenaway's Language of Flowers, published in London in 1884 with her own illustrations. It's in the public domain, and it's the main source for the Victorian meanings on these pages. Next to it we give modern meanings from The Old Farmer's Almanac, because the two don't always match: the yellow rose meant jealousy to the Victorians, and the Almanac now gives it cheer and happiness.

None of it was ever fixed. The dictionaries copied each other, changed things and sometimes contradicted themselves; Greenaway lists the sweet pea twice, as “departure” and as “delicate pleasures.” Take the meanings as a tradition, not a rulebook.

Rose color meanings

The rose has more entries in Greenaway's book than any other flower, and most people want its meanings by color. In short:

ColorWhat it means
RedLove, “I love you”
WhiteInnocence and purity; to the Victorians, “I am worthy of you”
YellowCheer and happiness now; jealousy in the old books
PinkHappiness and admiration
OrangeDesire and enthusiasm
LavenderLove at first sight

There's more on each color, and on the honeysuckle that shares the month, on the June birth flower page.

Birth flowers by month

Every month has a birth flower, and most have two. The birth flower chart has all 12 months on one page, and each month has its own page with meanings, colors, tattoo ideas and when to spot the flowers.

Why a game keeps these notes: PocketPetal turns walks into plant hunts. You snap a plant and it joins your collection with a random rarity roll, and a flower you've caught is more fun when you know its story.

Sources and photo credits

Look, snap, leave it be. PocketPetal is a game. Plant names come from image recognition and are often wrong, so never eat, touch or use a plant because of what the app says.