October birth flowers: marigold and cosmos

What is the October birth flower?

The October birth flower is the marigold, with the cosmos as the month's second flower, in the order The Old Farmer's Almanac gives.

They share a homeland. The marigold of this page is native to Mexico and Guatemala, and the cosmos to Mexico and the American Southwest, which makes October the month with two flowers from the same part of the world.

What does the marigold mean?

The marigold means grief, and remembrance. Kate Greenaway's 1884 Language of Flowers gives the marigold “grief” and Henrietta Dumont's 1851 dictionary calls it “the conventional emblem of distress of mind.” The Victorians weren't fond of it: Greenaway's African marigold means “vulgar minds” and the French one “jealousy.” The African marigold isn't African at all; it's the Mexican marigold in this photo.

In Mexico it means something warmer. On Día de Muertos, November 1 and 2, families build ofrendas, altars for relatives who have died, and dress them in cempasúchil, the marigold's Nahuatl name, often translated as “twenty flower.” Its deep orange is said to help guide the spirits home. Grief is still in the meaning, but so is welcome.

In India, marigold garlands are part of weddings and festivals, and the Almanac notes their link to the sun in Hindu tradition. It's one flower with three very different meanings, depending on where you stand.

What does the cosmos mean?

The cosmos means order and harmony. It's in the name: kosmos is Greek for an ordered, harmonious world, and the Spanish botanist Antonio José Cavanilles gave the genus that name in 1791. The Almanac adds peace, love, joy and innocence.

Greenaway has no entry for it, so its meanings are modern. The Almanac gives its colors too: red for love and passion, pink for a mother's love, yellow for friendship and white for faithfulness.

In Japan, where its name is written with the characters for “autumn cherry blossom,” whole fields of cosmos are a fall outing.

Why does October have two birth flowers?

The Almanac gives most months a primary and a secondary flower, because traditions vary and not every flower grows everywhere. October's pair are relatives as well as neighbors, both in the daisy family, but their moods are far apart. The marigold carries the weight of grief and remembrance. The cosmos is all lightness, thin stems and open faces nodding in the wind.

October birth flower tattoo ideas

A dense, round marigold and a light, open cosmos make a good balance in one design.

• A marigold in full color. Its packed orange and gold petals are made for color work, on a shoulder, forearm or calf.
• A fine-line cosmos. Eight broad petals on a thin stem is an easy, airy small tattoo for a wrist or ankle.
• In memory. With its place in Día de Muertos, a marigold is a fitting way to remember someone, alone or with a name or date.
• Orange and pink. A marigold with a pink cosmos makes a warm two-flower palette; in black and grey, the cosmos's simple shape carries the piece.

When and where do they bloom?

Both flower from summer into fall, which is why they're October's. The cosmos has spread far beyond its Mexican home, and Flora of North America notes that some highway departments have sown it along roadsides.

Native ranges come from the World Checklist of Vascular Plants as published by World Flora Online (CC BY 4.0), names and families from Wikidata (CC0), and flowering times from the floras listed under Sources. They describe the wild plant; garden and florist flowers follow their own calendars.

Catch it in PocketPetal

In PocketPetal, snapping a plant catches it: image recognition puts a name to it, a rarity is rolled from Common to Mythic, and it joins your collection with XP.

Marigolds are in garden beds, planters and garden centers through the fall. Cosmos turn up in gardens, on roadsides and in field edges, often in drifts of pink and white. A Saturday or Sunday catch counts toward Weekend Warrior, a badge for catching a plant on a weekend.

In the Northern Hemisphere, October catches count toward Autumn Harvest. Rarity is luck, the same for every plant. Read about rarity and all 116 badges, and find a fall route on our walk ideas page.